BURLINGTON, VT – On Sunday, September 29, the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington will host the Formal Seating of the 11th Bishop of Vermont. Not to be confused with the Consecration held the day before, the Seating is a traditional ceremony that recognizes and invests a newly ordained and consecrated bishop.
At the Seating service, the new bishop will petition for recognition and investiture. A representative of the diocese will testify that the new bishop was duly elected and that consents to the election were received. The people will then recognize and receive the new bishop, promising to uphold the new bishop in this ministry. The new bishop will also take her place in the cathedra, or bishop’s chair, a symbol of the bishop’s office.
The Seating will be streamed live!
The Seating service will be streamed live on YouTube beginning at 10 a.m. A link to the live stream is available at https://diovermont.org/bishop-transition/. A larger than usual turnout is expected for this public service; overflow seating will be provided available in the Cathedral’s lower level where participants will be able to view the livestream and participate in the Communion.
The guest preacher at the Seating service will be the Very Rev. Miguelina Howell, dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, Conn. The Very Rev. Howell was ordained in 2002 in the Episcopal Diocese of the Dominican Republic. She is a member of the Episcopal Church Latino/Hispanic Ministries Council of Advice, as well as the Board of the Society for the Increase of Ministry, and was appointed to the General Convention 2015 Task Force on Sustainability and Development of Latino/Hispanic Ministries. The Very Rev. Howell is also as a faculty member of CREDO, a wellness program of the Church Pension Group.