The peculiar role of Deacons

So one of the things that Deacons are called on to do is serve in diocesan services, such as ordinations. It usually takes a few of deacons to do this. A Deacon to read the Gospel and set the Table. And a Deacon for each Bishop. Deacons assigned to tend to the Bishops are called "Bishop's Chaplains." And it looks something like this:

That's me to the left of the very tall bishop

Now if you look carefully, you can observe the main function of the Deacon as "Bishop's Chaplain," namely holding things. I am holding Bishop Sloan's mitre, while my partner in crime Deacon Judy Quick is holding Bishop Parsley's mitre and crozier. 

So now for some Episcopal lingo. 

A mitre in simplest terms is a hat. It is signifies that the wearer is a Bishop, and is often said to represent the tongues of fire from Pentecost.

A crozier looks like a shepherd's crook, and that is the general idea. It is also something that is particular to a Bishop. A Bishop is the shepherd to his assigned flock, usually a Diocese. 

The mitre and the crozier are signs of a Bishop's authority. For example, in the above picture you may notice that there is only one crozier involved. That is because currently Bishop Parsley is the diocesan bishop, meaning he is the Bishop in Charge. Bishop Sloan is currently the Suffragan Bishop as well as the Diocesan Bishop Elect. Bishop Sloan is a Bishop, and therefore he has a mitre, but he is not the top Bishop. 

Just about everything that Episcopalians do has meaning. So what is the meaning of this hat holding? Well the mitre and crozier are symbols of authority. Deacons have a special relationship to Bishops, and serve directly under the Bishop. So when it comes to holding onto the symbols of authority of Bishops, Deacons are the liturgically obvious choice.

Now before you dismiss service as chaplain as simply being a matter of holding stuff, you have to also understand that there is a lot of putting miters on and taking them off. . .

So the Bishop's Chaplain has to be on the ready to pass off and take on the mitre and crozier. There is also a lot of standing. 

Now on this particular occasion I was happy to serve as the Bishop's Chaplain. It got me front row seats for the ordination of priests, including The Rev. Katie Nakamura-Rengers, who I serve with at St. Michael's. So in exchange for some standing, holding, and waiting, I got a front row to this:

Which was a pretty neat thing to take part in.