Bishop David gave an address at the Consecration of Smitha Prasadam as Bishop of Huddersfield on 22 June 2023. The text of his homily is below or you can watch it here (from 48.58 to 1.03.47)

Anna Eltringham as Bishop of Ripon, and Matthew Porter as Bishop of Bolton, were also consecrated at the event.

God, give us grace to receive your truth in faith and love, and strength to follow on the path you set before us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dear Smitha, dear Anna, dear Matthew, dear sisters and brothers, it is a joy to be part of this gathering of God’s people from across the Church of England, including from the Diocese in Europe which I serve, along with ecumenical guests and friends from many parts of the world. Such a wide gathering is most fitting. The consecration of a bishop is of huge significance to the local Church, and today three local Churches, Bolton, Ripon and Huddersfield are rejoicing. But the consecration of a bishop is also an event of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. As bishops you will serve your local churches, but you will also serve the whole Church of God, alongside your sister and brother bishops everywhere.

Dear Smitha, Anna and Matthew, I know that over the past decades you have answered many calls from God. Like ancient Samuel, on repeated occasions, whether at your ordination as deacons and then priests, or in accepting any of the wide range of pastoral and missional roles in which you have served the Church, you will have stepped forward saying both publically and in your heart, “here I am, Lord”. Well dear sisters and brother, today you are stepping forward once again, and will say before the Archbishop and this wide representation of the people of God, “Here I am Lord”.

To stand before an Archbishop, before colleagues from around this country and from abroad, and in front of the great assembly gathered here in the Minster, is enough to make anyone feel a little weak at the knees! Which is why, when you take your solemn commitments, in a moment or two, your “yes”, your “here I am”, can only be uttered with the added words, “with the help of God”. It is only with the grace that comes from the very heart of God that you can undertake the calling and responsibility which will be laid upon you. That grace is assured, as we know from the Gospel for today’s feast of St Alban the Martyr, “whoever serves me, the Father will honour”. Today as you are strengthened by God’s grace you will also be upheld by the prayers of God’s faithful, and indeed by the prayers of the saints of every age.

Dear Smitha, Anna and Matthew, do not for a minute think that this new call is simply about a new set of duties; episcopal ministry is more than a list of tasks. Already as priests you know that the sacred ministry is not simply a job; it is not something that you put on in the morning and take off at the end of the day like your clerical collar. When you were baptised you were changed: you become joined to Christ as a member of his body, you were adopted as a child of God, and you remain that for ever. What happens in a moment or two is another change. You will be filled with grace so that you can follow the pattern of the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, you become shepherds of the People of God in your dioceses and areas, and share in the shepherding of the flock which is the whole Church of God.

Of course, there will be some new duties. You will be involved in a myriad of competing demands and expectations. It can be overwhelming! A new bishop was once asked by a reporter, “What does it feel like now to be a bishop?” The new bishop answered, “I feel like a mosquito in a nudist camp; I think I know what to do, but I don’t know where to start.”

So friends, may I offer you a word from a brother who has been in this episcopal ministry for over 20 years now, just a few tips about where to start, and perhaps where to continue!

First of all, do not pay an excessive amount of attention to the models of leadership which predominate in the world. It is so easy to think of bishops only as managers, executive directors, chief administrators. These are models taken from the business world. There are some superficial resemblances, of course: Bishops navigate difficult problems and conflicts, make decisions about finance and systems, chair and oversee numerous committees. But remember that Our Lord did not ever say, “Manage my sheep”, or “direct my lambs”, or “administer my flock”. He said “feed them”! Pope Francis says that shepherds in Christ’s Church should take on the “smell of the sheep” and this is not about being an efficient administrator. It is about deep pastoral presence and accompaniment. It is about being immersed deeply into the life of the

Christian community, not apart from it, and certainly ruling over it from above. It will not take you long to realise that the only real authority you have as a bishop is not power to wield over people. It is a very different authority: it is the authority given by the Holy Spirit to remind the people of God that they belong to Jesus Christ, and to encourage them to be more faithful disciples, and to equip them so they can better share in his mission. That is the only real authority you will have! Remember your pattern is Christ himself, the Good Shepherd, whose presence and accompaniment even extended to lowering himself to be among us, to be one of us, even to taste death. As the Gospel today reminds us “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.”

Secondly, do not for a second make the mistake that wearing your cope and mitre will offer you protection! They will not. In fact they will make you an easy target, a sitting duck. But that is a good thing, for as bishops you are to be visible, in order to be approachable, and available. When you are among people in your parishes, be a slow walker, taking time for people to come alongside you. Your episcopal cope is an ample garment, and deliberately has a really ample hem, so that as many people as possible can touch it, for you are to be visible, accessible and approachable to the people you are called to serve.

Thirdly, Smitha, Anna and Matthew, you already know that bishops are to be ministers of the Word, preachers and teachers.. But as ministers of the Word of God, the bishop’s most significant tool is not the mouth or the tongue, but the ears. Listen more than you speak. Bishops are frequently called upon to speak, but it is not obligatory for you to have the last word in your discussions with clergy and laity. We learn so much more by listening than by speaking. With your ears, you are to hear the voice of humanity, the voice of the sheep: their cries, fears, dreams, wishes. Your ears are to be alert so you can know what is in people’s hearts, their yearnings, their unrest. I was made bishop on the feast of St Ignatius of Antioch, 17 October. I have always kept close to my heart the words of St Ignatius. They are almost comical words. He says that it is when the bishop is silent that the bishop is held in the greatest esteem! Bishops need small mouths but enormous ears! For on those occasions when you do speak, you will not use the words of a business executive, a politician, or a media broadcaster. Your words will always be the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Gospel itself. With your ears you will hear the stories of your people, and then you will relate those stories to the Eternal Story of God’s love for creation and for humanity, a love which meant that God came among us, suffered and even died for us.

Finally, dear sisters and brother, remember that as a bishop you are a “big picture” person. Never get too lost in details or overcome by the minutiae. The “Big Picture” is what bishops are about. Episkopē in Greek as you know means oversight. St Gregory the Great said about our ministry as bishops that we are sentinels. A sentinel assumes a high vantage point so that it is possible to see the whole landscape. It is your calling within the Church of God to see and then to hold before your people the “big picture”. Show them the heights and the breadth of what God is doing in God’s world. Oversight, episkopē – is what you are called to, not mikroskopē!

Friends, in a moment you will stand before us ready to say yes to this sacred ministry. Be among your people as shepherds, accessible and touchable. Have big ears and learn from your people, And encourage them with the vision from the mountain top where you can share God’s great and grand vision.

Remember frequently to take your mitre off and lay your cope aside, so that as bishops you do not forget your first and most important calling, as a simple child of God, who knows of God’s mercy, forgiveness, grace and love.

Smitha, Anna, and Matthew, God’s people thank you for having the courage to respond once again to God’s call, and say “Here I am, Lord”. May God who began this great work in you so many years ago, now bless you in your new ministry as bishops in the Church of God.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.