The long-awaited review of the See of Canterbury has been released by an eight-person committee which has been working on it for more than a year. Titled To Lead and to Serve, it is a remarkable, thorough document which examines seriously the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Following reflection and study of the continuing growth and evolution of the office and role of the archbishop, the review team makes thoughtful recommendations on the future responsibilities of the position.

The review team looked at specific areas in which the Archbishop of Canterbury exercises his ministry: as bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, as Metropolitan of the Southern Province of the Church of England, as Primate of All England, as ecumenical leader, and his responsibilities within the Anglican Communion. Episcopalians no doubt will be most interested in the recommendations concerning the last.

The report recognizes that the Anglican Communion is still developing, that it includes many divergent views and that it is comprised of people of many diverse backgrounds, whose viewpoints are not likely to be the same. At present, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the central figure within the Communion, but he holds no legislative power. According to the report, the development of the Anglican Communion is responsible for the largest area of growth in the archbishop's personal responsibilities in recent times. His frequent visits to many of the Communion's 38 provinces can be exacting and exhausting and in many cases take him away from responsibilities within the English church. The review team believes leadership of the Anglican Communion will remain one of the principal modern roles of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and that it will grow, but it recognizes there are limits on his ability to delegate these functions, as it recommends in other areas.

One of the report's recommendations is that a new bishop, from outside England, be established at church headquarters in London. Funded by the Anglican Communion, the new bishop would act as the archbishop's right hand within the Communion. The report also urges that the financial position of the Anglican Communion office be improved in order that it may "be equipped to discharge the expectations placed upon it," that a development officer be appointed to relieve as much as possible the fund-raising burdens placed on the archbishop, and that consideration be given to an increased role for the Archbishop of York.

The vision-based recommendations of the report are a methodical accomplishment. The review team should be congratulated for recognizing the importance of the Archbishop of Canterbury's role within the Anglican Communion, for urging a delegation of some of his duties within the Church of England while not discontinuing the position's functions, and for its honest attempt to address the workload of the archbishop. The successors to the current archbishop, the Most Rev. George Carey, will bring different gifts, talents and interests to the position, and the review team has wisely made provisions for that. The ever-evolving Anglican Communion, 38 churches and 70 million members strong, will continue to be in need of exemplary leadership. The review team has made recommendations to ensure that will happen.