Address to the Congregation of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Chesterfield, Virginia
There are 123 congregations in this Diocese, and we are the newest of the new, and as such do not have many of the trappings of the larger, longer established churches.
All of us were instructed to bring a banner to carry in the procession. St. Matthew's does not have a banner, so we were told to bring our processional cross . With a deep gulp we looked at our small, wooden, handmade cross and said, "Since this will be an honor for Brandon and all of us at St. Matthew's to be part of this great occasion - why not?"
In this procession, in this great ceremony, were many trappings of the church - banners large and elaborate, and crosses so heavy with gold and silver we wondered how some of them could be moveable.
I have had the good fortune to meet David Bane. He struck me as a man with great compassion, a well developed sense of joy, and a love for the traditions and the services that we use when we come together to worship our God.
This great procession into this holy place yesterday was so large it was broken into four parts. It would take singing the entire hymn, "I bind unto myself this day the strong arm of the Trinity" for all the assorted clergy, bishops, banners, etc. to make their way down the center aisle.
The young man chosen by David Bane on this, the so far holiest of holy days of his priesthood, the most photographed, watched and planned day, was a young man who often did this at Christ Church, Dayton. David Bane did not pick the prettiest of the pretty, or the strongest of the strong. He selected a young man so disabled that he is confined to a wheelchair. And as those in charge lined up this huge procession, it was discovered that there was a problem - these large, heavy, much decorated crosses were all too cumbersome for this young man.
So Brandon McMackin was asked to carry a cross that this morning sits in one of the large, well-appointed, grand sister parishes and as only fitting for such a grand cross he led the second group in this procession. Our humble, wooden, homemade cross in the hands of this young man in a wheelchair led the banners, crosses, clergy, and bishops into this holy space.
And I thank God for the way in which He teaches us all lessons.
September 7, 1997
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