THE first female Bishop of Newcastle, the Venerable Christine Hardman will be consecrated by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, in a ceremony at York Minster on Monday morning.
And there will be strong Tynedale links at the service, for presenting the former Archdeacon of Lewisham and Greenwich to the archbishop, along with the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev. Christopher Chessun, will be Assistant Bishop of Newcastle, the Right Rev. Frank White, formerly of Riding Mill.
Her bishop’s ring, which will be worn on the third finger of the right hand has been designed and made by Alan Harrison of Kirkharle Courtyard, near Kirkwhelpington.
The new bishop will be presented with a pastoral staff – the traditional bishop’s ‘crozier’ symbolising a shepherd’s care for a flock, made by Neville Straker of Amble, from a wooden shank topped with a Northumbrian ram’s horn. For her pectoral cross (worn by bishops on a chain around the neck) she will wear the cross presented to her on her licensing as a deaconess in 1984.
Dr Semantu said: “As diocesan bishop for the Diocese of Newcastle, Christine becomes the second female bishop to take a seat in the House of Lords.”
A service of inauguration will be held at St Nicholas’s Cathedral in Newcastle, at 11am on Saturday, December 12.
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