Guess where I was Saturday?

At the Investiture ceremony for now Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and it was a fantastic experience indeed. She is the first woman to ever be elected to such a position in the 400years+ Anglicans have been around.

I spent the night at my parents house as I knew my mom and I would be leaving at 7am, meeting our assistant priest and another priest friend at the church in Fredericksburg, then driving to DC from there, which was about an hours drive. We reached the Cathedral at about 9:15 then stood in line (it was 25degrees outside) until they opened the doors at 10am. Then 3500 of us flocked inside to get a good seat and that would have been accomplished on our part had other people not been so tall and had there been plasma TV's on the wings as well as the length of the church.

While we sat and waiting for the ceremony to begin, an African Gospel Choir sang to us and wow was the music excellent and celebratory. It definitely got the place jumpin'. They stayed in the choral section for the entirety of the service as they got to be the choir for the church that day which I was extremely happy to learn and have as a part of the experience (Episcopal music, on the whole, can be rather dry and sedentary).

At 11am sharp the ceremony began with Native American drummers and smudgers, acolytes waving large streamers and a procession of Bishops in all their regalia. It gave me goose bumps, chills and a variety of other emotions that I wasn't expecting.

Her tenure is 10years and who knows, a woman being elected this time around might have been only the beginning of great changes and I'm so glad I got to be a part of this great history making event.

Below are some articles/links about Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the varying opinions held about this momentous occasion:

Some images from the service.

An excerpt from her sermon.

Pat Robertson knocked off his rocker. Again.

Washington Post titles their article, "Leading an embattled church."

The Free-Lance Star titles the same article, "First woman leader of Episcopal Church a risk-taker."

The LA Times, always the one for liberal news and general acceptance, has a different spin, "First woman takes helm of Episcopal Church."

From CNN an interesting article yet they felt the need to put "She's for ordination of gays, but won't impose view" and "Some conservative dioceses have rejected her" as section headings.