This Wednesday will see the new Archbishop of York officially welcomed into office in the Church of England. Bishop John Sentamu’s appointment will be registered formally by the Archbishop of Canterbury and six other senior bishops at a service in London on Wednesday.
The ceremony will take place at St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside, after which Dr Sentamu will legally be the new Archbishop of York, however, he will not yet begin his new work until after his enthronement which will take place in York on 30 November.Wednesday’s service will make Sentamu the second most powerful figure in the Church of England, behind just the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rev Dr Rowan Williams.
Wednesday’s service will include a brief address by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and follows a service previously held in July 2005 when York Minister’s College of Canons gathered to ratify the new appointment, which was announced in June of this year.
John Sentamu, 56, currently the Bishop of Birmingham from Uganda will be the first black Archbishop in the history of the Church of England.
Growing up and educated in Uganda, Bishop Sentamu was once a barrister and a High Court judge before coming to the UK in 1974. He studied theology at Selwyn College Cambridge where he gained a Masters Degree and a Doctorate. He trained for ordination at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, then part of the Cambridge Federation of Theological Colleges.
In 1979, he was ordained into the priesthood. He has been serving in many parts of England throughout his ministry, mainly in positions of pastoral care. He was appointed Bishop of Stepney in 1996 and Bishop of Birmingham in 2002.
