OHIO: EPISCOPAL BISHOP INSTALLED; ROBINSON AND REVISIONIST LINEUP PRESENT

By David Briggs

The Plain Dealer

April 18, 2004

Hundreds gathered at Cleveland State University Saturday to consecrate the Rev. Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., as the 11th Bishop of Ohio.

Applause erupted as Bishops Gene Robinson (first openly gay bishop) and Barbara Harris (first female bishop) joined 30 others in laying hands on Hollingsworth. Surrounded by his wife and four children, he beamed.

But the hard work begins now.

Ohio’s diocese has shrunk from 74,000 baptized (118 parishes) in 1966 to 32,000 (103 parishes) in 2002. Five conservative parishes recently hosted an unsanctioned confirmation service—and now refuse Hollingsworth’s pastoral visits.

No protest disrupted Saturday’s service. Many see Hollingsworth—a recovering alcoholic—as uniquely equipped to lead through crisis.

He selected layman and Massachusetts state legislator Byron Rushing to preach. At one point, Rushing asked Hollingsworth to turn 360 degrees:

“You are in this together.”

Hollingsworth then gathered children, assuring them:

“In Jesus’ love of us and in our love of Jesus, we’re all tied together—people we agree with, people we don’t.”

Onlookers asked if the Holy Spirit was present. He pumped his fists:

“Absolutely. Absolutely.”

His first test: pastoral visits to St. Barnabas (Bay Village) and two Akron parishes—all of which have asked him to stay away.

Yet Hollingsworth remains resolute:

“While I regularly have self-doubt and insecurities, I haven’t for once doubted this is a faithful thing to do… It’s not self-confidence that draws us deeper into faithfulness. It’s God-confidence.

I have confidence in God that the people of the Diocese of Ohio and I can make a worthy thing together of our companionship in Christ.”

Said longtime friend the Rev. Nancy Roosevelt:

“I would trust Mark with my soul. Mark would be someone I’d want to die with.”

END