IT was bitterly cold and the air cut to the bone with ice-like intensity, but the atmosphere in York Minster yesterday was far from freezing.

The warmth was tangible as the clergy of the Church of England's Northern Province embraced their new archbishop and welcomed him into their fold.

They raised their voices high; they bobbed about to traditional African hymns and they ignored temperatures hovering near zero.

And they clapped and cheered with genuine enthusiasm as Ugandan-born Dr John Sentamu became the 97th - and first black - Archbishop of York.

So it was fitting that the ancient service, while retaining all its solemnity, was also an occasion for celebration, affection and laughter.

The celebration came with African singers and dancers, complete with feathered head-dresses and their joyous, up-tempo music and actions.

At one point in the proceedings the 56-year-old Archbishop even joined in the drumming himself.

The affection was clear from the reaction of the 3,000-strong congregation to a service largely free from stuffiness.

And the laughter came from a sermon in which the new Archbishop was not afraid of lacing his serious message about the state of the Church in England with some light-heartedness - although he did not shrink from speaking out.

"It's a scandal of the Church in England that in the past decades, it has tried everything except to stick to Jesus' plan for the world," he said.

He spoke of "corporate-discipleship" and "fraternal-belonging" as the planks on which the Church of England was based.

"The scandal of the church is that the Christ-event is no longer life-changing, it has become life-enhancing," he said.

"We've lost the joy and power that makes real disciples and we've become consumers of religion and not disciples of Jesus Christ."

From the start yesterday's service was that little bit different.

The new Archbishop arrived in the city from Bishopthorpe Palace aboard a pleasure boat on the River Ouse, accompanied by African drummers.

And royalty was unable to make the occasion.

The Queen's cousin, the Duke of Gloucester, had been due to attend, but his plan to travel by helicopter had to be abandoned because of freezing rain in the York area.

The Duchess of Gloucester, who had not been due to attend the enthronement, tried to go in her husband's place at the last minute by train. But a fatality on the line disrupted the services and she only got as far as Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

But the crowds turned out in force to greet the new Archbishop, who wore a spectacularly-colourful cope and mitre designed by Kathy Priddis, wife of the Bishop of Hereford, and based on the tree of life.

The Minster was filled to over-flowing and the hundreds who could not be squeezed in poured instead into the neighbouring church of St Michael-le-Belfry, where a huge television screen relayed the service.

And they were not forgotten when the service, which lasted more than two hours, came to an end. To their obvious delight, Dr Sentamu made his way across to speak in person

In the Minster, hundreds of clergy, including bishops, priests and deacons, craned their necks with the rest of the congregation to catch all the aspects of the service.

At the beginning of the ceremony, the Archbishop entered the cathedral with a pastoral staff made from an olive tree in Bethlehem.

During the service he received a silver pastoral staff, symbolising the pastoral care of diocese and province.

The Braganza Crozier has been in use in the Minster with little interruption since 1688. It is used by the archbishops when functioning in the cathedral.

And after Dr Sentamu was anointed with the "oil of gladness" by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, they burst into spontaneous clapping and cheering.

Outside the Minster and inside St Michael-le-Belfry hundreds of coloured balloons were released as the Archbishop paused at the Great West Door to bless the city, diocese and province.

But a planned release of a flock of doves of peace was called off in deference to the weather and the possible reaction of the birds.

When the service was over the crowds remained to enjoy a picnic in the cathedral with their newly-enthroned Primate.

About 3,600 packed lunches had been ordered from Marks and Spencer - and the faithful happily tucked into vegetable wraps, flapjacks, fruit and crisps.

Some of them even completed Sudoku and crossword puzzles, which had been provided for everyone to help pass the time during the inevitable waiting around.