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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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