The Rt. Rev. Shannon MacVean-Brown is now the 1,122nd bishop of The Episcopal Church and the first African American to serve as Bishop of Vermont. Her September 28 ordination and consecration were witnessed live by approximately 900 people at the Ira Allen Chapel and overflow seating areas on the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, Vermont.
Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry served as chief consecrator of the service. Among the co-consecrating bishops were the Rt. Rev. Thomas C. Ely, tenth bishop of Vermont; the Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, bishop of Indianapolis; the Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris, bishop suffragan of Massachusetts; the Rt. Rev. Chilton Knudsen, eighth bishop of Maine and assisting bishop of Washington; and the Rt. Rev. Stewart Wood, ninth bishop of Michigan. The guest preacher was MacVean-Brown’s father, the Rev. Canon Ronald Spann.
The three-and-a-half-hour service featured a mix of hymns, classical music, and gospel selections performed by Inora Brass, the Plattsburgh State Gospel Choir, Cameo Baroque, Church of the Messiah Gospel Choir, and a Diocesan Massed Choir composed of singers from around the diocese.
