The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee

By Emily McDonald
South East Correspondent
The joyful sound of three trumpets playing from strategic locations in the balcony quieted the expectant congregation and opened the service of consecration and ordination of the Rt. Rev. Charles Glenn vonRosenberg as the third bishop of the Diocese of East Tennessee. The service was held Feb. 27 at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville. Bishop vonRosenberg succeeds the Rt. Rev. Robert Gould Tharp, who served as chief consecrator.

A dais at the center of the church was the focal point of the service and contained an altar draped in red and white flanked on each side by brass stands holding flowers. A 150-voice choir composed of singers from churches across the diocese was seated in the choir stall behind the altar and a nine-piece ensemble was also on the dais. Below the dais a cloth-covered table held the gifts that would be presented to the new bishop later in the service. The bishop’s wife, Annie; the couple’s sons Glenn and John and his parents, Charles and Frances vonRosenberg, were seated in special seats in front of the pews.

After the trumpet prelude the first of two processions wound its way toward the altar led by the diocesan banner and colorful parish banners. This procession included representatives from a number of diocesan bodies as well as special guests, presenters, visiting clergy and diocesan clergy wearing red stoles and some carrying chalices to be used during the Eucharist . Then the congregation rose and sang "Christ is Made the Sure Foundation" as the procession of bishop’s moved down the center aisle. Bishop-Elect vonRosenberg wore a simple white cassock while Bishop Tharp and the four co-consecrators were dressed in vestments symbolic of their office.

The co-consecrators were the Rt. Rev. William Arthur Beckham, retired bishop of the diocese of Upper South Carolina; the Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniel III, bishop of the Diocese of East Carolina; the Rt. Rev. Henry Nutt Parsley Jr., coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Alabama, and the Rt. Rev. William Evan Sanders, retired bishop of the of the Diocese of East Tennessee and the diocese’s first bishop. A number of other bishops were also participants in the service, including the Rt. Rev. Jean-Zaché Duracin, Bishop of the Diocese of Haiti.

Bishop Tharp and the co-consecrators took their places at the front of the dais and Bishop vonRosenberg stood and faced them as priests and lay persons from the diocese presented him. The certificate of election, the canonical testimony, the evidence of ordination, the consents of standing committees and the consents of bishops were read by individuals escorted to the dais by the verger. It was noted that Bishop vonRosenberg becomes the 944th bishop in the American succession.

After affirming that he believed the Holy Scriptures to be the word of God and that he would "conform to the

"We Will"

doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church," Bishop-Elect vonRosenberg signed a declaration to that effect. The people present were asked to affirm that it was their will for Bishop-Elect vonRosenberg to be ordainedthey responded with"That is our will."The Chief Consecrator then asked if it was their intention uphold him as bishop people in a loud voice "We Will!"

The Rev. Susanna Metz, priest associate at St. John the Baptist Church, Battle Creek, served as the litanist for the Litany of Ordination. The Rev. Thomas Reid Ward Jr., chaplain of the University of the South, delivered the sermon saying that it is "an impossible job" to be a bishop in the Episcopal Church today because of the contradictory expectations people have of the person holding the office. If the office of bishop stands for anything, Ward said, it is for the unity of the church which will come from a new leadership style or a unique management technique, but from the One who gave himself on the cross and symbolized the unity of Father and Son.

Ward said that the search for a bishop is like a courtship and the service of ordination like the celebration of a marriage. "It is a marriage between the bishop and the diocese," he said. "If you really believe you have been called together as bishop and diocese, the way you live your lives together will be different…Charlie, you are about to marry this diocese, all 16,000 people in it," Ward said. As the bishop-elect stood, he noted that vonRosenberg and his wife Annie are gifts to each other with a job to do together and that the love between the couple will be a visible sign and symbolize the love and unity the new bishop wants to fill the diocese.

Bishop-Elect vonRosenberg again faced the bishops and was examined by the chief consecrator and other bishops.

After reciting the Lord’s Prayer, Bishop-Elect vonRosenberg knelt as Bishop Tharp, serving as cantor, led the singing of "Come, Holy Ghost." Then all the bishops present gathered around the kneeling bishop-elect for the laying on of hands, the act by which one is made a bishop in the Episcopal Church. This follows the apostolic tradition that reflects the continuity from the early church.

Then began the most personal part of the service of consecration and ordination, the vesting of the bishop and the presentation of gifts. Bishop Tharp presented the Bishop vonRosenberg with a Bible on behalf of the Most Rev. Frank Griswold, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Representatives of St. John’s Church, Fayetteville, N.C., presented the vestments and the new bishop was vested by his predecessors, Bishops Sanders and Tharp.

A Book of Common Prayer and an Episcopal scarf were presented by a representative of the clergy of the Diocese of East Carolina. The bishop’s ring was given by his parents and designed by his 19-year-old son John. It bears the symbols of a sand dollar on one side and a stylized church tower symbolizing St. James Church in Wilmington, N.C., where the bishop was serving as rector when elected bishop. The amethyst stone is engraved with a stylized seal of the Diocese of East Tennessee, a crosier and a mitre.

Bishop vonRosenberg’s pectoral cross incorporated a small cross, given to the him by his first church, St. James in Belhaven, N.C., into a larger Celtic cross. The cross is the gift of the Church of the Resurrection in Greenwood, S.C., where the bishop was rector for six years.

The crosier was given by St. James in Wilmington and the mitre by the clergy of the Diocese of East Tennessee. The cap’s two peaks represent the flames of the Holy Spirit given at the first Pentecost and the tabs hanging from the back edge are called lappets and represent the Old and New Testaments.

The final gift, a pair of walking shoes, added a whimsical touch to the presentation of the other gifts more ecclesiastical in nature. The shoes were presented by representatives of the youth of the diocese with the invitation to "receive these shoes and walk with the youth to share in the fun and joy of our journey."

When Bishop Tharp asked those gathered to "greet your new bishop," there was a standing ovation. In his comments Bishop vonRosenberg said he was struck by a combination of feelings. He said he felt a sense of honor and humility--honor in the office conveyed on him and humility in the sense he was not worthy of the honor. The new bishop said he could not carry out his work without the thoughts and prayers of the diocese and expressed gratitude to "those who have walked with me in the journey of my life, some of you for a long time."

Bishop vonRosenberg presided at the Eucharist and was assisted by priests and deacons from the diocese. The service concluded with the blessing, the recessional and the singing of "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken."

After the service, the new bishop met with the acolytes and thanked them for their service. He answered questions about the gifts he had been given and when queried about the crosier said it was much heavier than he had anticipated.

Following the consecration a reception was given by the Episcopal Church Women for the new bishop. For many, the reception provided their first opportunity to meet the Right Reverend Charles vonRosenberg, Third Bishop of the Diocese of Tennessee.