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A Video from the Presiding Bishop: New Consecration Date, August 28

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry today announced that after consultation with Bishop-elect Paula Clark and the Rev. Anne B. Jolly, president of the Standing Committee, he is rescheduling Clark’s ordination and consecration from June 12 to August 28.

Bishop-elect Clark suffered a brain bleed in mid-April and is recovering at home after surgery and a brief stay in a rehabilitation center.

“The reason for this is that it will provide a bit more space and time for Bishop-elect Clark to continue her work and her healing, her occupational and physical therapy, and to do all the things necessary so that she can assume the duties of the Thirteenth Bishop of the Diocese of Chicago,” Curry said in a video he recorded today.

“We have every expectation that she will be able to do this, but we wanted to be sure that she had the space and the time to do what she needs to do so that you and she together may serve and follow the way of Jesus Christ and his love in the ministry that has been given to you,” said Curry, who will preside at the ordination and consecration.

“I am grateful for the leadership and grace embodied by our presiding bishop and our bishop-elect,” Jolly said. “Everyone continues to be amazed by Paula’s recovery to date, and we believe that this time will allow her to serve as the vibrant, brilliant, and faithful bishop we know she will be.”

Curry said he knows firsthand about the gradual pace of recovery from a brain bleed, having suffered a subdural hematoma shortly after his consecration as presiding bishop. He said it took him more than a month, after surgery, to be able to sign his name, and “a month or two” before his reading comprehension returned.

“The occupational and physical therapy are remarkable,” he said, and a “brief delay” would make it possible for Clark to begin her ministry as bishop in “the healthiest and most wholesome way.”

Questions regarding the ordination and consecration can be emailed to the Rev. Anne B. Jolly in care of the Standing Committee.