The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe was officially installed as the presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church during a ceremony at the Chapel of Christ the Lord in New York on Saturday. He succeeds the Rev. Michael Curry, who made history in 2015 as the first African American head of the denomination.
During his sermon, which was based on John 11:38-44, Rowe stated, “We ourselves, I believe, reflected in the crowds standing around Lazarus’ tomb. Over and over again, we will stand together, sometimes afraid, sometimes bewildered, looking for life, hoping for wholeness in all things.”
He emphasized that “over and over, God will call us to finish the job, to wipe away the tears, to bear witness, to unbind the captives and set them free, to participate in the Kingdom of God, to make it manifest in the world right here, right now.”
Rowe highlighted the necessity of “the unbinding and liberating of ourselves and our structures and our hurting world,” which he claimed would require congregations to set aside disbelief, divisions, and attachments to worldly comforts and preferences. He warned, “This sort of unbinding, though, is nothing less than standing against the lies of the enemy.”
He criticized the mindset that limits aspirations, saying, “This is the enemy that would have us saying ‘We can’t do any better than we’re doing.’ The enemy who would keep us bound and will keep us bound if we prize our own preferences, traditions and comforts above the need to collaborate, to share, to work creatively to proclaim the Gospel.”
Rowe asserted that churches and dioceses within the denomination cannot “go it alone,” emphasizing the need for mutual interdependence and collaboration in ministry.
“In this badly hurting world, we need to become one church. We’re not a collection of dioceses and institutions, a collection of the ways of doing things. We are one church, one church in Jesus Christ.” He concluded by affirming, “This work, the work of proclaiming in word and deed that Jesus’ resurrection and life, is the work to which God has called The Episcopal Church, now and always, as one church, together.”
Rowe, who is also the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, was elected at the 81st General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, in June.
He received 89 out of 158 votes from the Episcopal House of Bishops, surpassing the required minimum of 82 votes. His election was confirmed by a vote from the Episcopal Church House of Deputies.
Rowe was elected bishop of Northwestern Pennsylvania in 2007 at the age of 32, making him the youngest Episcopal bishop at the time. He has held various roles, including parliamentarian for the House of Bishops and member of several key commissions.
Rowe decided not to hold his investiture service at the Washington National Cathedral, as is tradition, opting instead for the smaller venue of the Chapel of Christ the Lord at the church’s headquarters in New York.
The Episcopal Church, tracing its origins to the late 18th century, has faced significant membership decline in recent decades. A report from September of last year indicated that the Church’s membership in 2022 was approximately 1.58 million, down from nearly 2 million members reported in 2010.
