Preview of the Installation service

At his Installation Service at Blackburn Cathedral this Saturday Rt Rev Philip North, the tenth Bishop of Blackburn, will place the spotlight on social justice; working with young people and the importance of proclaiming the Gospel to the whole County of Lancashire.

• The Bishop looks forward to the day in a new video with the Anglican Bishop of Lancaster, Rt Rev Dr Jill Duff, released today.

During the service, Bishop Philip will clearly state his commitment to leading the continued growth of the church in Lancashire and building joyful Christian communities. 

He will also declare the need for The Church of England in Lancashire to be an ever-stronger voice for social justice. And he will pledge to place children and young people at the heart of all we do as a Diocese.

Bishop Philip previously declared these as key aims he would personally ‘labour tirelessly’ for in the years to come when he was first announced as the new Bishop of Blackburn in January this year.  

• Around 1000 people will attend the Cathedral for the service on Saturday which begins at 2pm. All seats are now taken, but anyone who can’t be there in person can watch a high-quality livestream that will be broadcast here on YouTube.  
• As well as the livestream you can also follow events live on our social media channels, mainly on Facebook/BlackburnDiocese but with some tweets on Twitter @cofelancs 

Meanwhile, in what is thought to be a first for any Bishop’s Installation, children attending the service on Saturday will be invited to attend a ‘Messy Installation’ downstairs in the Cathedral crypt area.

Organised by the Diocesan Board of Education, this will be a fun variation of the well-known ‘Messy Church’ that has grown in popularity in recent years and allows children to learn about the Bible and Jesus through play and craft.  

Bishop Philip will pay a visit to the ‘Messy Installation’ part way through the service to take part; with a surprise moment then to follow for the rest of the congregation.  

Today, there is a taster of what is to come in a new video just released in which Bishop Philip looks forward to the weekend ahead in the company of Bishop Jill.

In the video, available on the Diocesan YouTube channel here, Bishop Philip says: “We are looking forward to a joyful, upbeat service with children and young people at the heart of things and in which we celebrate the presence of Jesus in our lives and God at work in this Diocese.  

“Every corner of Lancashire deserves to be served by joyful communities of proclaiming, serving Christians. We will also be thinking about justice and what it means for Christians to live out the justice of God’s future kingdom now.”

The Installation Service will be a huge event attended by Civic and County Leaders from across Lancashire, as well as many clergy and parishioners from our parishes. 

Those attending on Saturday include the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, Rt Hon The Lord Shuttleworth KG KCVO and Lady Shuttleworth and Speaker of the House of Commons and MP for Chorley, the Rt Hon Sir Lindsay Hoyle.  

Other guests include the High Sheriff of Lancashire, Mr David Taylor CBE; The Venerable Joshua Skee and Rev Martin Stützer (representing our Diocesan links from South Africa and Germany) alongside Mayors and Mayoresses, council leaders, faith and community leaders.  

From the Diocese, our two Bishops will be joined during the service by the Dean of Blackburn, Very Rev Peter Howell-Jones; the Venerable Mark Ireland, Archdeacon of Blackburn; the Venerable David Picken, Archdeacon of Lancaster; Dean of Women’s Ministry, Rev Anne Beverley and the Bishop’s Adviser on UKME issues and Deacon for the Installation Service, Rev Sarah Gill.

As well as the Messy Installation, children and young people will be playing a key part in proceedings in a number of ways.  

The service itself, a celebration of the Eucharist of the Holy Spirit, will be sung by the Cathedral Choir alongside the Cathedral Youth Choir but, as guests first arrive, children from the following schools will be singing … 

• Langho and Billington St. Leonard's, Church of England Primary School 
• Salesbury Church of England Primary School 
• St Aidan's Church of England Primary Academy, Blackburn 
• St. Christopher's Church of England High School, Accrington (Year 7) 
• St. John's Church of England Primary School, Cliviger

As the service begins, Bishop Philip will knock on the West Door of the Cathedral with an ancient Saxon hammer.

As he enters the Cathedral he will be met by four young people who will greet him and lead the moment of Welcome. 

Other highlights on the day will be the clergy and civic processions; the Oaths of Allegiance by Bishop Philip to His Majesty the King and to the Archbishop of York and the Presentation, when the new Bishop is ‘presented’ to the congregation.  

After the service is complete, the entire congregation will be invited to a community picnic taking place in the Cathedral grounds.  

Captions for pictures above:

• Bishop Philip and Bishop Jill feature in a new video released today
• Blackburn Cathedral is the venue on Saturday and it will be packed with people from across Lancashire

Donate to Bishop Philip's charities

Bishop Philip has chosen two charities he hopes people will be able to give generously to as part of the celebration service on Saturday; they are SportsReach and Ambassadors Football UK.  

Both charities seek to equip churches in sports ministry as well as engage directly in using sport as a tool to reach people for Christ. They work predominantly with children and young people but do have something for all ages and work in Lancashire as well as across the globe. 

Click here to make a donation.

Follow on livestream

Around 1000 people will attend the Cathedral for the service on Saturday which begins at 2pm. All seats are now taken, but anyone who can’t be there in person can watch a high-quality livestream that will be broadcast here on YouTube.  

Follow on social media - live posts and tweets

• As well as the livestream you can also follow events live on our social channels on Twitter (@cofelancs and @BDBofE) and on Facebook/BlackburnDiocese

Rt Rev Philip North; short biography 

Bishop Philip was educated at the University of York and trained for ministry at St Stephen's House, Oxford.  

He served his title at St Mary the Virgin in the Diocese of Durham and was ordained priest in 1993. In 1996 +Philip took up the role of Vicar at Holy Trinity and St Mark's Hartlepool and was also appointed Area Dean of Hartlepool in 2000. 

In 2002 +Philip was appointed Priest Administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, in the Diocese of Norwich, before being appointed Team Rector of the Parish of Old St Pancras, in the Diocese of London, in 2008.  

Immediately prior to becoming Bishop of Blackburn +Philip was Bishop of Burnley; a role he was appointed to in 2015.

Previous Bishops of Blackburn  

The Bishop of Blackburn is an episcopal title used by the Diocesan Bishop of The Church of England in Lancashire (Diocese of Blackburn) in the Province of York.  

Previous Bishops …  

• 1927-1942         Percy Herbert    
• 1942-1954         Wilfred Askwith                
• 1954-1960         Walter Baddeley              
• 1960-1971         Charles Claxton               
• 1972-1981         Robert Martineau        
• 1982-1989         Stewart Cross  
• 1989-2003         Alan Chesters    
• 2004-2012         Nicholas Reade                
• 2013-2022         Julian Henderson  
• 2023-                  Philip North  

Ronnie Semley, June 2023