Art and symbolism in episcopal ministry

ABSTRACT This article explores how a bishop brings a distinctive character to the norms of liturgical worship. The article reflects on the origin of the episcopal role in the Old Testament and its development in the Christian tradition. The article attends to how beauty in the liturgy can draw the worshipping community into a renewed appreciation of God’s revelation through creation. It focuses on an ecclesiological aspect of the Church of England that gives responsibility to the bishop for the oversight of worship, seeing the bishop as a symbolic figure whose presence is one way of signifying that the liturgy transcends time and space. The article considers the contribution of contemporary art to the environment of worship, concluding with reference to episcopal patronage of the arts in the diocese of Chichester and a rationale for church buildings, their character and purpose.