Burn, she said. Burn brightly like a saint, burning through the stubble of life, lit with the fire of the Holy Spirit through your willingness to be vulnerable to the pain and suffering around you.

That was the All Saints’ Day message delivered by the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori at her seating in Washington National Cathedral on November 5, the day after her investiture as our 26th presiding bishop.

The service began just before 11 a.m. and the Cathedral was packed again. The Native American drummers, and smudgers with their earthy incense, were back, as were the kites with gold and silver ribbons, the liturgical dancers, the gospel choir and the SOL band with its saxophones and percussion. “Bishop Katharine,” as she was called by Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III, wore her new cope today, of stunning desert colors. Her husband, daughter, and son-in-law were welcomed.

She was taken up toward the high altar and seated in the “chair appointed to [her] office,” though the rubrics said she was taken “to her stall in the Great Choir.”

“O Holy God, in Christ you make all things new,” she said. “Today in this house of prayer for all people, I devote myself to your service.” To an outsider an elaborate chair-seating ritual may seem a bit over the top, but there’s lots of symbolism here. Later, Dean Lloyd said that though many of us couldn’t see her being seated, “I have to say that it (the cathedra, or seat/stall) looked like it was made for her.” We all applauded loudly.

In her sermon, the new presiding bishop said that saints are those who are vulnerable to the “gut- wrenching pain” of this world. “Some of us have to be seized by the throat or thrown into the tomb before we can find that depth of compassion. And perhaps unless we are, we won’t leave our comfortable narrow lives – or our remarkably nasty ones – to wake up and begin to answer that pain."

"Die to the old, be unbound, come out into abundant life in service to the world. Wake up and notice the suffering around us. .. Let the pain of this world seize us by the throat.”

Afterwards, we renewed our Baptismal Covenant again, and were sprinkled with holy water again. Bishop Katharine celebrated the Eucharist, using a Eucharistic prayer from the supplemental book Enriching Our Worship. The presiding bishop’s blessing, following the post-communion prayer, was adapted from the New Zealand Prayer Book and said, in part, “May God give you grace to follow the saints in faith and hope and love; May God give you grace to follow the saints in faith and truth and gentleness; May God, who makes saints of sinners, raise and strengthen you, that you may transform the world.”

Home; shalom; burning; and vulnerability: some of the phrases and images from Jefferts Schori/Bishop Katharine this weekend. Probably because I'm a woman, I'm struck that she has taken a typically assigned female attribute, vulnerability, which is generally viewed as a weakness, and lifted it up as a strength--not for ourselves, but for God, and the world. And not just for women, but for men and women. The more vulnerable we are, the more strongly God can work in us and through us. And emotion is called upon as another strength, instead of a weakness: she tells us we must feel the "gut-wrenching" pain of others--then we are called upon to alleviate that pain. And while there is no doubt that she is part of a hierarchy within the institution of the church, her goal is one of equality: for all to share equally in the Kingdom. This presiding bishop--this woman--who is also a scientist and a pilot, and according to her husband Richard has no fears--has given us a vision of relationships with God; with God's creation; and with each other.

This is different. SHE is different. We're still not sure what to call her: Bishop Katharine? Presiding Bishop Katharine? Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori? On October 27 when she and Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold visited with the Archbishop of Canterbury recently, they spoke for 90 minutes. Most visits are 15 minutes, or less, according to a press person I spoke with on Sunday.

I don't know what the Holy Spirit is doing, but God does, and God's in charge, so I'll trust that all will work for the good of the Church and the world, whatever happens next.

The ENS article on the seating is here and the sermon is here. Visit Washington National Cathedral's website for the service bulletin and more pictures from the Nov. 5 seating on All Saints Day. A reminder that there are new web pages for the new PB now set up.