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Burgreen Consecrated Armed Forces Bishop

Episcopal News Service. March 2, 1978 [78048]

Garden City, N. Y. -- The consecration of Charles Lee Burgreen as the Presiding Bishop's Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces took place Feb. 27 at the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation in the Diocese of Long Island before a capacity congregation of 750 persons.

The chief consecrator at the 10 a. m. service was the Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and co-consecrators were the Rt. Rev. Clarence E. Hobgood, present Bishop for the Armed Forces; the Rt. Rev. Arnold M. Lewis, retired Bishop for the Armed Forces; the Rt. Rev. William H. Folwell, Bishop of Central Florida; and the Rt. Rev. Harold C. Gosnell, retired Bishop of West Texas.

Prior to his election to the episcopate by the House of Bishops last fall in Florida, Bishop Burgreen served as executive assistant to Bishop Hobgood for five years.

In the service, readers of the lessons were: Retired Bishop Jonathan G. Sherman of Long Island, the Gospel; Chaplain (Major General) Orris E. Kelly, USA, Chief of Chaplains, U.S. Army, the Epistle; and Mrs. Pauline Sowley, Office of the Bishop for the Armed Forces, the Old Testament.

In his sermon, the Rev. Canon William A. Johnson, Ph.D., of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York, preached on the Gospel verse, "Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' "

The Rt. Rev. Richard B. Martin, former Suffragan Bishop of Long Island and now Executive for Education for Ministry at the Episcopal Church Center, was the litanist. Retired Bishop Henry I. Louttit of South Florida read the salutation.

Presentors included the senior Episcopal chaplains of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Veterans Administration, and Bureau of Prisons.

Members of the choir of the Church of the Ascension, Rockville Centre, N. Y. -- where Bishop Burgreen has served as a Sunday assistant for five years -- and members of the U. S. Military Academy Cadet Chapel Choir provided the service music.

The Brass Ensemble of the Regimental Band of the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, N.Y., opened and closed the service with a trumpet fanfare.

At the point in the service when the Presiding Bishop asked if there were objections to proceeding, the Rev. Nathaniel W. Pierce, Grace Church, Nampa, Idaho, and Mr. Henry Morrison of Oregon, representing the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, came forward to read a statement.

Fr. Pierce said that the office relating to military personnel "is a scandal to our Church and wicked by its very nature." He said that while the Fellowship believes in "the importance of pastoral care to Armed Forces personnel," that which was challenged "as being inconsistent with the Gospel, is the form this ministry has taken."

He emphasized that he did not object to Bishop Burgreen personally and said that he and Mr. Morrison would not walk out of the service.

Bishop Allin expressed his appreciation to Fr. Pierce for his witness and spoke of his conviction that the Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces is a vital "ministry to dispersed people."

The consecration was held at the Cathedral of the Incarnation at the invitation of the Rt. Rev. Robert C. Witcher, Bishop of Long Island. Construction was begun on the cathedral in 1876 and the first service was held there in 1885.

Bishop Burgreen is the third person to hold the post of Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces, following Bishop Lewis who was elected by the 1964 General Convention and Bishop Hobgood who was elected by the Convention in 1970.

He will provide episcopal oversight to the Episcopal chaplains of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Veterans Administration and those serving as chaplains in U. S. prisons. He is the chief pastor to the thousands of Episcopalians and their families who are affiliated with the Armed Forces throughout the world.

Bishop Burgreen is in charge of recruiting, screening and training for Episcopal chaplains and serves as the endorsing agent who recommends potential chaplains for commissions within the services.