As part of my Discipleship Year at Trent Vineyard, I had the privilege of serving at a special evening service on Sunday January 27.
In the last few days before his enthronement, Archbishop-Designate Justin Welby came to Trent Vineyard to answer some questions and give a short sermon. Invited by John Mumford, the National Director of the UK Vineyard Movement, Welby and his wife Caroline were greeted enthusiastically by over 1,300 Christians from various Nottingham churches.
Following the usual Trent Vineyard pattern, we opened the service with 20 minutes of sung worship. Exalting God in a contemporary style, with such a large number of brothers and sisters, Welby looked perfectly at home in the sea of hands and the roar of praise. After a brief introduction from John Wright, Trent’s senior pastor, John Mumford and the Welbys took seats on the stage for the interview.
Pinpointed conversion
The opening questions on the Welbys’ personal story, their journey to Durham and ultimately to Canterbury, were interesting. Unusually perhaps for a senior Anglican, Justin Welby was very clear on the exact time and date he became a Christian and on the gospel he responded to. In a boost of encouragement for those of us engaged in work among students, he recounted that he gave his life to Christ after a fellow student shared the gospel with him and led him to Christ, having explained to him the cross.
Part of Welby’s response to questions on the future of the Church in England comprised the challenge to all Christians to be able to know and tell the gospel. Throughout the interview, Welby’s rich relationship with the living Christ came across. He had a clarity concerning Jesus, which was deeply encouraging.
Optimism
Surprisingly, Welby’s optimism about the future of the church sat well in the stream of history. He felt that ‘we are in a time of the greatest opportunity for the church since 1945’. He went on to critique society from an authentically biblical viewpoint, saying: ‘All the idols we have put our trust on have fallen’. This clear but hopeful premise was expanded upon, emphasising the eternal nature of the gospel: ‘When the idols have fallen and the dust settles, all that is left is a story. Our story. The story of a risen and living Jesus. The story of an empty cross and an empty tomb’. The only thing that endures, in Welby’s understanding, is the gospel. He said: ‘I have no fear for the church in this country, because God is faithful’.
His charismatic leanings came out here somewhat, though arguably helpfully, as he affirmed that ‘we can only be faithful when the Spirit of God is with us. Seek the Spirit’.
Sermon
For those who may be concerned that he has abandoned Scripture, and gone off at the charismatic deep end, this does not seem to be the case, as his short but powerful sermon demonstrated.
He opened with an illustration of our current financial crisis, with some of the gems about our aforementioned idolatry. Confidence, Welby observed, has disappeared. ‘But in the deepest darkness the light will shine.’ ‘When Jesus rises from the dead, he comes to disciples who are in a state of total desolation.’
At this point Welby turned to his chosen text, Luke 24.36-49, the road to Emmaus incident. He demonstrated obedience to the plain meaning of the text. He went on to note that Jesus’s first words here were: ‘Peace be with you’. He explained powerfully that this is the kind of peace that the church should demonstrate. ‘May we be a place of peace. The idols have fallen. Our society is at war within itself. We are the people of peace.’ This was the first of a number of points. Second, Welby spoke about being People of the Presence — followers of Jesus who demonstrate Jesus to those around them.
Thirdly, Welby observed that we should be people who value and demonstrate the Promise of God. The promise of the eternal scope of the gospel, which he aptly summed up: ‘Jesus’s death was not an accident. It was planned from the beginning of time’. Fourthly, he moved to Purpose: ‘How does Jesus comfort them? He gives them a purpose’. This perhaps was one of the bigger challenges: to ‘take the opportunities that are there for the grasping to get people to know and love Jesus Christ’.
Talking in the context of using social justice and community services to drive evangelism, Welby emphatically stated: ‘We have to know the gospel’. His personal experience can serve as an encouragement to those of us involved with UCCF. ‘It was a student, not a vicar, who knew how to lead me to Christ. Do all the people in your churches know to do that?’ This is a valid challenge and one we should all heed.
The fifth and final point was to be people of Power. This is ‘what makes the difference’ in the transforming of churches. And thus the transforming of the nation and the calling of her back to Christ.
Leadership
Welby’s sermon was focused on the text and a powerful, evangelical view of the church. Hopefully this is an exciting taste of what we might expect from his leadership.
Throughout his time at Trent, Justin Welby came across as a kind, thoughtful, Jesus-focused and winsome individual.
For the most part, given that the interview was effectively between friends, the questions asked were not particularly challenging, but the clear passion for Jesus and gospel transformation that drives Justin Welby was very evident.
Given his public support of women bishops, he was never going to tick all the boxes for everyone, but the overwhelming sense that I, and others, got was that this is a man, supported by a wonderful wife, who desperately wants to see the church tell the gospel, become more like Christ, and transform our communities and culture.
I was immensely encouraged, and his friendship with relatively conservative evangelicals like the leaders of the UK Vineyard Movement demonstrates his love for the wider church, and a godly willingness to learn from the nonconformists.
I don’t doubt that I will disagree with some of Welby’s decisions and statements over the next decade or so, but I’m equally without doubt that some of what he says will be marvellous, gospel-rich and transformative. Do hold him and his wife and children up in your prayers, even if like me you are not an Anglican.
Welby represents the most-likely-to-be-seen face of Christianity in this country. Thank God that he has a Christ-likeness and is passionate about the gospel.
