Bishop Consecration and Ordination

I’d spent ten days looking forward to Saturday. Two months ago the call went out across the Chicago Episcopal Diocese for volunteer photographers. As an “amateur” photographer and seminarian, I quickly volunteered. It didn’t require much: an afternoon meeting at the House of Hope to scout locations and then showing up early the day of the ordination/consecration. The event went off well, and Jeffrey D. Lee is now the 12th Bishop of Chicago for the Episcopal Church. Here are my four thoughts on the event:

I really don’t like incense. I was the roaming photographer for this event and I was the one kneeling in front of the processionals getting the close-up pictures. With such close locations, I couldn’t avoid the incense. The FIVE processions of priests/laity/bishops let out a big one (in terms of incense!).

Aimée was insistent in terminology: “This isn’t just a Consecration, it’s an Ordination!!!” For her, the terms mattered. And technically, she’s correct. In the Book of Common Prayer, it’s an Ordination service. I didn’t understand the difference until this past week; and I think, because of it, I (as a Disciple) want to disagree with Aimée. To insist that it’s an ordination means that the person is being ordained to a different level than the rest of the priests. To only call it a consecration implies that it’s a person still ordained to the same level of priesthood, but set apart for ministry as a bishop. Using the language of consecration starts to flatten oppressive interpretations of the hierarchy while still maintaining the functionality. Then again, who am I to talk? I’m committed to the “priesthood of all believers” and the humility of my ordination will probably get in the way of that special event. (By the way, this picture is Aimée with Bishop Benito, the bishop of Southeast Mexico).

I love that Jeff Lee “preached to the choir.” He didn’t literally preach, but the people to whom he made his vows included the choir. How do I know? He made a conscious effort to rotate and look at everyone – including the choir behind him – as he made his vows as Bishop. It was a dramatic move in every sense of the word!

My favorite moment of the service was the prayer the entire assembly (~5000 people) prayed as the bishops gathered around Jeff Lee and laid hands on him. The prayer was a simple chant that added new layers of harmony with each repetition. Veni Sancte Spiritus. It was a moment when all photography was inappropriate; the common prayer was one of yearning to encounter instead of yearning to “capture” (as we do with photographs). Come Holy Spirit. Our eyes saw stillness, but our ears heard pulsing movement.

Worship services like Saturday’s made me glad I’m a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), but also glad to be marrying an Episcopal priest. Both she’s (Heidi and the church) are awesome. 😉