The new Bishop of Bath and Wells was installed during a service at Wells Cathedral yesterday.
The Rt Rev Peter Hancock became the 79th Bishop of Bath and Wells in front of more than 1,000 people who packed into the church.
"Lord, it is good to be here," he said in a sermon that demonstrated the humility and humour which will stand him in good stead as he begins his ministry.
He acknowledged the "furore" over whether the new bishop should reside in the Bishop's Palace ("That's now been resolved and we thank God for that") and his pleasure to find that two of the new-born cygnets on the Bishop's Palace Moat have been named Peter and Jane ("What more could an incoming bishop want than two cygnets named after him?").
Lady Gass, Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset, one of many dignitaries in the congregation, had earlier prompted laughter and applause when she also alluded to the Bishop's Palace controversy.
During several greetings to the bishop by civic and ecclesiastical figures, she said: "We hope that you and your wife Jane will be very happy in your new home in Wells."
The arrival of the bishop a few minutes into the one hour 45-minute service was announced by muffled applause from well-wishers standing outside on Cathedral Green.
Then the bishop struck the West door three times with his staff, hard enough to make it shake on its hinges, before the door was thrown open to reveal him standing there in a simple white robe.
"Who are you and why are you here?" a child challenged him.
"I am Peter, a pilgrim and servant of Jesus Christ," the bishop replied.
As the service progressed, the white robe was hidden beneath the pectoral cross, the stole, the coronation cope and the mitre.
Then followed the Enthronement, greeted by a fanfare, and at that moment sunlight burst through the leaded windows high above us, making the stonework glow in a lattice-work of light.
In his welcome address, the Very Rev John Clarke, Dean of Wells, had said: "It is good to see such a full cathedral."
The challenge for the new bishop now is to fill the places of worship across the diocese on a regular basis, and to reach out to a younger generation than was in evidence here.
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