“God Is Not in Santiago – He Walks Beside You Now”
In the Easter Sunday sermon at York Minster, the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, shared a message of hope and presence, encouraging people not to search for God in distant places, but to discover the risen Christ in the everyday moments of life.
Reflecting on his own experience walking the Camino de Santiago—an ancient pilgrimage route across Spain—Archbishop Stephen spoke of a fellow pilgrim, a Dutch man named Chris, who was “walking to find God.” But when the journey ended, Chris was disappointed. He hadn’t found what he was looking for.
“I told him that God doesn’t live in Santiago. Or York Minster. Or Jerusalem,” Archbishop Stephen shared. “God is either present in your next step and the next breath you are about to take, or not really present at all.”
The Archbishop’s message echoed the Easter proclamation, “He is not here. He is Risen,” reminding the congregation, gathered at York Minster, that Christ’s resurrection means he is no longer confined to a place or moment. Instead, “Jesus is present with us now—at our side, in the breaking of bread, in the quiet of closed doors, and in the cries of those in need – in our homes and streets, and in our world, in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan and in the DRC.”
“Jesus is just as likely to be found in the beggar outside the church as in the building itself,” he said, inviting all to open their eyes to where God might be meeting them in ordinary or unexpected places.
Far from being an abstract theological idea, Archbishop Stephen’s message was deeply grounded in everyday life. He urged people not to cling to a fixed idea of where or how God should be found, but instead to allow themselves to be found by God—and changed in the process.
“God is not where you expect him to be,” he concluded. “But God will lead you where you must go. God will put God’s heart in your heart. And this means that you become the place where God is encountered by others. You can become the place where the Risen Jesus is encountered today.”
As Easter morning unfolded at York Minster, with the breaking of bread and joyful hymns, the Archbishop’s words called all present to live out the resurrection, not just as a past event to remember, but a present reality to embrace.
The full text of the sermon is available at York Minster – Easter Day sermon | The Archbishop of York
