Bishops and Pentecost

Abstract

The heart of Orthodox identity has to do with a sense of continuity with the past through the apostolic church, the Scriptures, ecumenical councils, the Fathers (and Mothers), the saints, the sacraments, and the tradition of liturgical life, all manifested in the role assigned to the bishops. Its identity is equally about the experience of Pentecost in the present: through the love, joy, peace, and freedom in the Holy Spirit, revealed in the unrepeatable uniqueness of each saint. Despite the Orthodox Church’s complicated history, painful internal debates, cultural differences, geographic separation, state oppression and persecution, there remains a powerful unity around these two dimensions of Orthodox identity. This article examines these dimensions, with particular focus on the order of service for consecrating a new bishop.