Faith

As John Sentamu is installed as the Archbishop of York at a service in York Minster you may find yourself wondering just what he'll be doing? We asked Jeremy Fletcher, Canon Precentor at York Minster, what it means to be Archbishop of York.

John Sentamu - The Archbishop of York

"He's a Bishop of the Diocese first of all. So he does what every other Bishop of the Diocese does: he's responsible for the care and encouragement of the clergy and people of the Diocese.

"That includes confirmations in parish churches, ordinations of deacons and priests around the Diocese, working with his senior staff: the other Bishops, Archdeacons, Rural Deans and the Diocesan office. All the things that are part of running a Diocese in the Church of England."

"But on top of that he's an Arch-bishop, he's the Primate or Metropolitan. In other words he's responsible for the province of York.

"That means he'll get requests from other Dioceses if they've got special events on and they want the leader of the province there, he'll go.  And if there's a real problem in a Diocese, that goes beyond the Diocesan Bishop, the Archbishop has to deal with it. So difficult clergy discipline issues, or really anything that causes problems in a Diocese comes his way.

"Because he's an Archbishop and he represents quite a chunk of the Church of England, there are international things he has to do. You'll often find him representing the Church of England internationally and at major meetings.

"So it's certainly a big job. The Diocese of York is one of the largest geographically in the Church of England with 450 parishes. But on top of this there's the work provincially, nationally and internationally. That places quite a demand on the Archbishop."

It's been suggested the role of Archbishop of York may change, taking on the role of speaking for the Church nationally to allow the Archbishop of Canterbury more time to be leader of the Church worldwide. Quite what that would mean for York is open to speculation. We'll have to wait and see.