Fall Bishop Visitation!

Aka, do you want to be confirmed/ received/ or reaffirmed? Or are you an adult who desires baptism?

We received an email that Bishop Mark Bourlakas will visit All Saints, Sharon Chapel, Alexandria on Sunday, November 23, 2025. Bishop Bourlakas is Assisting Bishop for Northern Virginia. He just retired from serving as the Diocesan Bishop for the diocese of Southwest Virginia.

Because of our building, we had more than our share of bishop visits of late. HOWEVER, most of the time, for a church our size, we get a bishop visit every 2 years. When the bishop visits, you want to have them perform the things that only Bishops can do. (--the services for which you need the Episcopacy.)

Briefly:

• Confirmation is for those people who are baptized, but have not made an adult (or often teen) profession of their faith.

• Reception is for those people who have been confirmed in another denomination, but want to embrace what it is to be Episcopalian.

• Reaffirmation is for those who have made some sort of adult profession, but have a need to profess their faith in the context of such a service. These people might perhaps be those returning to the church after a period of unbelief or those who have entered a new level or stage of spiritual life.

• Adult baptism is what it is. Of course, you CAN be baptized by your priest, but if the bishop is coming anyway, then if you get baptized by the bishop… you are one and done as we say.

If any of these fit you, please drop Sarah a note at rector@sharonchapel.org. Particularly for confirmation and adult baptism we should have a few meetings ahead of time. Also, the bishop’s office needs to know at least 4 weeks before the visits.