DUDLEY’S new bishop will be ordained at a service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury next week.

Cannon Graham Usher will officially take up his new post on Tuesday March 25 when he will be consecrated as a bishop in St Paul’s Catherdral.

During the service Dudley’s new top man of the cloth will be called upon to serve and care for the flock of Christ, confront injustice and work for peace.

Cannon Graham Usher said: “I’m really looking forward, though with some degree of apprehension, to the ordination and consecration service in St Paul’s Cathedral. I’m humbled that so many people want to be there or have assured me of their prayers.

“The day has involved so many different people in its planning, for which I’m most grateful, and I’m delighted that close friends will be joining the Archbishop of Canterbury and the other bishops in taking part in the service. A particular joy will be having music representing many different strands from my Christian journey.

“Whilst such occasions do have a tendency to focus on an individual, the service is a celebration of the many different gifts that the Church gives and receives, and as such will encourage us all as we seek to follow Jesus and serve our neighbour.

As they say in the Black Country, it will be bostin’”

The new Dudley bishop will be formally welcomed to the Diocese of Worcester on Saturday May 3 at a service at Top Church, Dudley at 4pm, and then installed in Worcester Cathedral at Evensong at 4pm on Sunday May 4.

His ministry in the Diocese, working alongside the Bishop of Worcester, will begin after these services.

He will replace the Right Rev David Walker who left Dudley in October to take up a new job as Bishop of Manchester.