The new Bishop of Dover has used her first sermon in the role to preach against division.

The Rt Revd Dr Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Church's first black female bishop, was installed into the post by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a special service at Canterbury Cathedral this afternoon.

She had previously been Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons for nine years and is a former Chaplain to the Queen.

She replaces the Rt Rev Trevor Willmott who retired earlier this year after 10 years in the post.

Speaking at her installation, she said: "Let us think what it might look like for us here in Kent, if the name of Jesus enabled us to be a unifying body.

"That instead of focusing on the things that separate us, we focused on the things that we share in common.

"What if we were to discover that God, through Jesus does indeed sneak out those great doors and is right there in the community with us, urging us to think of his justice, mercy and his compassion for the whole world. What if we were to recognise his presence as we seek to ensure that the resources we have been blessed with is not for amassing personal wealth but to be shared in such a way that our brothers and sisters in poverty is no longer in need?

"We are deeply mistaken if the kind of relationship we seek with God is so personal and private that we exclude our brothers and sisters around us or indeed as we are in Kent, on the frontier if we exclude our brothers and sisters from another mother."

The Rt Revd Dr Rose Hudson-Wilkin was consecrated as Bishop of Dover at St Paul's Cathedral on November 19.

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