Like most people I know, I probably spend too much time on the Internet. I continue to be fascinated by its capabilities and potential, its immediacy and scope. My favorite website is the English site, Ship of Fools (www.ship-of-fools.com), of which I have written about in this space previously. Its Mystery Worshiper "reviews" of churches, many of them in this country, are delightful.

In a recent addition to the site, writer Andrew Brown speculates on who might succeed the Most Rev. George Carey as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Mr. Brown presents "a punter's guide" to names likely to be considered when the next archbishop is chosen by the queen with the advice of the prime minister and church committees (no recounts or chads for these people). He lists five "candidates" for the position - the archbishops of York and Wales and the bishops of Durham, Liverpool and London. The information posted on the five candidates includes the following:

The Rt. Rev. Michael Turnbull, Bishop of Durham - "He is the epitome of management in the church, fast-tracked from his early years as chaplain to the Archbishop of York, through Rochester and on to Durham..." "If you believe that Dr. Carey's policies will be the salvation of the Church of England, Michael Turnbull is your only candidate."

The Rt. Rev. James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool - "Like most bishops willing to engage with the press, he is regarded with suspicion by them. But he has charmed the Guardian as well as the News of the World and he is admired, even by opponents, as a man who will speak his mind."

The Rt. Rev. Richard Chartres, Bishop of London - "His foremost qualities are a quite remarkable self-assurance, charm, and speed of thought." "The chief drawback for his candidature is his opposition to the ordination of women, expressed with the simple and charming opacity that once distinguished Cardinal Hume."

The Most Rev. David Hope, Archbishop of York - "The fact that he is so clearly identified with one minority party (Anglo-Catholicism) is a fairly clear disqualification for the job as leader or bell-wether of an international communion in which his party is more or less defined by their separation from the mainstream."

The Most Rev. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Wales - "If Chartres represents organizational continuity with the (Robert) Runcie years, Rowan Williams stands for the ideology of a church self-confidently run by dons. As a poet, don and theologian himself, he is the natural intellectual's candidate." "... the candidate of everyone disgruntled and disappointed by the Carey years."

It would be surprising to some not to see an outright evangelical on the list, or a representative from the far left, or an African bishop. But we need to remember that the See of Canterbury, like other appointments in England, is filled not as American dioceses are with nominations and elections, but by appointment.

I can hear the cynics among our readers: Who cares? So what? It seems to me that we ought to care who might be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. After all, that position is the most important in the Anglican Communion, for not only is that person the leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion and its 38 churches, he is also the primate of the Church of England (still the mother church), senior bishop of the Church of England, diocesan Bishop of Canterbury, and a prominent spokesperson in ecumenical and interfaith concerns.

Speculation is always fun. In due time the English bookies, who take bets on nearly everything, will post their odds. Is Andrew Brown on target with his list? We may never know, but we eventually will find out who emerges from the process. A retirement date for Archbishop Carey has not been announced, but some observers are predicting 2003. A lot could happen between now and then.

David Kalvelage, executive editor