Following his consecration, Love will be prepared to take on the sprawling 19-county diocese when his predecessor, Bishop Daniel Herzog, retires. Herzog assumed the office in 1998 and must retire within the next three years.

Hundreds of priests, deacons and lay participants filed into the cavernous convention center, preceded by the heady scent of incense and glowing candles. Bouquets of yellow and red flowers flanked the podium, under a large red cross that hung from the ceiling.

Bishops came from Ireland and around the United States. Also invited was Bishop Howard Hubbard of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.

After his son and daughter read scriptural passages and his friend, the Rev. Michael Flynn of California, offered a sermon, Love stood before nearly a dozen bishops who checked his credentials, including certificates of ordination and election.

"Are you persuaded that God has called you to the office of bishop?" asked the Most Rev. Frank Griswold, the country's presiding bishop.

"I am so persuaded," Love answered.

"Will you accept this call and fulfill this trust in obedience to Christ?" Herzog asked.

"I will obey Christ and will serve in his name," Love replied.

Then he rose to the dais and knelt as the bishops surrounded him and laid hands on him. They presented him with a Bible, a cross and a ring, draped him with a stole and cape and then watched as retired Albany Bishop David Ball lowered an ornate mitre onto Love's head.

"Receive the helmet of protection and salvation," Ball said, in a booming baritone.

The bishops then turned Love to face the audience.

"My brothers and sisters, greet your new bishop," Griswold said.

And they applauded. And hooted. And cried.

"The peace of the Lord be with you," Love called, as his wife, Karen, and children, Christopher and Catherine, embraced him.

"And also with you," hundreds replied.

Molly Minon intermittently wiped away tears and applauded.

"I'm filled with joy," said the member of Trinity Church in Whitehall. "I'm thrilled to be a part of it."

In his sermon, Flynn preached love and vilified homosexuality. The Episcopal church has faced a public struggle over the ordination of gay clergy. That national debate -- and concerns over finances associated with a new spiritual life center in Washington County -- have divided the Albany diocese.

Many in the Albany diocese are watching to see what Love's legacy will be. Among them is the Rev. James Brooks-McDonald, rector of St. Stephen's in Schenectady.

"He made it clear he knows there are divisions in the diocese," Brooks-McDonald said. "Even though I disagree with the conservative agenda, I am hopeful the diocese will turn a new page and there will be a much better feeling."

"We're all tired of dissension," he said. "It takes energy away from what the church should be doing."

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=517666&category=REGIONOTHER&BCCode=LOCAL