The Right Rev. Kevin Brown drew not only on the Gospel while speaking at the Rev. Ketlen Solak’s consecration as bishop of the Pittsburgh Episcopal Diocese, he also took a piece of wisdom from the “High School Musical” soundtrack.
Speaking to a full house at Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside, the Episcopal bishop of Delaware emphasized to the congregants that they were not alone in their faith.
“As the great theologians Troy and Gabriella said in ‘High School Musical,’ ‘We are all in this together,’” he said. “If you have kids of a certain age, you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Though there were laughs throughout the church, there was a seriousness to Bishop Brown’s message of the power of unity, especially in a diocese that split 13 years ago amid internal theological differences — what Bishop Brown called “the great unpleasantness.”
The theme of unity and building bridges was central to Bishop Brown’s sermon Saturday as the church formally welcomed Bishop Solak, who was recently elected to lead the diocese that serves more than 9,000 southwestern Pennsylvanians.
A native of Haiti and previously a reverend at Brandywine Collaborative Ministries in Wilmington, Del., Bishop Solak, 59, succeeds the Right Rev. Dorsey McConnell and is the the first Black, female bishop in the diocese’s history.
In a ceremony lasting more than two hours, church leaders praised Bishop Solak’s spiritual knowledge and personal attributes.
“Ketlen is going to be a superb bishop,” Bishop McConnell said in an interview after the service. “And she is just so clearly immersed in the Holy Spirit, so it’s really a joy.”
Bishop McConnell, the diocese’s bishop since 2012, announced his retirement in 2019, but the transition was postponed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He expressed gratitude and satisfaction in being able to greet his successor.
“First of all and most important, she’s a person of prayer,” he said. “She is deeply openhearted and warm. She knows the Scriptures, she knows how to apply them to the life of the church, and she is humble-hearted in a way that is just extremely important for a bishop.”
Bishop Solak, who was elected in June, said she felt relieved now that the transition had finally taken place.
“I feel calm, and my energy is holding up,” she said after the service. “I’m so joyful that this moment has happened, and I’m so grateful to all of the people who have made this possible.”
“The ceremony was just so meaningful for me,” she said. “It’s of great significance, and I just felt the presence of God”
People from Delaware and Virginia, where Bishop Solak spent her formative years after moving to the United States as a teen, joined Pittsburghers to celebrate the historic consecration.
In his sermon, Bishop Brown noted the “long, wonderful history” of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, which dates to 1865. “A little bit was going on in that year,” he said, noting the passage of the Constitution’s 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.
But he also spoke on the diocese’s recovery since the 2008 split, when members of the church who were dissatisfied with the trajectory of theology, particularly in embracing LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage, broke off and formed the Anglican Church in North America.
“We work, and we work, and we work together to heal in the name of Jesus Christ,” Bishop Brown said. “I will not say, Diocese of Pittsburgh, that you have experienced a resurrection, because you were never dead.”
He said Bishop Solak had a profound sense of the power of God, while also being a beloved colleague, a good singer and a trained pianist.
“You spend just a moment with Ketlen, and you know that the Holy Spirit is real, alive, and it makes a difference in the world,” he said. “That’s a gift.”
More than anything, though, he said Saturday’s celebration was about Jesus Christ, whose teachings provide the love and guidance that the faith is about, emphasizing that people should not just pray but also work to build the church’s strength and trust in God.
“Take a long view,” he told the congregants. “Y’all have been around since 1865. You’re just getting started.”
Mick Stinelli: mstinelli@post-gazette.com; 412-263-1869; and on Twitter: @MickStinelli
First Published: November 13, 2021, 11:50 p.m.