Holy Trinity, Brompton – universally known as "HTB"
One fact jumps out at me from my colleague John Bingham's profile of Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury: he's a former worshipper at Holy Trinity, Brompton, the posh evangelical church in Knightsbridge that has breathed extraordinary new life into the Church of England in London and beyond.
"HTB" won't like being described as posh, but its current vicar, Nicky Gumbel, is an Old Etonian, as is his predecessor, Bishop Sandy Millar. In fact, both are OEs who were educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, before practising as barristers. Bishop Welby wasn't a barrister, but he's a Trinity man as well as an Etonian. I once wrote a magazine feature on the growth of evangelicalism among Eton pupils; almost without exception, it is thanks to the influence of HTB, a multi-million-pound operation that encourages exuberant charismatic worship and "plants" congregations in moribund London parishes.
Some former HTB members accuse it of being cult-like, since there's quite heavy mentoring of young people to help them live up to strict Biblical teaching. But its "Alpha Course" introduction to Christianity has proved remarkably successful – there's a Catholic version that has often done a rather better job of inspiring worshippers than home-grown RC evangelism.
I like Nicky Gumbel; Welby's appointment is a feather in his cap, and a well deserved one. It also bodes well for the C of E, since no parish in the entire country has its act together quite as formidably as HTB.
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