Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York, led the service in the triple consecration as the new bishops took up their new roles at York Minster on the 10th of October.
The Reverend Canon Dr Flora Winfield, The Reverend Barry Hill, and The Venerable Patricia Hillas took up the bishoprics of Selby, Whitby, and Sodor and Man respectively.
It was a day of spectacle, with the great and the good of the county assembling to this ordination and consecration. Bishops from around the province of York congregated to lay hands on the new bishops with the Lord Mayor of York, the Sheriff of York and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire also in attendance, representing the city and the King.
The sermon was delivered by Canon Dr Paula Gooder, Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, in which she compared the first bishops of England to their successors and explained how doubt, faith and worship can coexist.
Patricia Hillas was first to take the oath of canonical obedience to the Archbishop of York. The new bishop of Sodor and Man was the Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Common whilst serving as Canon of Westminster abbey.
Next came Dr Flora Winfield, former armed forces chaplain and third estates commissioner chairing the Church of England’s net zero carbon programme board. Finally, Barry Hill who had served in Leicestershire in many roles for over two decades.