This upcoming Sunday marks a doubly special day for our congregation and the diocese. It is also a big day, personally for me too!
Parish Dedications/Consecrations are rare things today. I have only ever been to one in my lifetime. Partly this is because starting new mission congregations is difficult enough, but developing them into parish churches is especially challenging. Yet here we are, by God’s grace, dedicating St. Anselm Anglican as a “Parish” Church – a financially independent fully functioning congregation. Like all liturgy, the upcoming 2 o’clock service is not just fancy ceremony without meaning. Rather, it is ceremony that dramatically enacts a story in celebration. Whether you were there at the first living room meetings or just began attending this tells our story together. It is a story that has gone on for centuries as God’s kingdom grows. This week I will be publishing a series of small articles to you about the liturgy you will be attending with the goal of helping you understand and take in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
WE BEGIN OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH IN THE COURTYARD
PROCESSIONS INTO THE CHURCH (Yes, there are two!)
We begin outside the building (weather permitting). The incense and cross lead the way along with all the attending members of the clergy. First the oldest holy order of deacons followed by those ordained into the holy order of the presbyterate (priests), followed by high ranking church officials such as canons, deans, and the archdeacon. (Some of you may recall that it was an archdeacon who dedicated Lakewood Anglican as a mission in October 2014) The laity follow this procession into the Church singing. The doors are then closed.
The second procession made up of the bishop, the rector-elect and his wardens comes to the church doors and the bishop knocks three times with his crozier (pastoral staff). The Wardens (elected heads of the Vestry and therefore the laity) hand him the keys and open the doors. He blesses the building thus beginning the dedication. The symbolism here is inescapable and shows the reality of 1 Corinthians 12:24-27.
God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (Corinthians 12:24-27, ESV)
The parish church is not owned by the bishop, nor is it independent of the larger church and controlled by the Vestry or unilaterally led by the pastor, rather, it is the work of all together called and ordered by the hand of Almighty God.