A son of Uganda who became the Church of England's first black archbishop brought an African beat to his installation in northern England, and declared his hope of energizing the dispirited church with the confident faith of his homeland.
John Sentamu recalled that one of his predecessors had dreamed of a black taking the second-highest position in the English church, and told an applauding congregation in York on Wednesday: "Well, here I am!"
Sentamu, who moved to Britain in 1974 after clashing with Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, is the first black to serve as an archbishop in the Church of England.
PHOTO: EPA
In his sermon, Sentamu recalled that a predecessor at York, Michael Ramsey, spoke in the 1960s of longing for the church to "learn the faith afresh from Christians of Africa and Asia."
He quoted Ramsey as saying: "I should love to think of a black archbishop of York holding a mission here, and telling a future generation of the scandal and the glory of the church."
Anglicans are a growing force in Africa, and their leaders have been in the forefront of battles in the Anglican Communion over homosexuality and the correct interpretation of Scripture. Those arguments also burn within the Church of England, the nation's official but increasingly poorly supported church.
Wednesday's enthronement ceremony at York Minster -- Sentamu's official welcome following his confirmation as archbishop on Oct. 10 -- drew a packed congregation of 3,500.
Dancers in leopard skin-print outfits, their heads covered in feathers of red, white and black, performed a dance of rejoicing and thanksgiving. The 56-year-old Sentamu -- who wore a bright blue and yellow cope and miter -- joined the drummers to beat time to Siyahamba, a favorite African hymn.
Quoting again from Ramsey, Sentamu asked: "Why have we in England turned this glorious gospel of life in the Spirit into a cumbersome organization that repels, and whose people are dull and complacent?"
The new archbishop added: "And I would urge people who are judgmental and moralizing as followers of the Prince of Peace, the friend of the poor, the marginalized, the vulnerable -- I bid you, by the mercies of God, to go and find friends among them, among the young, among older people, and those in society who are demonized and dehumanized; and stand shoulder to shoulder with them."
Sentamu had been a barrister and a judge in Uganda but was studying in England when his friend, Archbishop Janani Luwum, was murdered by Amin's agents in 1977. Deciding to become ordained, Sentamu said he had vowed, "You kill my friend; I take his place."
Sentamu has been a parish priest in Cambridge and London, was suffragan bishop of Stepney in London and was appointed three years ago as bishop of Birmingham, Britain's second-largest city.
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