Bishop's letters: September 06 +Graham

THE VISIT OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK

The appointment of John Sentamu as Archbishop of York is one of the Church of England's most exciting appointments. We are privileged in the diocese to be receiving a second visit from him this year.

Born on a missionary compound in Uganda, as a weak child, he was baptised at his mother's instructions, by the local bishop, as Sentamu, the tribal family name. The following day his father insisted that he bore the name of the missionary John Tucker. His full name is John Tucker Mugabe Sentamu.

Known as John in London, when he went to be Bishop of Birmingham, where there was already a bishop John, he returned to his baptismal name, Sentamu. He is now Bishop Sentamu Ebor (York).

Sentamu has an outstanding mind. As a High Court Judge in Uganda, he opposed President Idi Amin and was force to flee the country, coming to Britain. Here he received his call to ordination. In recent years he has been a member of the Stephen Lawrence enquiry and chaired its follow-up commission.

On Thursday September 28th Archbishop Sentamu will speak at The Sands Centre at 7.30 pm. on the title 'A Church for All the People of England'.

On Friday September 29th Archbishop Sentamu will speak at Holy Trinity Kendal at 5 pm. on the subject 'And Who is My Neighbour?'

The Churchwardens of all our parishes have been sent 2 invitations for each of the events. It is hoped therefore that four lay people from each parish will be able to hear the Archbishop, along with the clergy.

The second gathering, at Kendal, will be the launch in this diocese of the Church Urban Fund Appeal, to which I and all diocesan bishops are committed for 3 years. Leaflets about this, along with a promotional CD, will be distributed to each parish at the Kendal event. As we seek to give, to help those who struggle with poverty in urban areas, through the CUF projects, we will be blessed as a diocese. ‘Give and it will be given to you’, Jesus says. In this diocese we have received several CUF grants in the past. When we have completed this task we will turn our attention to rural poverty in Cumbria.

Archbishop Sentamu was vice-chair of the Commission on Urban Life and Faith which recently published the Report titled Faithful Cities. This marks 21 years on from the well-known report, Faith in the City, which caused quite a stir at the time it was published in 1986. I hope that in our more urban areas we can study the new report along with our local urban policy makers. It shows very clearly the enormous contribution made by Christian faith to the well-being of a community.

Invitations to both the main events are being sent to mayors, executives and council leaders in our County. The Archbishop will also be taking part in the 700th Anniversary of Parliament, at Lanercost, and speaking to a breakfast meeting in Carlisle. We look forward to a very stimulating two days.

+Graham, Bishop of Carlisle