In advance of this General Convention, a slew of resolutions rushed in to honor The Right Reverend Barbara Harris (1930-2020). The impulse to immediately declare and honor her as a saint of the Church, bypassing the normal 50 year period of waiting and discernment was almost irresistible. The courageous gift of her service to the Church as the first female bishop of the Anglican Communion and the first African American female bishop in The Episcopal Church changed our Church and inspired countless new leaders.
Today, C023 will come to the House of Deputies from the House of Bishops for concurrence. This is a substitute resolution that does a clever thing to allow us to commemorate Bishop Harris’ historic significance for the Church. Instead of focusing on the sanctity of Bishop Harris, the resolution focuses on the significance of her consecration as bishop (precedented by the feasts of the consecration of Samuel Seabury and Li Tim-Oi). The resolution proposes that we do not need to wait to add the commemoration of the consecration of Bishop Barbara Clementine Harris to the Lesser Feasts & Fasts Calendar of the Episcopal Church and authorizes the trial use of the proper for the triennial 2023-2024 to be observed on February 11. This immediate and intermediary step allows the Church to add this powerful story and witness to our calendar of commemorations at a time when we need to share this story.
Will Absalom Jones feel crowded that week? His feast is February 13. I suspect he is cheering and making some room.
The Episcopal Herald 