He later became General Secretary of the British Council of Churches and (as a conscious disciple of William Temple and a close supporter of Bishop George Bell) an Anglican representative at World Council of Churches conferences.

He retired from those roles in 1955 to parish ministry in Hatfield (with the linked office of chaplain to the Marquess of Salisbury).

After his consecration as bishop in 1961, Say took a seat in the House of Lords from 1969 to 1988 (speaking there in 1986 on the admission of women into Holy Orders as deacons) and for some years deputised for the Archbishop of Canterbury as chairman of the board of governors of the Church Commissioners.

He also spoke in General Synod in favour of church marriages for divorcés (1983) and of Anglican-Methodist reunion.

[1] On Say's death, the Bishop of Dover, Stephen Venner, said: Say's funeral service was celebrated in the nave of Canterbury Cathedral on 27 September 2006 and a public memorial service was held on 2 February 2007 in Rochester Cathedral (with a sermon by the then Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali).