And if the celebrations at York Minster are anything to go by, the Anglican clergy’s new second-in-command looks set to breathe new energy, passion and immediacy into the aging institution.
Wearing a brightly coloured cope and mitre during the event and at one point beating on an African drum, Archbishop Sentamu was introduced to his new congregation in ceremony that blended ancient ritual and tradition with performances by singers and dancers clad in feathers, leopard-print skirts and t-shirts.
Three-thousand people turned out to the medieval cathedral in the northern English city to hear his sermon in which the Archbishop implored Anglicans to recover “a sense of beyondness in the whole of life” and “revive the spring of wonder and adoration.”
He lamented the “loss of this country’s long tradition of Christian wisdom, which brought to birth the English nation, the loss of wonder and amazement that Jesus Christ has authority over every aspect of our lives and our nation.”
Quoting from former Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey, who headed the Church of England from 1961 to 1974, he asked why people in England had turned the “glorious Gospel” of life in the spirit into a “cumbersome organisation that repels, and whose people are dull and complacent.”
The 56-year-old cleric has outlined his mission as one of revitalising the Anglican faith.
“It is imperative that the Church regains her vision and confidence in mission, developing ways that will enable the Church of England to reconnect imaginatively with England,” the former Bishop of Birmingham said after news of his appointment was made public earlier this year.
John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu was born near Kampala, in Uganda, in 1949.
He studied law at Makerere University and went on to work as a barrister before becoming a judge the Ugandan High Court.
An outspoken critic of the human rights violations committed by the despotic regime of Idi Amin, he fled the country after being arrested in 1974.
Arriving in England, he took up theological studies at Cambridge where he gained a Masters Degree and a Doctorate.
Following his ordination in 1979 he worked his way up to the post of east London’s Bishop of Stepney in 1996 and then Bishop of Birmingham (a position he referred to as Bishop for Birmingham) in 2002.
Known for his plain speaking and his work on tackling racism, Archbishop Sentamu has also been a prominent campaigner on gun crime and worked closely with MG Rover employees in Birmingham after the car maker collapsed.
But his involvement with the Church of England and the government has not meant that he has spared either from criticism.
He has often attacked his own church for being institutionally racist.
“He is someone who has always combined a passion for sharing the gospel with a keen sense of the problems and challenges of our society, particularly where racism is concerned. His ministry in London and Birmingham has been praised by Christians of all backgrounds,” Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said of the appointment.
On the divisive issues of female ordination and homosexuality, Archbishop Sentamu told a newspaper in October that he would be happy to ordain women bishops if the Church of England changed its rules and he openly condemned the way some members of the Anglican Communion spoke about gay men and lesbians.