Archbishop who found God through Robert Powell*
*The star of TV miniseries Jesus of Nazareth changed the young Stephen Cottrell’s life for ever
WHEN the newly appointed Archbishop of York found his faith, it was not the typical road to Damascus experience that one would expect of a senior member of the Church of England.
But as the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell – who was yesterday announced as the replacement for Archbishop John Sentamu upon his retirement next June – sat down on a Sunday night to watch the ITV miniseries Jesus of Nazareth starring Robert Powell, he encountered a story that “would change my life for ever”.
Now, decades later, the current Bishop of Chelmsford is set to take up the second most senior post in the Church.
“There wasn’t much church in my growing up,” Bishop Cottrell, 61, admitted yesterday.
“One of my first introductions to the Christian story was Zeffirelli’s Jesus of
Nazareth, which was serialised on the TV on Sunday evenings. As I sat and watched it, I wept. My mum told me to ‘pull yourself together’.
“Well, here I am, nearly 50 years later and I still can’t quite believe it, the Archbishop of York designate, and I have to tell you, I couldn’t pull myself together then and I have been unable to pull myself together ever since.”
Born and raised in a “very ordinary family” in Leigh-on-sea, Essex, Bishop Cottrell attended a secondary modern school before studying art at the Polytechnic of Central London.
He went on to work in the film industry, where he earned the title of “second assistant director”, but told colleagues that he was “basically a glorified tea boy – the bottom rung on a very long ladder”.
He was ordained at the age of 26 and has worked in the Church ever since.
Much like the way he he discovered his faith, Bishop Cottrell’s background – particularly his education – is surprisingly different to other high-ranking clergy.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, attended Eton College before Trinity College, Cambridge.
The current Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, also studied at Cambridge.
Figures show that half of the bishops in the Church were privately educated, with 42 per cent going on to take a first degree at Oxbridge.
“I am aware when I am with my dear brother and sister bishops that my experience of education is very different from theirs,” Bishop Cottrell said.
“Sometimes, being really honest, I feel a little bit exposed because I think I didn’t have the education opportunities they had and therefore don’t have the hinterland of stuff that they have, but generally I find it an advantage.
“I’m a boy from a very ordinary family, from a secondary modern school in Essex, who is now called to be the Archbishop of York.”
Bishop Cottrell, who has served as the Bishop of Chelmsford for the past nine years, is a father of three sons and his wife, Rebecca, is a professional potter.
His appointment comes despite rumours that the post would be given to a woman, creating the first ever female Archbishop in the Church of England.
Bishop Cottrell said that he has “no doubt” a female Archbishop will be appointed in the coming years, adding: “I don’t think we are that far away. But you are stuck with us for a little while.”
Bishop Cottrell used his opening speech yesterday to say that the Church must undergo “an interior change”.
“I will be a particular voice for the North, where discrepancies of wealth and opportunity are most evident,” he added. “Having lived in the North of England, there is a north-south divide. It is shockingly real.”
‘As I watched it, I wept. My mum told me ‘pull yourself together’. Well, here I am, years later...’
‘I will be a particular voice for the North, where discrepancies of wealth are most evident’