Dr John Sentamu - Archbishop of York
At this year's Speaker of the Year Dinner we were honoured to have The Most Reverend and Right Honourable, Dr John Sentamu, The Archbishop of York, as Speaker of the Year 2007. The dinner was held in York itself and over 100 members and guests attended, raising over £500 for the Minster Restoration Fund.
Presentation of the Mappin & Webb Speaker Of The Year Silver Plate to Dr Sentamu by
ASC National President, Gwyn Redgers
Dr John Sentamu was born in 1949 in a village near Kampala, Uganda, the sixth of thirteen children.
He was educated for the law at Makerere University, Kampala, and practised as an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda.
John Sentamu was appointed a High Court Judge in 1973 at the age of 24 by the newly-ascended, Idi Amin. Sentamu’s judicial independence earned the Dictator’s ire, however, and he suffered threats and physical violence before fleeing in 1974 to the United Kingdom.
He read Theology at Selwyn College in Cambridge - BA, 1976; MA, MPhil 1979; PhD 1984. His training for the priesthood was at Ridley Hall, Cambridge and he was ordained a Priest in 1979. He then worked as Assistant Chaplain at Selwyn College and subsequently as Chaplain at a Remand Centre.
Then followed a series of appointments as Curate, Priest and Vicar in various parishes. In 1996 came his Consecration as Bishop of Stepney - A Suffragan Bishop in the Diocese of London. It was during this time that John Sentamu was called to serve as Advisor to the Stephen Lawrence Judicial Enquiry. In 2002 he chaired the Damilola Taylor Review. That same year he was appointed Bishop of Birmingham where his Ministry, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was praised by ‘Christians of all backgrounds’.
On June 17, 2005 his appointment came as the 97th Archbishop of York. After his formal election he was enthroned on 30th November 2005 at York Minster in a remarkable ceremony with African singing and dancing and contemporary music with the Archbishop himself playing African drums during the service.
Dr Sentamu is pictured with Graeme Miller receiving an ASC Gavel and Block as a memento of this occasion