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Openly gay Episcopalian installed as dean in Seattle


From ENS.parti@ecunet.org (ENS)
Date 18 Feb 2000 12:09:12

For more information contact:
Episcopal News Service
Kathryn McCormick
kmccormick@dfms.org
212/922-5383
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

2000-034

Cathedral in Seattle installs Episcopal Church's first openly gay 
dean

by Jeffrey H. Wilson

     (ENS) On February 12, a Saturday evening caught in the 
drizzle that is so typical of winter in Seattle, a capacity crowd 
of about 1,000 squeezed into St. Mark's Cathedral to celebrate a 
new ministry and to install the Rev. Robert V. Taylor as the 
sixth dean.

     Five processions ushered in the visiting clergy from around 
the world, elected officials, academic representatives, mixed 
with banners from congregations throughout the Diocese of 
Olympia, as well as leaders from the cathedral congregation of 
almost 2,000.

     All came to witness and celebrate the installation of the 
first openly gay man elected as dean of a cathedral in the 
Episcopal Church. For some the symbolism implicit in the election 
and installation was the reason for their participation. For 
others, notably the community of St. Mark's, the liturgy marked 
the transition from a struggling parish into a vibrant cathedral 
congregation with a national and international vision. Others 
were fascinated by the intimate choreography and pageantry of the 
service.

     The three-hour service was a splendid display of the 
liturgical tradition that has become a trademark of St. Mark's. 
Three choirs performed both classical and contemporary 
selections. Special works commissioned for the service included 
works by the cathedral organist and choirmaster, J.M. Butler, as 
well as an African-inspired anthem by Dorothy Papdakos of New 
York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

     Bishop Catherine Roskam, suffragan bishop of New York, noted 
in her homily how Taylor's call to ministry was much like the 
nature of a cathedral. Both are parochial but also something more 
to both the diocese and the community. Both are pastoral, but to 
more than just the congregation. And both are grand, but rooted 
in humility.

Tutu's advice

     Bishop Vincent Warner of Olympia celebrated the Eucharist 
and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the retired primate of the church in 
southern Africa, related in his brief remarks the day years ago 
when Taylor sought his counsel about avoiding compulsory military 
service in South Africa.

     Tutu urged Taylor to go to America and begin his studies for 
the priesthood. In his remarks, Tutu also thanked the cathedral 
for its long history of support in the struggle against 
apartheid, even when there seemed to be no end in sight.

     Taylor, a native of South Africa with strong ties to the 
anti-apartheid movement, was serving a parish in Peekskill, New 
York, when he was elected as dean in Seattle. The election was 
not without some controversy but cathedral members suggest that 
he is already revitalizing the cathedral in the same way he 
revitalized his parish in New York.

     "I've never seen morale so high at St. Mark's--and I've been 
there since 1972," senior warden Roger Sherman said in a 
newspaper interview.

Outlining a vision

     Since assuming the position last November, Taylor has been 
outlining his vision for the cathedral. In his first sermon, he 
said that he had been moved by the hopes, expectations and 
concerns that he had heard on his arrival. He warned that "in our 
wonderful messy humanness, we will fall short of idealized 
expectations. But from there, we will delight in the truth of one 
another as people who each have a role and a voice and ministry 
in St. Mark's being not just a cathedral, but a great and hopeful 
cathedral."

     Among the goals he has outlined are strengthening the youth 
ministry, improving the relationship with the diocese and its 
parishes, continuing the hospitality role of the cathedral for 
the region, and developing its national and international work, 
where it has a strong reputation.

     "Our new dean was called by the people of St. Mark's because 
of his powerful national and international vision," said Midge 
Bowman, senior warden-elect at the time of the election. "For 
centuries the great cathedrals in the Christian Church have been 
centers of discourse, learning and the arts. This community is 
poised to take another step towards that universal vision of 
cathedral."

--Jeff Wilson is director of communications at St. Mark's 
Cathedral.


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