The Rt Rev David Railton has been consecrated and installed as the new Bishop of Argyll & The Isles at a special service in Oban.
Bishop David succeeds Bishop Keith Riglin, who passed away in September last year after a short illness.
The consecration at The Cathedral Church of St John the Divine, at the heart of what was described during the service as “the most romantic see in Christendom”, was led by the Most Rev Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross & Caithness and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. He was joined by other members of the College in the act of consecration – laying of hands on the new Bishop, with prayer.
Bishop David, who was elected earlier this year, was entrusted with the Diocesan Crozier, and presented with other symbols of the Office of a Bishop – a ring, cross and mitre.
After the service, the new Bishop said it was a “privilege and a delight” to have been joined by friends and family, and people from across the Diocese, “to mark this moment of transition – for me personally, and for the Diocese and indeed Province, as a new Bishop joins the College of Bishops.”
He continued: “Thank you to everyone who came in person and to the many who were watching the service online – thank you for your support and prayers. Thank you to all those involved in preparing for the day, particularly the Diocesan staff, the Dean, and the Cathedral congregation.
“I’m looking forward to being with the congregations across the Diocese in the days and weeks to follow. There are, of course, challenges ahead, but if we do what we do with joy in our hearts, and if we continue to put our trust in God, I know the Spirit will continue to shine brightly across this wonderful part of God’s creation.”
The sermon was given by The Very Rev Dr John Davies, Dean Emeritus of Wells Cathedral, under whom Bishop David was a curate. Dr Davies offered praise and encouragement to the Scottish Episcopal Church for its “theological depth, beautiful liturgy, good connections in society, a willingness to be radical and inclusive, and a sense of being happy in your own skin as a tradition”.
He told the 200 assembled guests: “My sense is that you are where the Church of England will be before so very long. And the integrity of your life, ahead of us, and a beacon to us south of the border, has struck me very deeply.
“Lately I have looked north and I see that you are creatively and with an impressive integrity well ahead of us. Perhaps your history means you have never had a distorting sense of entitlement. You’ve lived so long with a clear sense of identity as a small church, ready to serve locally but treading lightly in your settings. You seem ready to challenge or comfort but you do not intrude or presume.”
He concluded: “Long ago Cardinal Newman said that individuals and churches have a deep instinct, a profound hunch, what he called an ‘illative sense’, that leads them to God through Christ, and also helps the making of sound judgements in the light of that faith. Your deep hunch, your ‘illative sense’, has led you to ask David to be a bishop, and not any bishop but bishop of the most romantic see in Christendom, surely.
“If you are choosing people like him to embody and incarnate your tradition, your hopes and your fears, then surely something profoundly of God is at work on this day in St John’s Cathedral, Oban.”
A former pharmacist in both hospital and retail, Bishop David was ordained in 2008 in the Diocese of Derby where he was the Vicar of three churches and Ordained Chaplain to the Bishop of Derby, before moving to Darlington in the Diocese of Durham in 2015, where he was Vicar of three churches and Area Dean of Darlington.
In April 2019, he moved to Dunoon to become the Rector of the linked charge of Holy Trinity Dunoon and St Paul’s Rothesay. His consecration makes him the second consecutive Rector from those charges to become a Bishop, following the election of Bishop Andrew Swift in Brechin in 2018.
Bishop David is a keen hiker and Munro-bagger, and has climbed 186 of the 282 mountain peaks in Scotland over 3,000 feet in height. He also enjoys cooking and bread-making, and has recently taken up stand-up paddle boarding although he admits he spends more time falling off than standing up at this stage.
He is married to Sarah, who works for NHS Highlands and Islands, and they have two grown-up children – a daughter Alice, married to Martin, and a son Sam, all of whom live in London.
A recording of the consecration service can be watched here.
The full text of the sermon can be read here.
