Book Review – Reimagining Britain: Foundations for hope by Justin Welby

Thirty-three years ago this autumn, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, oversaw the publication of a report entitled ‘Faith in the City’. It was commissioned in response to a period of social change unprecedented in the post-War era – Runcie worried that the rapid improvements to Britain’s economic health were putting strain on the social fabric, particularly in the inner-cities.

“For me there was a government that was successful in strengthening the economy and dealing with the unions and yet at the same time I could look out of the window at Lambeth Palace and see the fires of Brixton burning. I wasn’t wholly convinced she [Lady Thatcher] was wrong but I was convinced something had to be done about the effects of her policies that turned me into a wet, someone who was wobbly.”

Runcie challenged the authors of the report to come up with a coherent answer to his problem. He urged them, “to examine the strengths, insights, problems and needs of the Church’s life and mission in Urban Priority Areas and, as a result, to reflect on the challenge which God may be making to Church and Nation: and to make recommendations to appropriate bodies.”

The result was 61 recommendations: 38 to the Church of England and 23 to the government. It was a substantial piece of work, with a long-term view and a scope that extended to the effects of rising unemployment, funding in social care and education policy.

What followed was a well-coordinated, blistering and highly personal attack by senior members of the Conservative Government on the Church in general and Runcie as an individual. A Cabinet Minister reportedly called it “pure Marxist theology”; another called the Church leadership a “load of Communist clerics.” It was the last occasion the government, any government, bothered to take an Archbishop seriously enough to attack him.

Runcie’s successors, George Carey and Rowan Williams, preferred to publish their own views, rather than drawing on the richness and breadth of the Church they led in seeking to respond to the challenges of the country they served. As a result, their impact was muted, whereas Runcie left a real and significant legacy in the important work carried out by the Church Urban Fund – which campaigns for social change on a community-level.

‘Reimagining Britain’ is Justin Welby’s second book in as many years. ‘Dethroning Mammon’, written for Lent 2017, was well received in the Church. It was coherent and insightful. His second book is a different beast altogether. In all the reviews I have read of this book not one mentions any fresh insight the Archbishop of Canterbury brings to bear in how the Church of England can contribute to the reimagining of Britain – what unique role, understanding, contribution he has discerned that the nation’s church brings to this task.

I wanted to find it, scoured pages to see something that would have elevated this beautifully produced and fluently written book into something more durable and resonant. But I could not find it – and that, in the end, is what makes this a fundamentally disappointing work. Disarmingly, in the Preface Justin Welby says he writes ‘chiefly for myself’ and it is in that context that this book is, perhaps, best understood. As a general commentary on current affairs it is a worthwhile read. The integrity of the attempt to address the many challenges that face Britain is indisputable.

The Church of England is a unique institution – it is unlike any other Christian denomination or any other institution for that matter. The Church is available to all, when they want it, as they want it. This is not a romantic or dated view, but the real and proper role and place the Church of England still occupies. It is a precious and precarious construct to be nurtured and loved by those who lead it – not treated as a wearisome annoyance to be dragged along as the price one has to pay for occupying the Archiepiscopal Palace.

Robert Runcie is not a fashionable figure in today’s Church of England, but his example of how to effectively contribute to public debate is one his successors at Lambeth would do well to study.

Reimagining Britain Foundations for Hope by Justin Welby, Bloomsbury, £16.99