John Sentamu, who was named the next Archbishop of York, acknowledged the Church had gone through a "trough" and said it needed to regain its "vision and confidence" and be ready to take risks in order to reconnect with England.
The Ugandan-born Bishop of Birmingham, 56, hailed the example of the British missionaries who brought the Christian faith to his homeland and urged the Church to make its voice heard "locally, nationally and internationally". He also called for reconciliation in the rows over gay priests and women bishops which have brought the Church close to schism, urging African primates not to break with the Anglican communion in protest at the ordination of a homosexual bishop in the US.
Bishop Sentamu, who was last week appointed by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to a panel to help resolve disputes over the Church's attitude towards homosexuality, said: "What I hope is that when people violently disagree with one another in the same family, they will find a language for living together and ways of talking to one another." But he made clear he stood by the Lambeth Resolution of 1998, which rejected homosexual practice as "incompatible with scripture" and ruled out gay marriage in Church.
Looking ahead to next month's General Synod, at which fierce debate is expected over women bishops, he said: "I hope that, should we move towards ordaining women to the episcopate, those who oppose ... will still be made to feel that they belong to this particular Church, and I am sure that arrangements can be made to make that possible."
Speaking at a Press conference at Church House in Westminster to mark his elevation, Bishop Sentamu said he was "surprised" to have been chosen as the successor to David Hope, who resigned in February to become parish priest in Ilkley.
When the Archbishop elect made his formal entrance to York Minster later in the day, his first act was to kneel in silent prayer with head bowed for more than 10 minutes.
By stark contrast, his performance for the media was lively and even wandered to the fortunes of York City FC and the takeover of Manchester United, of which he had been a fan since he was 17. "I am horrified a tycoon is taking away my club," he said.
He was confident his new job would not "cramp his style", adding: "Coming here to the North where people tell it like it is is more likely to galvanise me. The voice of the North will be heard."
Earlier, the former barrister and judge who fled Idi Amin's Uganda,said: "I hope we can create a Church and a culture which is more relaxed and open to taking risks and being creative, so that the Church of England is once again a spiritual home for all English men and women."
But he issued a warning to the affluent West that its material wealth could stand in the way of personal fulfilment.
For many in the West, Descartes' "cogito ergo sum" – I think therefore I am – had been replaced by "Tesco ergo sum" – I shop therefore I am, he joked. "To judge your human happiness by how big your shopping trolley is is to miss the point," he said.
"Poverty is not acceptable, but to assume that material wealth automatically produces happiness ... history and human nature tell us that this is not the case."