• New Zealand Rev Canon Isaac Beach has been picked to select the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
• Beach is part of a 20-person committee including five overseas voters.
• The group will meet in May, July, and September to shortlist and interview candidates for the principal leader of the Church of England.

A Māori Anglican Reverend has been chosen to help select the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.

Canon Isaac Beach from the East Coast, is part of a 20-person committee selected to pick a successor to Justin Welby, who resigned as archbishop in November, following criticism of the Church of England’s handling of abuse allegations.

Eight men and six women have so far been named to sit on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) that will select the next spiritual leader of the Church of England.

Five of them are international appointments - the largest-ever contingent from outside England. There is one representative each from Africa, Europe, Oceania, Asia and the Americas.

Beach is one of those five. He is ordained as Deacon in the Diocese of Te Tairawhiti and joins a Palestinian archbishop, an Argentinian engineer, and a Ghanaian economics professor on the committee.

He told the Herald today that he couldn’t comment on his appointment, and the Anglican Church would release a statement.

Kanapu Hempery co-founder Isaac Tui Te Kanapu Broudigan Beach. Photo / Kanapu Hempery.

The Canterbury Crown Nominations Commission comprises a combination of clergy and laypeople.

Beach is an entrepreneur and runs a social enterprise business making plant-based food from hemp seeds as an eco-friendly farming initiative in the Hawke’s Bay

He established Kanapu Hempery Ltd in 2017 to support Aotearoa’s transition to less carbon-intensive plant-based alternatives derived from hemp.

Beach encourages Māori participation in business, and supports the progress of the climate change movement within the political structures of the Anglican Church in New Zealand.

The Chair of the Crown Nominations Commission - who will ultimately make the appooitment - is Lord (Jonathan) Evans, a former director of the British Secret Service.

He said: “Helping to choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury is both a great responsibility and a privilege. The Crown Nominations Commission understands the weight of this important decision and we pray for God’s hand on the process.

“I thank those who have taken part in the public consultation across the country and the Anglican Communion, helping us to establish the gifts, skills and qualities required in the next Archbishop.

“Do please keep the CNC process in your prayers as we seek to discern who God is calling to this important ministry.”