wfn.org | Bishop Mark Sisk of New York offers message of hope at installation

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2001-282

Bishop Mark Sisk of New York offers message of hope at installation

by Neva Rae Fox

     The terrorist attacks on September 11 may have changed our lives, they 
didn't destroy our hope--that was the message from Mark Sisk as he was installed 
as the 15th bishop of New York on September 29.

     "In the quiet closing days of August I sketched out a quick first draft of 
this sermon," Sisk told the congregation of 3,200 packed into the Cathedral of 
St. John the Divine on Manhattan's Upper West Side. "At that time I chose for my 
theme the familiar sentence from St. Paul's 2nd Letter to the Corinthians: "Grace 
to you and Peace," from the author of Life. "Who would have imagined just those 
few weeks ago that today, we would find ourselves in a shocked and grieving city; 
where thousands have died and hundreds of thousands struggle to cope with the 
death of someone close and dear to them."

     The congregation gathered in prayer for the service of installation included 
many who had been helping, aiding, counseling, feeding and clothing rescuers and 
victims in the devastated area several miles south of the cathedral. Echoing the 
president, governor and mayor, Sisk was adamant that the service go ahead as 
planned. Nevertheless, the impact of the devastation was woven into the service. 
Each person in attendance was given the name of a victim (lost or missing) to be 
said aloud during the Prayers of the People. The Episcopal Charities "September 
11th Appeal" was the recipient of the collection.

Multi-cultural service

     There were also the traditional aspects of the service, including the bishop 
knocking three times at the cathedral's bronze doors before he entered. The 
service was multi-cultural, reflecting the diversity of  Diocese of New York. The 
New Testament Lesson was recited in Spanish. The Prayers of the People were 
chanted in English and presented in 12 languages and American Sign: Bontoc (a 
dialect of the Philippines); Creole; French; Gha; Igbo (a language of Nigeria); 
Japanese; Korean; Malayalam (a dialect from India); Mandarin; Spanish; Tagalog (a 
dialect of the Philippines); Tamil (a dialect from India). The choir sang in 
English and Spanish, with the offertory anthem sung in Zulu and Zhosa.

     In addition to New York's Bishop Suffragan Catherine Roskam and Vicar Bishop 
E. Don Taylor, nearly 20 Episcopal bishops from five states joined the 
celebration, including New York retired bishops Paul Moore and Walter Dennis. 
International guests included Bishop David Nkwe from the Diocese of Klerksdorp in 
South Africa, New York's companion diocese, and recently installed Anglican 
Observer at the United Nations, Archdeacon Fanga Matavalea. Ecumenical guests 
included Bishop Stephen Bouman of the Metropolitan Synod of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church in America and the leaders of various Orthodox Churches.

Prisoners of hope

     Throughout it all, Bishop Sisk's message was one of hope. "Hope that is more 
than good intentions, hope is the very core of our nature. Hope dominates. In the 
Prophet Zechariah's blunt but memorable phrase, "We are prisoners of hope."

     He continued, "It is frightening to say it but I have no doubt that those 
young men who drove planes into the Twin Towers did so out of a sense of 
desperate hope--hope that by this act of destruction they could force their 
perception of the good on what they believed to be an evil world. Hope so warped 
defines evil. Hope's wonderful power for good can only be released when we trust 
in the known but unknowable God, when we allow that hope, that trust, to draw us 
further and further into the infinite mystery of God's abiding love."

     Sisk concluded, "Even now, as we stand at the foot of the rubble of so many 
dreams, we stand in hope." 

     The complete text of Bishop Sisk's sermon is available on the diocesan web 
site: www.dicoeseny.org.

--Neva Rae Fox is director of communications for the Diocese of New York.