A church in the heart of the city, with a heart for the city

Wales archbishop meets with Paris cathedral’s Rainbow Ministry, preaches

March 18, 2026

[Episcopal News Service] Church in Wales Archbishop Rev. Cherry Vann, in her first time preaching in the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, talked about seeing beyond appearances, not jumping to judgment and looking into the hearts of one another, especially those with whom one disagrees or those whose identities, gender or sexuality conflict with long-held beliefs. “We have to work hard not just to see but to discern,” Vann said in her March 15 sermon to the American Cathedral’s congregation in Paris, France. “To see below the surface, to look with eyes enlightened by our faith in Jesus Christ, to discern what is good and true and right, not just in front of our eyes, but in the depths of our hearts.” Ordained a deacon in the Church of England in 1989 and then a priest in 1994, Vann first served in the Diocese of Manchester before she was elected bishop of the Diocese of Monmouth in Wales and then, last year, primate of the Church in Wales. She is the United Kingdom’s first female and first openly lesbian and partnered archbishop. She is also the first partnered lesbian to serve as a primate in the Anglican Communion. Vann’s sermon echoed the day’s readings, Samuel’s judgment, 1 Samuel 16:1-13; the healing of the blind man, from John 9:1-41; and what it means to live in the light, from Ephesians 5:8-14, and for the people of God to “live as children of the light.” It’s what being a follower of Jesus and living the Christian life really means, she said, not holding rigidly to rules and religious practice, but expressing an openness and willingness to travel new paths leading to discoveries and understanding of oneself and others. “It’s a very pastoral message for people to hear, and not just for people who identify as LGBTQIA+, but I think for all people to know that God sees us for who we are,” Angelina Stelmach Blundell, the cathedral’s junior warden and a Rainbow Ministry leader, told Episcopal News Service, noting the human temptation to judge one another. There’s a tendency, she added, for humans to keep to themselves and separate from others, which is the opposite of God’s intention for humanity to be unified in Christ and a testament to God’s love to the world. “God calls us toward an inner integrity and a unity out in the world and in the church,” Stelmach Blundell said. “If we can look into our own hearts to see who we really are as we dwell in Christ, then I think we equip ourselves all the better to see Christ in one another.” Since the start of her ministry and still today, Vann believes God called her to serve. One of the three tenets of her ministry as archbishop is to tend to relationships with one another. Vann believes that individual relationships built on trust and openness help people see beyond differences and recognize their true selves; she has witnessed this in her own life. “I think that’s incumbent upon us as Christians to dispel fears and anxieties, and I think we do that by building good one-to-one relationships with one another,” Vann told ENS. It happened for her, she said, in Manchester with the clergy opposed to women’s ordination. “We met for 20 years to talk, to pray, to eat together. And slowly – and it was slowly – over the years, over time, we became good friends,” Vann said. “And they were amongst the first to congratulate me when I became archbishop, which is quite extraordinary.” Not everyone, however, in the United Kingdom and conservative parts of the Anglican Communion was pleased to see a woman in a same-sex relationship elevated to primate. Even so, that doesn’t deter her. If relationship-building can happen in the context of gender, working with people opposed to women clergy, she said, then it can happen in the context of sexuality and same-sex relationships. “We’re not here to change people’s minds; I think God does that. But I am here to be me and to be unashamedly the person that God has created me to be and to reach out in love and friendship and a desire to connect with whoever will connect with me,” Vann said. Vann will be in Canterbury on March 25 for the historic installation of 106th Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, the first woman to hold the office in its over 1,400-year history. “I really am hoping that at the installation of the new archbishop of Canterbury, when all the primates will be invited, that they will come and that they will feel able to be in the same room with me, and we can start to talk and to listen to one another and to learn to respect where one another is coming from,” she said. Vann preached to a full house at Holy Trinity, commonly referred to as the American Cathedral in Paris, on the fourth Sunday in Lent. “The church in Europe was elated at the news of Archbishop Vann’s election as primate of the Church in Wales — but like many others, we were grieved at the truly unchristian comments made by some in the church about her elevation to this ministry. We can’t do much to stop mindless hate, but at least we can show our admiration and solidarity with Archbishop Vann by inviting her to the pulpit of the cathedral of the Episcopal Church in Europe — and we learned so much from her,” the Rt. Rev. Mark Edington, bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe and dean of the cathedral, told ENS. “[She] has profound gifts as a bridge-builder and reconciler. She has worked among those historically marginalized by the church … and for decades she has patiently and prayerfully built and maintained relationships with those who have rejected the idea of equality in the church.” On the eve of the cathedral’s Sunday service, Vann […]