Disciple: Mutual Mission

By the Rt. Rev. Sam Rodman

In the days leading up to July 15, 2017, a number of people asked me the difference between an ordination and a consecration. If there was a difference, was I being ordained or consecrated or both? It’s a good question and is, in fact, an ongoing conversation in the life of the Church right now. Even the Book of Common Prayer is ambiguous on the subject. The service we celebrated at Duke Chapel is called the Ordination of a Bishop, but embedded in the service is a section called the Consecration.

Here is the way I understand and think of it: On July 15, I was ordained a bishop in the Church of God. What was consecrated in that service was a relationship between a diocese and its new bishop. To put it simply, I was ordained, but we were consecrated, together, for one another.

A HOLY PURPOSE

Consecrated. The word means, literally, “made holy.” But the secondary meaning of the word reminds us we are made holy for a purpose. In this light, I suggest that as a missionary diocese, we have been consecrated for mission. It’s why all of the readings for the consecration were chosen from the Propers for the Mission of the Church.

It sounds simple, but mission, too, has had its moments of ambiguity and a complicated history in the life of the church. For many years, our understanding of mission was caught up in a colonialist mindset: the idea we have something—the gospel—and we bring it to people who do not have the gospel. The implication here is one of superiority. We have something they do not. We have something they need.

A more contemporary understanding of mission is one of mutuality. The presumption is that God is already at work in us and in others. The gospel power of the love of Jesus is unleashed in the world by his life, death and resurrection. What we share is our experience of the gospel and of Jesus’ love. Our mission, though, is not only to share what we have experienced, but also to listen to and honor the experience others have of the gospel of God’s love and Jesus’ resurrection power. This is certainly the understanding of mission that frames the Jesus Movement. Like disciples, we follow in the way of Jesus. Like apostles, we are sent out to one another to bear witness to the many ways God’s love and power are at work in us and the world around us. Sometimes we are telling the story; sometimes we are listening to the stories of others. Modern mission is mutual.

The old understanding of mission has more to do with assumptions about culture, superiority, wealth, race, class and gender. The old ways have more to do with hierarchy. And some of the symbols of the office of bishop have their roots in that same hierarchical history, especially the clothes, the vestments. Many have pointed out that part of the service appears more like a coronation than a consecration. The new bishop is given a cope, which looks very much like a robe. A mitre is placed on the new bishop’s head, evoking images of a crown. A ring is placed on the finger of the bishop, and, in dioceses where there is a cathedral, the new bishop is seated in a special chair, which seems for all intents and purposes like a throne. The crozier can easily bring to mind elongated images of the scepter.

None of these images is how I view these symbols in my own mind. So I would like to suggest some new associations for these traditional signs of office that have less to do with hierarchy and more to do with advocacy. Associations that are less connected to monarchy and more connected to mutual mission.

The Cope: Instead of some kind of royal robe, I prefer to think of the cope, with apologies to Harry Potter, as a “visibility cloak.” What I mean by this is the Church is called, especially around issues of justice, to give visibility to those who are treated unfairly. And not just to make their predicament visible, but to use its power and authority to provide them a measure of safety. For example, St. Barnabas, Greensboro, is providing this kind of visibility in its offering of sanctuary to Juana Ortega, bringing light to her plight as well as protection to her person, as the people of St. Barnabas stand with her in her vulnerability.

The Mitre: The point of this hat is not to be like a fancy crown, but to point away from the person wearing it and draw our attention, figuratively, toward God: God as the source of gospel love and power; Jesus as the embodiment of that love and power; and the Holy Spirit as the one moving among us and drawing our attention to the many expressions of that gospel power unleashed in the world. The mitre is intended to point us to Galilee, to our mission, to the call we have all received to be disciples and apostles of Jesus. The mitre points out the ways in which Jesus has gone before us into Galilee, inviting us to open our doors to the communities we serve, to partner with others in gospel work. The mitre points to incarnations of the Jesus Movement all around us.

The Ring: The ring is less about power and the authority of the office of Bishop and more about making sure our gospel witness has a ring of authenticity, that we are telling our stories with humility and recognizing it is by God’s grace that we move forward in our mission. I am reminded how the people of All Saints, Concord, in their partnership with the Cabarrus County Schools in opening their public preschool, said they thought the project would take three years, but prayer cut the time to only 10 months. That kind of authentic witness not only rings true, it also builds trust when, as leaders, we pay attention to the true source of our power and authority.

The Crozier: This, of course, is anything but a scepter. It reminds us of the shepherd’s crook, and that “all we, like sheep, have gone astray,” and Jesus is our “Good Shepherd.” It reminds us, too, that we all need to be poked and prodded from time to time to follow our call as disciples and apostles. The crozier reminds us that in this work, we are never alone. The abiding
presence of our Good Shepherd is both our rule and our promise. The crozier reminds us Jesus is at the heart of the relationship that has been consecrated between all of you, the Diocese of North Carolina, and me, your new bishop.

The Bible: This is the gift the new bishop receives that reminds us all other gifts are rooted in Gospel power and take their authority from the grace of the Holy Spirit. And it is by that grace our faithfulness to our call to mission and mutuality becomes the gift of one another at the heart of this consecrated relationship.

It is with deep gratitude I embark with you on this mission we share.

CONNECT WITH BISHOP SAM

Connection is a part of any relationship, so as we embark on our relationship with our new bishop, we invite you to connect with him on social media. Here’s where you’ll find him:

• Facebook: Sam Rodman
• Twitter: @samuelrodman
• Instagram: @bishoprodman
  
  

The Rt. Rev. Sam Rodman is the XII Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina.