THE new Bishop of Plymouth has been consecrated in a service at Westminster Abbey led by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Rt Rev James Grier made history shortly before the service when he became the first new bishop to swear an oath of allegiance to King Charles III.

Speaking afterwards he said: ‘It was profound and historic, to be the first bishop consecrated under the new king feels overwhelming, humbling and momentous in terms of the honour and privilege of that role.’

As Bishop of Plymouth, he will have the whole of West Devon in his care, including Plymouth, the South Hams, Torbay and much of Dartmoor.

James grew up in Plymouth before studying for ordination in Oxford and ministering in Birmingham before returning to Devon to be a rural team vicar alongside setting up a youth church in Exeter. The venue remains fresh in people’s minds after staging the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

During the service he was presented for ordination by the Bishop of Crediton. He was also anointed with oil and presented with a Bible and a ring by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In the congregation were friends, family and members of the clergy who had travelled to London to witness the ceremony. Hymns chosen by James included Be Thou My Vision, In Christ Alone and the great Wesley hymn And Can It Be.

His wife Liz, who is training for ordination herself, helped administer the wine during communion and his sons read two of the Bible readings.

The service was taking place on the feast day of St Michael and All Angels. The theme of angels was picked-up in the sermon, which was given by the Rt Rev’d Graham Tomlin, who recently stepped down as Bishop of Kensington to establish the new Centre for Cultural Witness.

He told James his role was to “Be a messenger who deals in the good news of Jesus Christ and an angel to the people of Plymouth.”

After the service James said: ‘That for me is what ministry is about, it’s about bringing the good news of Jesus Christ.

‘The God of the universe is bigger than our struggles, he has defeated evil and he brings us hope. ‘That is what I will be saying wherever I am and whatever I am doing, Jesus loves people, he wants to travel with them and give them hope and purpose.’

One of the new bishop’s first acts after being consecrated was to undertake a six-day ‘Going in Prayer’ walking pilgrimage from Exeter Cathedral to St Andrew’s Church in Plymouth which finished on Friday, October 7.

After that, he will be officially welcomed to the Diocese of Exeter with an installation service at Exeter Cathedral on Sunday 9 October at 3pm.