« Back to Issue 59

Cosmo Lang: Archbishop in War & Crisis

Reviewed by Terry Hinks.

This is a well researched and sympathetic portrayal of an Archbishop who has tended to be viewed negatively and judged as pompous, arrogant or out of touch (Derek Jacobi’s portrayal of him in The King’s Speech comes to mind). Rather it shows a complex and lonely figure who served his church with utter dedication and made a significant contribution to its life.

The first chapter gives an overview of Lang’s life from his birth in Fyvie, son of a Church of Scotland minister, to his studies at Oxford, his growing sense of call and ordination as a priest in the Church of England in 1891. A successful curacy in Leeds led to a time back in Oxford and a busy parish in Southsea. Then came promotion as Bishop of Stepney, Archbishop of York and finally Canterbury.

The Church of England that Lang served was very different to that of today. For example, in his Southsea parish Lang had fourteen curates! The issues facing the church were different too, but there are still things to be learned from them and parallels with the challenges facing the State Church today. There are three key areas that Robert Beaken explores. First is Lang’s connection with the Royal family and in particular his significant role in the Abdication of Edward VIII. His broadcast after the event was generally seen as disastrous, but his influence in bringing about Edward’s abdication was considerable. Second, he looks at the repercussions of the revised Prayer Book of 1928 and its rejection by the House of Commons just before Lang was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. Attempting to hold together the Anglo Catholic, Liberal and Evangelical wings of the Church following this was an almost impossible task; it involved the Church ‘muddling through.’  Finally he looks at the Church during the Second World War, concluding that the Church came through this time of crisis strengthened and more effective (in contrast to its experience in the First World War).

This book is likely to be mainly of interest to those who want to explore the history of the Church of England and the role of a man who played a significant role within it, for good and for ill. Yet it also speaks of a real Christian struggling with his role. Robert Beaken notes that Lang’s “principal difficulty was that he was both a loner and a workaholic.” Regrets were to haunt him, his health was often poor and perhaps he was never happier or closer to God than when he was up in his remote holiday house in Scotland. In some ways it would have been good to see more of this personal picture of the man, behind the church politics and roles, but of course, given his compulsive working, the two were inextricably bound together. That in itself is something for all involved in church life to ponder.