A Communion of Sound Doctrine: Reflections on the Archbishop’s Investiture
I had the privilege of traveling to South Carolina for the investiture of our new archbishop, Steve Wood. In Charleston, I called an UBER and asked to go to St. Andrew’s, the parish Archbishop Wood has pastored over the last 24 years. But when we arrived at St. Andrew’s, few cars were in the parking lot, and I thought: “Something is not right.”
So my kind UBER driver waited while I searched online, and I realized that I was at the wrong church! As clergy often do, I had failed to read the rubrics. The investiture was to be held at Seacoast Church, a larger space to welcome a crowd of national and international participants and guests from around the Anglican Communion. Here I offer special thanks to my UBER driver, Thomasina, for getting me to the new location in time!
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What is an Investiture?
An investiture is a formal ceremony in which a new archbishop is installed, prayed over, commissioned, and vested with the symbols of his office. Typically it happens a few months after the archbishop is elected in Conclave, and introduced at Provincial Assembly.
For an archbishop, this means that he is especially recognized as a leader by the other bishops in the province and the Anglican Communion, which is symbolized when he takes his archiepiscopal seat. The photograph at the top of this article captures the moment when Archbishop Wood sat in the chair symbolizing his office and received the acclamation of his fellow bishops and archbishops from around the world.
The service was notable for its global representation, its gorgeous music, the participation of children, and its length (pushing three hours!). You can read the bulletin or watch the recording of the service included below. Notable moments include:
- The Entrance of the Archbishop (0:12)
- Sung Setting of the 23rd Psalm (0:21)
- A Charge from the Children (0:36)
- The Anointing of the Archbishop (0:44)
- The Seating of the Archbishop (0:46)
- The Archbishop’s Sermon (1:21)
- Bagpipes! (2:32)
A Global Gathering
Perhaps the most striking feature of the service was the presence and participation of so many global Anglican leaders. Laurent Mbanda, Archbishop of Rwanda and chairman of GAFCON, played an especially important role, anointing Archbishop Wood and praying for his faithful ministry.
There were archbishops and presiding bishops from six continents (!), including:
- The Most Rev. Peter Akinola, Retired Primate of the Church of Nigeria
- The Rt. Rev. Andy Lines, Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Network in Europe
- The Most Rev. Dr. Azad Marshall, Moderator Bishop of the Church of Pakistan
- The Most Rev. Dr. Laurent Mbanda, Chairman of GAFCON and Primate of the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda
- The Most Rev. Kanishka Raffel, Archbishop of Sydney, Anglican Church of Australia
- The Most Rev. Sammy Shehata, Primate of the Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria
- The Most Rev. Miguel Uchoa, Primate of the Anglican Church in Brazil
- The Most Rev. Hector “Tito” Zavala, Primate of the Iglesia Anglicana de Chile
As a group they welcomed Archbishop Steve Wood to their councils as a leader in the Anglican Communion.
Embrace Sound Doctrine
In his investiture sermon, Archbishop Steve Wood called upon the church to “embrace sound doctrine.” He developed this theme, especially from St. Paul’s teaching.
The archbishop acknowledged that the word “doctrine” is not popular in our culture. It can seem stuffy, or demanding, or harsh. But he insisted that doctrine matters because what we think guides what we do. The Archbishop quoted from Romans, where Paul encourages us to be transformed through mental renewal:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
The archbishop then identified the core of sound doctrine in the proclamation of Jesus Christ as mediator and atoning sacrifice:
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.
1 Timothy 2:5-6
Whatever else is happening in our culture, politics, or even the inevitable dramas in the church, the archbishop exhorted us to hold fast to this central truth and to the Word of God wherever it appears.
A Communion of Sound Doctrine
From my perspective, the investiture itself was a testament to the power of sound doctrine in the formation of the Anglican Communion. After all, this was a gathering of Anglicans from all over the world at a large non-denominational church in South Carolina. How did this happen? Because, by God’s grace, our Anglican Communion is committed to sound doctrine.
Regretfully, some members of our global family no longer hold firm to the faith, including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England. This is why many of the same archbishops at the investiture were signers of the Kigali Commitment in 2023, which reset the Anglican Communion according to sound doctrine. This is also why, the day after the investiture, many of the same archbishops issued a statement against the recent teachings of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
But the investiture made it plain that the Anglican Communion gathered together from across six continents, is committed to the authority of the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
With joy in this investiture and our global communion, let us pray that all our bishops, and especially Archbishop Steve, continue in the sound doctrine of Christ, as Saint Paul teaches them:
For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Titus 1:9
Image: Investiture of Archbishop Steve Wood. Photo by Peter Johnston.
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