(adapted from an article written for my church magazine)
On June 7th I attended the ‘installation’ (rather as if he were a boiler or a modern artwork) of Peter Hancock as Bishop of Bath and Wells. The doors of Wells Cathedral opened at 1 o’clock, the building filled up almost immediately and we did not emerge for another three hours!
Before the service proper began, various groups of people filed into the building at five-minute intervals, while we heard music from the organist and a brass ensemble. In fact this was the same ensemble I heard at the Bath Festival, and they did some of the same pieces, including O vos omnes by Gesualdo. Another piece of rather dubious relevance to the occasion was an arrangement of Weep, O mine eyes by Wilbye. After a mandate from the Archbishop of Canterbury had been read out, the action really began when the Bishop struck the West door three times with his staff. On being asked by a child ‘Who are you and why are you here?’ he answered ‘I am Peter, a pilgrim and servant of Jesus Christ and I come as one seeking the grace of God…’ and was let in.
Bishop Peter had to declare his assent to the faith of the Church of England and his allegiance to the Queen and the Archbishop, before he was anointed on his forehead and hands, given his ring, robes, mitre and pectoral cross, and set on his throne. The Bishop was then presented to various local representatives. The Lord Lieutenant of Somerset greeted him with the hope that he would be happy in his new home in Wells, which drew a spontaneous round of applause. (I noticed also that the anthem ‘I was glad’ contained the line ‘Plenteousness within thy palaces’!) He was then officially presented to the congregation.
In the final part of the service Bishop Peter’s ministry began with prayers, Bible readings and his first sermon as Bishop. The sermon centred on Jesus’ commissioning of seventy disciples in the Gospel reading, and Bishop Peter’s role as a catalyst for discipleship in his Diocese. It’s clear that he is going to encourage lay involvement in the Church – nothing new to us, but perhaps a consequence of reduced clergy numbers?
It may sound as if the congregation had little part in the service, but we were able to acclaim and welcome our new Bishop and there were no fewer than seven hymns to sing. These included ‘At the name of Jesus’ (to the 60s tune ‘Camberwell’ which some of us remember from school), ‘Guide me O Thou great Redeemer’ and that evangelical favourite ‘And can it be?’.
As you might expect from Wells, the music was of a very high standard. There were two new anthems, one a setting of (inevitably) Tu es Petrus by Jeremy Woodside which musically speaking did what it said on the tin, the other a rather more complex and demanding setting by Robert Walker of words by the Indian mystic Kabir. During the latter piece a pupil from The Blue School danced a ballet routine, largely en pointe. The enthronement was celebrated with William Walton’s ‘Coronation Te Deum’.
My church was well represented with seven of our congregation there. After the service we were offered tea and cake outside on the Cathedral Green before dispersing.