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[Back to index of June articles] Hundreds confirmed at cathedral service By Paul Donnelly
Parishioners from 50 of the diocese's 93 parishes were present, and five bishops were there, too, to lay their hands on the confirmands: Allen L. Bartlett, retired Bishop of Pennsylvania; Jane Holmes Dixon, former Suffragan Bishop of Washington; A. Theodore Eastman, retired Bishop of Maryland; James W. Montgomery, former Bishop of Chicago and John Bryson Chane, Bishop of Washington, who celebrated his birthday by administering a sacrament en masse. "The cathedral is the mother church of any diocese, the teaching seat. That's what cathedra means," Chane told members of the eight parishes who gathered before the ceremony in Bethlehem Chapel. Similar meetings were held by each bishop, to orient everyone to the larger service. "You may say to yourselves, how will I get through this? There are no mistakes in God's house." Organized into a procession behind their parish banners, more than 1,000 worshipers - confirmands, their sponsors and those to be received and reaffirmed - made their way up the stone stairs and around the nave. "We have 17," said the Rev. Kelly Douglas, assistant rector at Holy Comforter in the District of Columbia. "We build them for this, from First Communion to acolyte-ing, all the way up." But all did not go with machine-like precision. A number of parishes whose confirmands had been scheduled for Barbara Harris, the Assisting Bishop of Washington, had to be re-assigned at the last moment, because of a death in her family. This caused confusion, with some families and sponsors displaced from a balcony, others unsure what to do and when. "There's a reason why there are so many parishes," said Denise Martin, whose son Stephen was confirmed. "I don't need the cathedral to justify my faith. I think old school Episcopalians are more used to the old way in which you do confirmation in your home church, and the bishop comes to you." Martin felt forced to share the intimacy of the sacrament with 2,000 strangers, although she added that the actual moment of Stephen's confirmation was "awesome." "This is the first time I can remember of so many people from all over the diocese coming together," said the Rev. Canon Nan Peete to an audience that included men from St. Dunstan's wearing bright Brooks Brothers bow ties, and women from St. Christopher's in spectacular Nigerian head ties. "We are not invited to passivity. It is a matter of who we are, and whose, we are." Before the procession got under way, Peete had reminisced with Chane and others about their own confirmations, and how it had become more meaningful to them over time. Her sermon returned to that: "We live in a world that does not know Christ. You may be the only Christian figure that some people encounter. How will they know that you are a Christian?" A confirmation theme: How will they know you are an Episcopalian? A small incident at the presentation and examination of candidates resonated with many in the nave. Chane asked: "Do you reaffirm your renunciation of evil?" Perhaps a bit confused as to their lines, the response was muted, so the Bishop ad-libbed the liturgy: "There's a lot of evil in the world, so I'm going to ask that again." Now the response was considerably louder, some saying "I do," and others "We will" with conviction. When it was time for the eight candidates from St. Thomas, D.C., to present themselves, the Rev. Nancy Lee Jose, the rector, stationed herself to one side as the Bishop approached. As all the bishops did, he indicated the candidates and expressed gratitude: "You've done good, sister." "Oh, it was Jesus that did good," she responded, and Chane added pointedly: "But he has to work through you." "Yes, sir," said Jose, touching the confirmand's shoulder, as the bishop put his hands on the boy's head. [Back to index of June articles]
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"It feels like the family that assembles at Grandma's house during Thanksgiving," beamed the Rev. Carol Cole Flanagan, the diocese's canon for congregational ministries, as more than 2,000 gathered at Washington National Cathedral on May 13 for a diocesan-wide celebration of the confirmation, reception and reaffirmation of approximately 430 people.