The crowds started to gather outside the doors before 8 a.m., though they couldn't get in before 10 a.m. A gospel choir, and bands with saxophones, guitars, keyboards, electric bass, violins, and percussion kept the energy high as the hour drew near for the historic ceremony.

At 10:50 a.m. Native American drummers led the opening procession using feathers to raise their blend of sweetgrass, sage and cedar incense; nearly 150 bishops followed them, then liturgical assistants. Acolytes swirled kites with long, colorful streamers. The congregation began singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy"; more kites with gold and silver streamers appeared, along with liturgical dancers, and the current presiding bishop welcomed the assembly. A welcoming party walked to the inside edge of the front doors to the National Cathedral.

Then, at 11:09 a.m. in a historic, symbolic ritual, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori knocked three times on the outer door of the Cathedral, with the end of her crosier. The Cathedral's dean opened the door on our behalf, welcoming her in to both the House of God and to the challenge and gift of her office. It was a historic moment!

Through the language of the liturgy, we greeted her, she thanked us, she committed herself to her new trust and responsibility, and we promised to do all we could to support and uphold her in her new ministry. The Cathedral's dean invited her to preside in the day's Eucharistic assembly, and the welcoming party led Bishop Jefferts Schori to the raised platform and altar at the Cathedral crossing.

There was so much ritual in the procession, with dancers and liturgical kites, along with applause and welcome, that it took about four minutes to walk down the aisle. It was like a wedding, in some ways. (A really BIG wedding.) Her vestments themselves made a startling statement, tributes to God's creation in earth. Their colors reminded me of the mountains from the West; sunsets; the deep blue of skies; the green of forests; and the blue- green of oceans.

After Jefferts Schori arrived at the crossing, she received the Gospel book, water for Baptism, and bread and wine, given by people from her ministries in Oregon and Nevada; the oil for healing and reconciliation, given by a Muslim woman professor of law, a woman rabbi from Nevada, and the Archbishop of Capetown, South Africa; and the primatial staff from current Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold. After receiving the symbol of the authority of her new office, Bishop Jefferts Schori asked God "to renew in us today the grace to follow where the Spirit leads us, reaching forth our hands in love and reconciling the world to Christ." We replied, "Amen," and Bishop Griswold invited us to greet our 26th presiding bishop, which we did with great, loud enthusiasm.

The sun shone through the huge stained glass windows of the Cathedral, making wonderful colored patterns on the stone columns as the Liturgy of the Word began. In her homily, Bishop Jefferts Schori talked about home, and about shalom, and gave us personal responsibility in bringing about God's kingdom. True home is home in God she said, and, quoting Robert Frost, added that "home is the place where, when you go there, they have to take you in." We all long for that, she said.

"That vision of homegoing and homecoming that underlies our deepest spiritual yearnings is also the job assignment each one of us gets in baptism -- go home, and while you're at it, help to make a home for everyone else on earth." Shalom, she said, is the Hebrew word for that vision and that work. "It doesn't just mean the sort of peace that comes when we're no longer at war. It is that rich and multihued vision of a world where no one goes hungry because everyone is invited to a seat at the groaning board, a world where no one is sick or in prison because all sorts of disease have been healed, a world where every human being has the capacity to use every good gift God has given, where no one enjoys abundance at the expense of another, where all enjoy Sabbath rest in the conscious presence of God. Shalom means all human beings live together as siblings, at peace with one another and with God, and in right relationship with the rest of creation."

"To say 'shalom' is to know our own place and to invite and affirm the place of all the rest of creation, once more at home in God."

Hers is an inclusive vision of the Church of God where everyone is welcome, satisfied, and healed "of the wounds and lessenings that are part of the not-yet-ness of creation." Our task is small, but huge: "Unless each of the members of the body enjoys shalom we shall not live as one. The health of our neighbors, in its broadest understanding, is the mission God has given us." What often prevents us from this vision of shalom, she said, are apathy and fear, and the cure for each is a deep and abiding hope.

In a reference to the day's Gospel lesson, she said that Scripture shall be fulfilled in our hearing in the will to make peace with one who disdains our theological position; in the will "to look within our own hearts and confront the shadows that darken the dream God has planted there;" when we "reach beyond our narrow self-interest to call another home;" in acts of individuals and nations "to seek the good of the other, in which our own good and final homecoming is enwrapped."

"Shalom, chaverim [a Hebrew word meaning "good friends" or "comrades"], shalom, my friends, shalom," she said, ending her homily.

The service, which included a renewal of the Baptismal Covenant, ended with her final blessing, delivered in Spanish, at 12:45 p.m. Afterwards, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori stood on a platform at the baptismal font to greet well-wishers who came to bring greetings and their best wishes, as well as to ask her for blessings and autographs.

"This has been an absolutely joyful day for the Church and for me," said Bishop Andrew D. Smith, afterwards. "There were several times during the service that I was moved to tears: during the singing of the hymns; at the times when the symbols of authority were given to a woman for the very first time; Katharine's direct address to us, to build on the foundation that Presiding Bishop Griswold has laid in reconciliation and rebuilding the Church, with her call, now, to move out into the world with the shalom, the peace of the Gospel. Now it's time to do that strongly, and I feel that the Church is in a tremendously vital day."

Ted Mollegen, from Glastonbury, served on the nominating committee for the presiding bishop. "I wouldn't have missed [today's event] for the world!" he said. When asked what he heard from today's sermon, he said it was that we're all a family and should act that way. "She didn't put it in those words, but that's what I heard," he said. "And, that baptism brought us into the family." Anne Rowthorn, Salem resident and author of the recent book, Your Daily Life is Your Ministry, said the sermon hit the most important issues of our times, for the nation, the world, and the Church. "I'm very pleased she wanted to affirm the Millennium Development Goals, and I think she's off to a very good start," Rowthorn said, adding that she wished Bishop Jefferts Schori had added "war" to the list of the negative aspects of creation. "But I thought it was a beautiful, buoyant, lovely, colorful, musical service, that covered most bases," she said. Rowthorn was among those who greeted the new PB at the baptismal font after the service. "It's wonderful to see her smile," she said. "I think she represents a new day for us."

ENS has several articles from Saturday's investiture, and a photo gallery, and has launched a separate website for the new presiding bishop. The Church, along with Morehouse Publishing, is promoting her new book, A Wing and a Prayer, that is scheduled for publication next February but can be pre-ordered now. The Investiture webcast will be available for viewing on Monday, November 6 through the Episcopal Church website.