Consecration of Female Bishop in New York Celebrates Diversity and Unity
Episcopal News Service. February 8, 1996 [96-1379]
Kenneth Arnold, Editor of The Episcopal New Yorker, the newspaper of the Diocese of New York
(ENS) Catherine Roskam, the first female bishop in the Diocese of New York, and the fourth in the Episcopal Church, was consecrated as suffragan bishop at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, January 27, 1996.
The festival Eucharist drew nearly 3,500 to witness the historic event. Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning was joined by 19 other bishops in laying hands on Roskam in the ancient church ritual of consecration and succession.
Despite high winds and heavy rains, people from all over the diocese converged on the cathedral more than an hour before the service began. In the basement hall and gymnasium, representatives of parishes and diocesan programs gathered with an array of colorful banners to process into the church. Side chapels were crowded with vesting clergy. Signs on numerous pillars instructed participants in four processions where to assemble.
Converging, it seemed, from all corners of the huge cathedral, the stately processions along the three aisles to the front of the church announced from the beginning that the service was about more than one person. It was, as the sermon by Ann Holmes Redding and David Norgard emphasized, a declaration of unity.
"Bishops show us the integrity, the oneness, the unity of the church. They reveal us in our unity. But the people must long for, work for, and pray for this unity," the preachers said. They also reminded the congregants that "unity without justice is not worth preserving,"
From the rhythmic call to worship of Taiko Drums (a Japanese ensemble from Shin Nyo En Temple, White Plains) through the African dance of the cathedral's Forces of Nature group that led the recessional, the service was designed to lift up the diversity of human gifts.
The lectors read the lessons in English, Spanish and Cantonese. The sermon was delivered as a dialogue by a white man and a black woman. Music during Communion included "O Gladsome Light" by Ralph Vaughn Williams; "We Are One," a song composed and performed for the occasion by Asian, a California rock group headed by Mark Spaulding; and "Tuya Es La Gloria," an Argentinian hymn in Spanish. Original settings created for the service included "The Magnificat" by Eric H.F. Law (composer and consultant, multi-cultural ministries, Los Angeles) and "Psalm 100," by David Hurd of General Theological Seminary.
Choirs from around the diocese provided a constant musical counterpoint to the proceedings. Once again, they proclaimed the theme of the day as adults and children of all cultural backgrounds came together.
The two-and-a-half hour service was filled with high spirits and good humor. The dialogue sermon displayed the preachers' affection for Roskam and provoked laughter on several occasions.
As the presiding bishop said the Collect, a banner near the altar fell over, sending a resounding crash of metal on stone through the cathedral. A moment later, Browning prayed, "Things which were cast down are being raised up." He concluded with barely concealed mirth as the congregation laughed uproariously.
Nothing could dampen the day's high spirits, not the rain falling outside nor banners crashing inside.
Following the consecration ceremony itself and the presentation to the new bishop of a Bible, cross, bishop's ring, mitre, and crosier, Roskam was presented to the church, visibly transformed into a living symbol of its unity. She was acclaimed by applause and cheers that continued for several minutes.
In brief remarks before the passing of the peace, Bishop Richard Grein of New York, noted that "this occasion is at least a thanksgiving for the ministry of women in the Diocese of New York. In addition to all of the women assembled here, there are over 100 ordained women."
Roskam herself was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of New York in 1984 after graduating with honors from General Theological Seminary. Prior to becoming a priest, she had worked in the theater as an actress and producer in New York. She served as assistant rector of Holy Apostles, Manhattan, before moving to California, where she was priest-in-charge of Holy Innocents' mission congregation in San Francisco, interim rector of the Church of Our Savior in Mill Valley, and diocesan missioner for the Diocese of California.
She has been married for 28 years to psychologist Phillip Roskam. They have a daughter, Gemma, who is a freshman at the University of Puget Sound, Washington.
Youth ministry is an area of special interest to the new bishop, who also has particular expertise in language ministries. She is a member of Integrity, the National Gay and Lesbian organization of the church, and an associate of the Society of St. John the Evangelist.