The newly-appointed suffragan Bishop of Doncaster presided over a Holy Communion service featuring ‘Gaia’ as the centrepiece when she was vicar of the prestigious Lancaster Priory in Blackburn Diocese.

Introducing a video of the service in July 2022, promoted on the Church of England’s YouTube channel, the Rev Leah Vasay-Saunders said:

‘Lancaster Priory is hosting a 26-day Festival of the Earth, of which the centrepiece is Luke Jerram’s world-renowned installation, “Gaia”. We have been thinking about how we create opportunities as people visit our church and experience the awe and wonder of this art to enable them to see and experience something of the work of God in our world and through the work of God’s Church.’

Mr Jerram’s website says of this touring artwork measuring seven metres (around 23 feet) in diameter: ‘When presented indoors, the Earth artwork slowly revolves. A specially made surround sound composition by BAFTA award winning Composer Dan Jones is played alongside thesculpture. In Greek Mythology Gaia is the personification of the Earth.’

The Gaia, suspended from the ceiling of the Priory above the chancel, revolved continuously during the service, which involved staff and pupils from Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy.

Announcing Bishop-designate Vasey-Saunders’s appointment on May 29, the Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Pete Wilcox, said: ‘I am absolutely delighted by Leah’s appointment! I thank God for calling to our Diocese a gifted, missionary disciple of the Lord Jesus, who is passionate about the proclamation of the Gospel and about the transformation of human lives and communities, and all creation, in anticipation of the coming Kingdom of God.

‘Leah is a born pastor, who forms partnerships easily and I know people across South Yorkshire and the East Riding (both within the Church of England and beyond it) will quickly warm to her and trust her. Personally, I am looking forward very much to her consecration as a bishop in September and to the prospect of working closely with her.’

During LGBT Pride month in June 2022, Lancaster Priory hosted the ‘Queering the Dream’ exhibition featuring artwork by the American radical Left-wing activist,  Rev Dr Angela Yarber. Dr Yarber travelled from Florida for the event.

Julian Mann, a former Church of England vicar, is an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire, UK.