This Church’s three Archbishops have issued a statement of greeting and congratulations to the new Archbishop of Canterbury – and signalled that they look forward to inviting him to New Zealand in 2014 to join the bicentennial celebration of the Anglican Church in these islands. Their statement follows:

Our prayers and thoughts are very much with Bishop Justin Welby as he prepares to become the 105^th Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bishop Justin has been associated with conflict resolution, reconciliation and peace-making initiatives both as a layman in Africa, as well as in his work with the Cross of Nails Trust at Coventry Cathedral.

Archbishop David had the opportunity to work with Bishop Justin in 2007, and it was out of the Primates’ Meeting at Coventry, hosted by Bishop Justin, that the idea of what became The Bible in The Life of the Church project originated.

We can be confident that Bishop Justin will pick up the responsibilities of this huge and difficult task with much grace, intelligence and clarity – and we look forward to inviting Bishop Justin, as Archbishop of Canterbury, to our bicentennial celebration in 2014.

In the meantime, our prayers are with Bishop Justin and all his family at this time of massive adjustment and unexpected re-orientation in ministry and mission.

We wish that whole whanau our aroha, loloma and love.

Archbishop Brown Turei, Pihopa o Aotearoa
Archbishop Winston Halapua, Bishop of the Diocese of Polynesia
Archbishop David Moxon, Senior Bishop of the New Zealand diocese.

Footnote: In his earlier life as an oil industry executive, Justin Welby became involved in efforts to resolve conflicts in the oil fields of the Niger delta. He later became Sub-Dean at Coventry Cathedral from 2005 to 2007, and Canon for Reconciliation Ministry there. As such, he was involved with the Cross of Nails Trust, which is a reconciliation work born at the cathedral following its destruction by German bombing in 1940.