That in wisdom and love
You may long feed His sheep,
While the Faith you still keep,
And then, crosier laid down,
May at last wear a crown.
Shortly after his election Cheshire received an invitation from the vestry of Calvary Church, Tarboro, to have his consecration service held there. He accepted the invitation and selected October 15 as the date. It was indeed fitting that he should be consecrated in the church which his father had served for a half century and in which he himself had been brought up and ordained to the diaconate.
On the day of Cheshire's consecration the little town of Tarboro was taxed almost to its capacity to take care of the out-of-town people who had come for the service. About thirty clergymen from the dioceses of North Carolina and East Carolina were present. The service began at eleven in the morning. The ecclesiastical procession, headed by seven bishops and the bishop-elect, entered the church singing the hymn "The Church's One Foundation." Rt. Rev. T. U. Dudley, Bishop of Kentucky, preached the sermon. Bishop Lyman was the consecrator, assisted by Bishops Watson, of East Carolina, and Capers, of South Carolina. Cheshire was presented by Bishop Weed, of Florida, and Bishop Sessums, of Louisiana. The venerable Bishop Quintard, of Tennessee, also took part in the service. All of the bishops joined in the laying on of hands. During the service the choir sang the anthem "How Beautiful upon the Mountains are the Feet of Them that Publish Good Tidings," composed by Rev. Dr. M. A. Curtis. It is interesting to note that this anthem was sung at the ordination of Dr. J. B. Cheshire, Sr., in 1840 and at the ordination of Rev. J. B. Cheshire, Jr., in 1880. The service closed with the singing of the recessional "Holy, Holy, Holy." It was a beautiful and impressive ceremony, but its beauty was marred for Cheshire by the absence of his father, who was not well enough to attend.
Bishop Cheshire's first episcopal act was to hold an evening service in Tarboro, the night of his consecration, at St. Luke's Chapel for Negroes. He did not lose any time in assuming the duties of his new office. While in Tarboro he made several visitations in Edgecombe and Halifax counties. On October 23 he and his family returned to Charlotte, but he did not tarry long. A few days later he set out for the mountains of North Carolina, where he spent a month visiting the scattered churches and missions in that section. Returning from the mountains, he continued his visitations until he was suddenly called to Raleigh on December 13 by the death of Bishop Lyman, who had been in greatly enfeebled health for the past few months.
The death of Bishop Lyman placed the Assistant Bishop in full charge of the Diocese of North Carolina. The few weeks of work Bishop Cheshire had had under the direction and advice of the senior bishop stood him in good stead now that he had the sole responsibility for episcopal guidance of the Diocese.