What will happen at today’s service?
The Ven David McClay (above) will be ordained Bishop this afternoon in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.
The Ceremony
Every ordination takes place within the context of the Eucharist. The Bishop–elect will be presented for ordination or consecration by his sponsors. The certificates of election and of the approval of the House of Bishops will be read, the support of the people sought, and the Bishop–elect will make his declaration of canonical obedience to the Archbishop of Armagh.
The Archbishop will address the congregation, emphasising a bishop’s role not only in serving and caring for the people of God, but also in working with them in the oversight of the Church. The Bishop–elect will make the declarations to the Archbishop. The Litany and the hymn, Veni Creator Spiritus will be sung, and the Archbishop will pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit and for the grace necessary for the office of a bishop in the Church of God. The Archbishop, together with the bishops present, will lay hands on the head of the Bishop–elect, who will then be vested in his episcopal habit.
The Communion service resumes at the Peace. At the end of the service, the new Bishop of Down and Dromore will take his place with the other bishops.
Please pray for the Bishop–elect as he assumes his new role.