Sentamu beats the drums of change

'Lord save us, we are perishing!' read schoolboy Matthew Wood from Matthew's gospel at the enthronement of the new Archbishop for York, as Dr John Sentamu wishes to be known. How heartily we joined his cry. Indeed, we truly were perishing - perishing cold - as we waited for the three knocks on the west door signalling the Archbishop's arrival outside the Minster.

We were inside so we couldn't see what happened next, but Christopher Morgan of The Sunday Times gave me a full report. 'I have never seen a bishop knock for entry with such force. He drew the crook back so far that it appeared he was about to hurl a javelin. He is an athletic man and as the crook hit the door, there was a resounding clash. It made me wonder how far this javelin is going to fly. This moment in an inauguration is often a let down because the knocking is so weak. But no-one could fail to hear this Archbishop's knock.'

This is a revolutionary appointment, almost as much as the revolutionary Che Guevara, who Dr Sentamu actually quoted in his sermon. Its essence was summed up well by Church Times editor Paul Handley, writing in The Yorkshire Post. He said that having Dr Sentamu as an Archbishop would for York be like recruiting an England international to the local side. "He will liven up local games when he appears, but you will see less of him than his predecessors."   

                                                                           

He also described the mix of suffering and humour that have helped make Dr Sentamu the charismatic source of inspiration he is fast becoming for Church and nation. 'Dr Sentamu has known suffering and has seen it at first hand. He still lives with the damage done to his body by Idi Amin's thugs more than 30 years ago.'

The day started early, with frost and ice in a boatyard near Bishopthorpe Palace. With a small party of faithful disciples and five African drummers, Dr Sentamu boarded a boat to travel upriver to the city. Carrying a pastoral staff made from a Bethlehem olive tree, he journeyed up the River Ouse, a latter day Thomas More emerging on his barge through the mists at Hampton Court.  Mothers and children, local dignitaries, clergy, bishops joined the colourful procession through the streets as he landed and walked towards the Minster, where he donned a cope and mitre in vivid blues, yellows, oranges and greens, a design based on a painting of the Tree of Life in his private chapel at Birmingham.

In the Minster the congregation had gathered, to find on their seats a Sudoku puzzle and faith-based crossword, handed out by the diocesan network for ministry development to keep them occupied while they waited for the service to begin. After the procession, when the choir sang a Nigerian song that sounded suspiciously like the theme tune to Disney's The Lion King, Dr Sentamu declared his belief in the faith to which the 'historic formularies' of the Church bear witness, the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

The Archbishop took an oath of service to the people and clergy of the dioces, making his pledge on a manuscript book of the four Gospels written and decorated by Eadui Basan and other monks of Canterbury about the year 1000 and brought to York by Wulfstan, Archbishop from 1003 to 1023.

Even though he had already been consecrated a bishop, he was annointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury - the first time an Archbishop of Canterbury has attended an Archbishop of York enthronement - and there was a symbolic laying on of hands by colleagues and other church leaders.

Several times during the service, the congregation broke out into spontaneous applause and even cheers, one of the warmest being in celebration of the enormous bear hug given Dr Sentamu by the Archbishop of Canterbury. There was no mistaking the expression of pleased relief on Dr Williams' face as he welcomed his new brother to the archiepiscopal fold. In his interview with The Times last week, Dr Sentamu had compared himself to Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses who helps him with much useful advice as he prepares to lead his people to the Promised Land. Moses was a great leader, probably a genius, but it has not been lost on churchpeople that he had some difficulty with communication.

Getting the message out is precisely what Dr Sentamu, however, is good at and he will need to be. I could not find a single mention of the installation in the tabloid evening paper that serves York, the Evening Post, although there might have been a paragraph hidden somewhere I suppose.

Yet Dr Sentamu's sermons are ideal for journalists working looking for headlines and snappy intros. While they might lack the intellectual depth and lengthy, detailed reasoning of Dr Williams' sermons, he always has something new to say and congegations love hearing him. In fact congregations love hearing both archbishops preach, and it is clear that both will bring different but complementary gifts to their positions of leadership.

Already, the new Archbishop is making changes. He will be Archbishop for, not of, York. He wants to be known as Sentamu, not John, and will sign his archiepiscopal name Sentamu Ebor, not John Ebor.

Expectations are high that this will not be all. At last month's General Synod, he denounced, Jonah style, the Church's quarrelling and bickering. 'This can not go on!' In his interview with this paper, he called for English people to rediscover pride in their Englishness. Since that article appeared, dozens of people, taxi-drivers, churchgoers, passers-by, have thanked him, as a black person of Ugandan origin, for saying what they felt needed saying. As white English-born people, they had felt equally unable to say it.

And today in his enthronement sermon, he called for the Church in England and the nation to rediscover the 'long tradition of Christian wisdom which brought to birth the English nation.'

The order of service was an amalgamation of traditional rituals and innovation, all no doubt authorised somewhere in the Church's Canon. One thing that astonished me, when singing the Litany to a tune I've sung many times before and know well, was the note at the bottom giving the author's name: one J Sentamu. Enquiries established that not only is he a composer, but also an accomplished organist. His understanding of the importance of music in mission has been a key to the success of his ministry throughout his life.

We didn't see him chucking York organist John Scott Whitely out of his chair to take control of the music, although by this point nothing would have surprised me. But there was an amusing moment, described nicely by Stephen Bates in the Guardian, when he handed his silver crozier to a startled-looking beadle and began beating the bongo drums during the traditional African worship song, 'Siya hamb'ekukhanyen'kwenkhos', We are marching in the light of God. This sent a thrill through to the marrow of my frozen bones. At last, perhaps, we can look forward to some good news stories to write about the Church of England. Dr Sentamu has said he would like to be remembered as the archbishop 'who brought the fun back'. With this man installed in York and his wife, Margaret responsible for selecting candidates for ordination training for the Archbishops' Council, the next decade or two might indeed be quite a lot of fun, if the Church can ever take its mind of the subject of sex for long enough to enjoy it.  (The fun that is, heaven forbid they enjoy the other.)

One place where Dr Sentamu must set an early lead is in installing some efficient heating in the Minster, admittedly the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe and hideously expensive to keep warm. I found a working radiator to sit on in a side chapel, while the cleric sitting behind me passed out and had to be resuscitated by St John's Ambulance just as the Archbishop began his sermon. The service was intended to end with the Archbishop releasing 'peace doves' from the north door and blessing the city. But it was so cold the homing pigeons would have died if they had been forced to fly back home to Wigan across the Penines, so he had to make do with balloons with a message instead.

Afterwards, we tucked into a picnic from Marks & Spencer, a feeding of the 3,000 paid for by the diocese, and the Archbishop mingled with his new flock, talking to as many as he could. At the start, when the country's first black archbishop walked in the procession down the creamy white sandstone of the nave, surrounded by a sea of white faces, I had felt moved almost to tears. The service was long, but as another bishop gently chided me, in Uganda a big enthronement would have taken all day and a large part of the night as well. In the end it was over all too soon, leaving a sense of hope that could signify that maybe, just maybe, it is not quite all over yet for the Church of England.

(However, even this cautiously optimistic note was not enough for blogger Septuagent, see here and comment below.)

Comments

[Septuagent]

I have done a piece about your blog and articles on my blog. I did it that way as I was afeared that as a comment it would take up too much space.

Er. Enjoy !

Septuagent.

[Simon Brindley]

This really was a great day for the Church of England and the life of this country. My wife and I were fortunate to be there and the new Archbishop has the rare gift of making the church feel like you always wanted it to feel and like you want it to be going forward - joyful and relaxed (this must have been the first archbishop's inauguration for many centuries at which the congregation could enjoy, spontaneously, dancing to the music of some of the hymns and probably the first ever that they could watch the Archbishop himself playing the drums - our son's favourite moment)but also a genuinely spiritual occasion and a deeply challenging one. John Sentamu is a very gifted man indeed with a very clear vision of putting Jesus Christ at the heart of the whole of the church's life and I think the church stands much more of a chance than Ruth Gledhill's article suggests at the end. To me it felt on the day like we had been toiling slowly uphill for many years and were reaching the top and looking over and glimpsing the plains beyond with the sun rising in the distance. The new Archbishop has very big horizons indeed. As The Archbishop of Canterbury said on BBC2 on the day, by any measure, this is brilliant news for the Church of England.

Finaly, we have a copy of the "York Late Final" of the Evening Press for the day with a picture of Archbishop Sentamu beating on the door of the Minster at the beginning of the ceremony, taking up the whole of the front page under the heading "Opening Chapter", so maybe Ruth's concerns about getting the message out are not as serious as she fears.

[Keith Downer]

The new Archbishop of York has descended upon our Christian community in England with a resounding force; let us hope that the impact of his appointment will be felt throughout this land. At this time more than any other in our history, we need a Christian leader who is not afraid to speak out to the English community - many of whom do not realise their way of life is founded on strong, Christian values and beliefs.

Of course, what really gives Dr Sentamu a special authority and status when he praises the English and Englishness and when he expresses his concerns about multiculturalism in our society, is that this is not a middle class clergyman from Swansea but a black man from Uganda!

There is a growing need in the English, Christian community for some significant contribution to the debate about racism, Muslim radicalism and the deterioration of important values and standards in our community. The established social structures in this country - such as the police force, schools and local government - are attacked and vilified by extremely active, expressively vocal representatives of minority cultures and beliefs. In many cases, their overly sensitive, wildly exaggerated descriptions and claims about these structures and the mainly tolerant, generous and passive indigenous white members of the community go unchallenged.

With his background, Dr Sentamu's comments will not spark off anyone's racist agenda but will, hopefully, encourage an earnest debate about the practicalities of issues such as multiculturalism, what is required if widely differing cultures and belief systems are able to exist peacefully and harmoniously in the same community without disturbing the basic framework, the fundamental structure upon which a particular culture's existence depends.

[Dr. Irene Lancaster]

Having read the last posting I also used the link to read the sermon and was amazed to see that the new Archbishop of York possesses a Jewish sense of humour.

His sermon includes a startlingly funny midrash which illustrates the relationship between rabbi and student. It also includes the most important part of the Jewish synagogue service, the Shema (Deuteronomy 6: 4 ff), which he only slightly rephrases for maximum impact.

What a breath of fresh air! Even Jesus might have felt at home during that sermon and been able to identify with it.

[jimmy]

I used the link to read the sermon
and was pleased to see these two words together - worship and evangelism

[Edd Dumbill]

Thank you for this account, it's been the only report I've found that went into anything like the kind of detail I wanted to know about the event, and gives a great sense of the day.

[maggi]

really nice account, ruth - you've summed up the hopefulness of the whole episode beautifully. (and the freezing cold!!)

[Dr. Irene Lancaster]

What a jolly piece to warm us all up! Regarding your reference to Moses, he was deliberately made to have a stutter, so that no-one would think he was perfect and mistake the miracles performed by God for the Jewish people through him, as actually his own work.

Although Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, undoubtedly gave him good advice, especially with regard to appointing wise counsellors to help him, it is actually Moses' brother, Aaron, who becomes his means of communication.

My question is: who is the current Aaron of the Anglican Church, and perhaps even more boldly, who is the Joshua who will lead the Church into the Promised Land?

[kathleen fry]

It was a grand day at York, I was thrilled
to be there. Before the service Archbishop Sentamu walked to the Minster and I shook hands with him and he was warmly welcoming to everyone. A lady nearby had two shopping bags he said come on give me your hand. He is a jolly fellow who will be good for York and the church, it was a lovely service, very friendly and such a contast to Rowan Williams when we wasn't able to meet him afterwards because of the high security. But on that occasion I was lucky to be at the early mass where Dr Williams was present and able to speak to him then,it was indeed a grand day to be in York and to meet the new Archbishop of York.

[Rev. Dr. Craig MacCreary]

Your story is wonderfully full of hope. You must have been personally moved by the moment. It seems to me that the new Archbishop is what some describe as a non-anxious presence who by laughing at himself enables other to laugh. Such playfulness is the image of God for people who were intended to live in a garden.