 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Tuesday, June 28, 2022 Reflection #1 on the Ordination and Consecration of The Rt Rev Jos Tharakan  What do we think it means? Someone commented on one of my many posts about Jos’ ordination, that there was a “whole lot of ceremony!” It’s true. We Episcopalians love parades, costumes, and liturgical complications. We just do. But beneath those ordered rituals and ceremonial details is a dignity and a beauty that can’t be missed when you actually participate in them. Nothing is actually as silly as it might at first seem to an outsider. There are historical and liturgical reasons for all of those things, and even before you understand them, people do recognize and sense the solemnity and the beauty. If you did not watch the service, I urge you to do so. It is still available on the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho Facebook page or on the Diocese of Idaho YouTube channel. This week I want to highlight a few aspects of the service. Who was included? There were actually four sequential processions led by representatives of the various cultural groups in the Diocese –The first was led in to music by the Mariachi Band, Canteras de Mexico, and included lay civic leaders, lay members of the various diocesan councils and committees, diocesan staff, the search committee and the transition committee whose members did everything to prepare for Jos’ welcome to Idaho – a huge job. The laity are the heart of the Church, ordinary Christians who make up the largest share of the Church’s ministers. It is right that they should enter first. No decisions, including the choice of a bishop, are ever made by clergy alone. Lay people have equal voice and equal vote. No episcopal election can proceed without the consent and affirmation of lay persons, no matter what the clergy want. That is one of our great strengths.The second procession was accompanied by music from a Basque singer; you Missourians may not remember how Idaho was populated by Basque sheep herders who still work in those mountains.This procession included of the minister of ceremonies, the readers of testimonials, presenters of gifts, the cantors, the litanist, and the Bible readers.The “readers of the testimonials” are important. Not only do we require that a new bishop meet certain requirements, we require proof that they have been met. So early in the service, in turn, the secretary of the Election Convention read the certificate of his election by lay and clergy members of the diocese, dated and signed; the Church’s lawyer, (the chancellor,) read the letter testifying to the legitimacy of the election;There was a letter proving his earlier ordination to the priesthood; A letter that stated that a majority of the Standing Committees in the Episcopal Church – mostly lay members – consented to his election; and finally, evidence that a majority of the Episcopal bishops had given their consent. This sounds tedious. But it is important. Nobody can assume this office without the support of the whole church; and without evidence of a legitimate election process. The third procession was again led by music, this time by a cantor from the Native American congregation at Fort Hall. Those who are postulants for ordination, clergy and bishops representing other denominations, and interfaith representatives – followed by Episcopal clergy: Deacons, Priests and finally the Bishop-Elect. We always include ecumenical clergy; the church is one in all of its many manifestations. And we include representatives of other faiths; together we stand a people beloved of God. The fourth procession included, as did all the others, a verger (who shows everyone where to go) a Crucifer (the cross of the risen Lord is the central symbol of our faith) and then the large Diocesan Banner. Just behind the banner came the preacher.In this case, I was that one; hardly anyone seems to have seen it, but I stepped on my alb and fell on the first step up to the the altar area. It seems almost no one noticed, because, thankfully, their eyes were on the dozen young bishops, the co-consecrating bishops and the Presiding bishop who followed me!It actually helped calm my nerves, though; I figured I had already messed up, so whatever happened later would have to be better than that!). Those many bishops were gorgeous in their red vestments, the color of Pentecost, of the Holy Spirit and therefore of ordinations, and also of the feasts of martyrs, (although I am not sure they they think enough of that part.) And so we all sang the first of the hymns Jos chose for this service. Each ordination is different, because the bishop-elect has wide freedom to fill in the blanks – We have order, but so much variety within that. And the selections are deliberate.The first hymn was, The Church’s One Foundation – and it felt exactly right. The Lord Jesus is not the foundation of the Episcopal Church only, but the foundation of the entire Church. Once we were gathered and seated, representatives from Idaho and West Missouri, lay and clergy, stood and together presented Jos to the Presiding Bishop, asking that he “consecrate him a bishop in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. “The testimonial letters were read. Then Jos made the required declaration – which every ordained person also makes at our ordinations: “I solemnly declare that I do believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church.” He signed that declaration in public, as did the co-consecrating bishops as witnesses.The Presiding Bishop asked if anyone knew any reason why we should not proceed. When no one offered any objection, He then asked, Is it your will that we should ordain Jos as bishop? And the people all responded “That is our will” accompanied by thunderous applause and cheers! |
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