Meet Bishop W. Nicholas Knisely
Bishop Knisely became our diocesan bishop in November 2012. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania and met his wife Karen while they were both students at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. Later, as a graduate student at the University of Delaware, he decided to leave behind his studies of Physics and Astronomy and was sent to Yale/Berkeley Divinity School to study for the priesthood. He completed his Masters of Divinity and was ordained to the diaconate in Delaware in 1991, then to the priesthood in 1992. In 2013 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity, also from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.
Bishop Knisely previously served as a priest in Delaware, Western and Eastern Pennsylvania, and as Dean of the Cathedral in Phoenix Arizona. He has been active in a number of ministries with particular focus in the areas of homelessness, communications, college and youth, finance, and ecumenical relations. He taught Physics and Astronomy for nearly seven years at Lehigh University while he was serving in Bethlehem PA. He was the first chair of the General Convention Standing Commission on Communications and Technology and was part of the Moravian-Episcopal Dialog that drew up the full communion agreement between the two denominations. Karen and Nicholas Knisely have been married for 30 years and have an adult daughter named Kenney.
Connect with Bishop Knisely
Email: bishop@episcopalri.org
Twitter: @wnknisely
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BishopWNKnisely/
Blog: http://entangledstates.org
Instagram: @wnknisely
Find out which church the Bishop is visiting –VISITATION SCHEDULE
From the Bishop
- God is making the Kingdom manifest, not us.
One of the basic teachings of Christianity is that it is Jesus who saves us from the consequences of our misbehavior, from our sins. We can not, and do not save ourselves. That’s both deeply freeing and very hard to inte … - The more we align ourselves with God, the more Creation is returned to its original intent.
This Sunday’s Gospel begins with people trying to understand how Jesus is able to cast out the spiritual powers that have rebelled against God. People try to understand what is happening in earthly terms, in light of the … - God loves us. There’s not much we can do about that except accept it.
Jesus came into the world proclaiming God’s love and not God’s condemnation of the world. We humans are exceedingly good at condemning ourselves and each other – particularly the people we know, or at least think we know … - The Wind of God in 2021
A year ago we had dreamed of reopening congregations in Rhode Island on the Feast of Pentecost. But it was not to be. But this year, in 2021, on this Feast Day, the Governor has removed our restrictions on gathering so c … - The early Church cast lots to choose a successor apostle. Would we?
What I find fascinating in this week’s reading from Acts is the way they decided to chose the next Apostle, and the faith that they displayed in so doing. First, they began to prepare for the future. (Twelve was an impor … - This is my commandment, that you love one another
This week, a familiar Gospel reading is paired with the US observance of Mother’s Day. It’s a brilliant match, one that I wished happened more often as the secular occasion helps to illustrate more deeply the message tha … - Ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you…?
Jesus describes himself as the True Vine in this week’s Gospel reading. And he says that if we abide in him, then we can ask whatever we want and we will receive it. And yet, for most of us (all of us?) that doesn’t seem … - Jesus the Model and Noble Shepherd
Some Sundays of the liturgical year have names that relate to the lessons that are (or were) traditionally read that week. This Sunday which is just such an occasion, is often called Good Shepherd Sunday. We hear Jesus d … - The wounds remain though the new life begins
Both Luke’s and John’s Gospels include accounts of the resurrected Jesus appearing in the Upper Room to his disciples and showing them the wounds that his transformed body still carries. The wounds on the transformed per … - What sins you bind, are bound. What sins you loose, are loosed.
If you step back just a bit from the events of this week’s Gospel reading from the Fourth Gospel, and look at how it functions in the larger narrative, you can begin to see that the Temple and the Priesthood is being rem …