The Rev. Wendell Gibbs began to challenge the Diocese of Michigan even before he was elected bishop coadjutor on Oct. 2. Not only was he the youngest of the committee nominees (age 45), he was in his first election. Furthermore, Fr. Gibbs would join only two other active African American diocesan bishops in the United States: the Rt. Rev. Orris Walker of Long Island and the Rt. Rev. Herbert Thompson of Southern Ohio.

On his first formal trip to the diocese, within weeks after his fourth-ballot election, the Cincinnati priest wondered aloud if the locale of the consecration service would suffice. The consecration of a black diocesan bishop - the first since 1991 - was more than a service, he suggested; it was an event.

The inquiry caught the service organizers by surprise, for they had already moved the site to a cathedral twice as large as the largest Episcopal Church - a room that would accommodate 1,500 people.

The 3,000 people who attended his consecration on Feb. 5 were grateful for Fr. Gibbs' challenge and the change of venue. The service was moved into a larger space in the original building - the theatre of the Masonic Temple, in one of downtown Detroit's most dispossessed neighborhoods. A phalanx of volunteers transformed it into a cathedral itself.

Two combined choirs from two dozen congregations in the diocese created much of the music. Four church choirs added their voices and the St. Andrew's gospel choir of Cincinnati, the former parish of Bishop Gibbs, contributed as well.

The Rev. Kelley Brown-Douglas preached and challenged the church - and its new bishop - to not forsake the "manger love" of caring for society's dispossessed.

"We have cried many tears," confessed Lynnette Heard, a member of St. Andrew's, Cincinnati, where Bishop Gibbs was rector since 1993. "We believe in the ministry of outreach and of sharing. We are more visible evangelists because Wendell taught how not to be afraid of telling others that we love God."

The Rt. Rev. Arthur Williams, Bishop Suffragan of Ohio, was the chief consecrator, with the Rt. Rev. R. Stewart Wood, Jr., Bishop of Michigan, and the Rt. Rev. Coleman McGehee, retired Bishop of Michigan. Bishop Thompson, the Rt. Rev. Barbara Harris, Bishop Suffragan of Massachusetts, and the Rt. Rev. James Montgomery, retired Bishop of Chicago, served as co-consecrators.

Bishop Gibbs will succeed Bishop Wood as diocesan bishop in October.