The Chair of the Church of England’s Crown Nominations Commission has said it must approach choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury with an open mind.

Lord Evans of Weardale, a former director-general of MI5 and a cross-bench member of the House of Lords, was elected as chair of the committee last year.

Outlining his vision in leading the CNC, he said the group is “there collectively to understand what God might be wanting from a new Archbishop… we should be coming, therefore, with open minds.”

He told Church Times the group is “on track” to announce the next Archbishop in the autumn, and described the process so far as “extremely interesting, and even, on occasions, joyful.”

Lord Evans denied that there had been any “malice aforethought” in the General Synod’s selection of representatives from the diocese of Canterbury – despite initial failed attempts to elect the Canterbury vacancy-in-see committee.

“I know that in the media there have been suggestions that this might be some cunning ruse by some particular party within the Church to try to maximise their influence, or something, but I don’t believe that was the case,” he insisted.

There have been over eleven thousand responses to a public consultation which closed on 28th March 2025, in which members of the Church of England were invited to share what they were looking for in the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

Lord Evans said the most popular prevailing qualities include “real spiritual leadership,” and someone who can “speak in a gracious way, but an authoritative way, with a Christian voice, into the life of the nation.”

The Church of England’s General Synod is set to gather in York, from Friday 11th to Tuesday 15th July, for its summer parliament.