The Most Rev. Sean Rowe marked the beginning of his ministry as Presiding Bishop in a chapel rather than a cathedral. In a scaled-down, livestreamed service, Rowe was installed as the 28th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church on November 2 in the Episcopal Church Center’s Chapel of Christ the Lord.
Touted as a way to encourage wider participation and reduce carbon footprint, the virtual investiture ceremony was in keeping with Rowe’s vow to reposition and streamline the Episcopal Church in light of its decline.
Rowe, formerly bishop of the dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York, requested the simpler service shortly after his election on June 26 at the 81st General Convention.
Nearly 20,000 watched the November 2 ceremony from home, with many churches hosting watch parties.
The service was a break with a tradition that dates back to 1938, when the installation service for the Rt. Rev. Henry St. George Tucker, the 19th presiding bishop, was held in the still-uncompleted Washington National Cathedral. In 1941, General Convention established Washington National Cathedral as the seat of the Presiding Bishop, and Rowe will be formally seated in the cathedra there in the coming months.
In-person attendance at Rowe’s investiture was by invitation only and limited by the chapel’s 129-seat capacity, in stark contrast to the roughly 2,500 people in attendance at Michael Curry’s 2015 investiture. Guests on November 2 included family and close friends, the president and vice president of the House of Deputies, presidents and vice presidents of the nine provinces, representatives from multicultural ministries, officers of the House of Bishops, the executive committee of Executive Council, and other key representatives.
Curry, who served as presiding bishop from 2015 to 2024, presided over the first half of the service, which included a land acknowledgment by Curry’s predecessor, Katharine Jefferts Schori, and a welcome from diocesan and investiture committee representatives and House of Deputies president Julia Ayala Harris.
Rowe preached a sermon based on the story of Lazarus in John 11:32-44, reflecting on the themes of finding life in the midst of death.
“[W]e will find ourselves, I believe, reflected in the crowd standing around Lazarus’ tomb. Over and over again, we will stand together, sometimes afraid, sometimes bewildered, looking for life, hoping for wholeness in all things. And over and over God will call us to finish the job, to wipe away the tears, to bear witness, to unbind the captives and set them free. To participate in the kingdom of God, to make it manifest in the world right here, right now,” Rowe said.
“Now this unbinding and liberating of ourselves and our structures and our hurting world will take all the resilience we can muster. It will require us to set aside our disbelief and our divisions, our attachments to the things of this world, and maybe our attachment to the way we think things ought to function,” he added.
Rowe said the work of “unbinding” will allow Episcopalians to become better stewards of their congregations and ministries, “where ministry happens.”
“In those churches where you are sitting right now, in your parish halls, in your churches, where you’re watching this happen, that’s where it’s happening. That’s where ministry is taking place. It’s in these places where faithful Episcopalians gather day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, to worship God, to celebrate and mourn their sorrows and to care for God’s people,” Rowe said.
The service incorporated various cultural traditions and languages. Water gathered from many provinces of the church was combined in the baptismal font, which was featured during the renewal of baptismal vows. The Litany for the Mission of the Church included 15 intercessors who prayed in Eastern Shoshone, Mandarin, Juba, German, Arabic, Hebrew, French, Anishinaabemowin, Spanish, English, French, and Xhosa. Live interpretation was offered in Spanish, French, Mandarin, and American Sign Language.
The service also included an in-person greeting from Bishop Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Communion Office, and the Rev. Canon Sammy Wainaina, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advisor for Anglican Communion Affairs, who delivered a message on Archbishop Welby’s behalf.
Two Anglican primates, Archbishop Mark Strange of the Episcopal Church of Scotland and Archbishop Marinez Rosa dos Santos Bassotto of the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, were present, as well as several ecumenical and interfaith guests. The service was preceded by a virtual “roll call” featuring video greetings from many of the church’s 106 dioceses.
Along with his role as chief pastor, president, and executive officer of the church’s corporate body, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, Rowe serves as chairman of Executive Council. Council will hold its first sessions under Rowe’s leadership November 7-9 in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Lauren Anderson-Cripps is a domestic correspondent for TLC.
