Frankly, the Gospels aren't much help.  We know a lot about the before and after of Jesus' resurrection, but precious little of the during.  The Gospel writers balk at describing an event that no one witnessed.   Once Joseph of Arimathea gives the go-ahead to use his pre-purchased resting space, we are told very little. True, Matthew has a story about the Pharisees arranging with Pilate to put guards at the entrance, thus preventing anyone from breaking the seal, stealing the body, faking a resurrection.  In a way, that reported episode is the exception that proves the rule.  On the actual mechanics of resurrection the lips of the evangelists are as sealed as the entrance to the tomb. 

This gap in the Gospel account gets reflected liturgically, in the odd little service designated for Holy Saturday in the Book of Common Prayer.  Few parish churches I know of actually mark that occasion.  In most places, the church building is as hollow as the grave-the altars stripped of ornament, the aumbry emptied, no Eucharist scheduled for the day.  Perhaps the bare wooden cross from the Good Friday service still occupies its spot in front of the barren table.  No one has yet had the time to put it back in the sacristy closet. 

Nearly five years of work came to fruition quietly in late February when the legal federation between Bexley Hall and Seabury Western Theological Seminary became final. The new entity, which will be inaugurated on April 27 in Indianapolis, is formally called the Bexley Hall Seabury Western Theological Seminary Federation, Inc. For now it will be known simply as Bexley Seabury.

Beginning on May 15, the federation will have a single board of trustees that will include continuing members from each seminary's board and ten new members. "Thankfully, many of the leaders who oversaw the birth of the federation have agreed to stay on, while our new members complement their skills and experience with fresh perspectives and ideas," said Roger Ferlo, Bexley Seabury president. "I'm grateful to Alan Gates and Wendy Lane who chaired the nominating committee, the committee's members, and the ten people who agreed to join us at this pivotal time. Bexley Seabury has just the board it needs to lead us into the future."

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