A Note About Bishops

You may be wondering about the bishops of Sunshine Cathedral! You came to the right place—The work and role of a bishop has its roots in the oldest history of the Christian tradition. Bishops, along with ministers (or presbyters and deacons, as referenced in scripture) make up the clergy. Specifically, bishops were charged with oversight and defending the faith against any forces that sought to encroach upon the faith. As Christianity grew and shifted bishops became administrators of groups of churches and overseers of clergy and their work in their respective parishes.

Many of the famous Christians from the first few centuries that theologians often quote were bishops, including St. Nicholas of Myra—whose story is closely intertwined with the most famous resident of the North Pole.

Bishops gathered at councils such as the Council of Nicaea to hammer out the best the Church could offer. Over the years the role of bishop may have shifted but the symbolism and the bishop’s role as figurehead has not. Thus, in 2024, Bishops Durrell and Robert were ordained and consecrated by the Global Justice Institute as Auxiliary Bishops. In December of that same year they were seated in Sunshine Cathedral as resident bishops. This is fitting as the word “cathedral” is literally translated as the seat of a bishop. They were fitted with the vestments of their office. Such vestments included a mitre, which is a hat designating them as bishop. The other vestment was a crozier, which is an ornate staff resembling a shepherd’s crook, symbolizing the work of bishop as a shepherd of pastors and people.

Through their oversight of clergy, the congregation of the Cathedral, and the wider ministries to which they have been appointed, they are living out their calling to be chief pastors of the church. Their episcopates add to the rich lineage of other clergy who have taken up the mantle of bishop for the sake of the wider church. Theirs is a ministry of prophetic witness and a consecrated willingness to serve the people entrusted to them. We are better off for them.

In hope,

Rob

The Rev. Canon Robert W. Lee, DMin.

Canon Theologian, Sunshine Cathedral