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: bishopsoffice@episcopalri.org
Twitter: @wnknisely
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BishopWNKnisely/
Personal Blog: http://entangledstates.org
Diocesan Blog: https://www.episcopalri.org/connect/the-bishops-blog/
Instagram: @wnknisely
From the Bishop
- Blessed are the ones who recognize the Reign of God in their midst in this moment
We read the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount this week in our Gospel lesson. I remember the day years ago when I was invited to preach for the women of the Northern Province of the Moravian Church on this topic. I … - The Adventure of the Kingdom of God!
In this week’s version of the Call of the Disciples (Matthew’s version – we heard John’s last week), the way Matthew views the events of Jesus’ life colors the way that he tells the story of the Gospel. For Matthew, ther … - Be Present, Be Mindful, Something Extraordinary is Happening
We hear St. John the Evangelist’s account of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist today. Last week we heard St. Matthew’s version. The accounts are similar, but not identical. That’s not surprising for a number reasons; di … - Jesus baptism fulfills all righteousness so that when we can’t, we can still hope.
This first Sunday in the season of Epiphany is traditionally marked by hearing the account of Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordon River. Each year we are reminded of the surprise that Our Lord went to John to be baptize … - Happy New Year and a blessed Feast of the Holy Name to you and yours!
Many, maybe even most churches will be observing this New Year’s Day by reading and singing Lessons and Carols. But there are probably a few out there who will be keeping the calendar’s Feast of the Holy Name, the eighth … - Christmas 2022; The Light of Creation entered our World in the deepest part of the night.
We talk in prayer and poetry of the night of Christ’s birth being filled with light. But it is was night, so what does that mean? Light was created first – and on the first day. But the Sun and the Moon, the great lights … - You SHALL name him Jesus
As Christmas approaches and Advent comes to a close, we finally hear a story from the Gospel that is directly connected with the birth of Jesus. This year we hear the story of Matthew’s experience of the miraculous event … - Are you ready to be transformed?
We’ve come to Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, the one where we light the pink candle on our Advent wreath. All the lessons we read this week are about the coming transformation of Creation, and of ourselves. … - In the darkest moment of the night, God promises a new Creation is being born.
This week’s reading from the Prophet Isaiah is a song about a new World. It’s a world of peace and harmony. It’s a world that the prophet tells us, God is going to bring into existence. It a world that you and I have hea … - Seth Abramson: The Collapse of a Digital Nation: What the Demise of Twitter Means to the Internet and the World Beyond It / Post.
The Collapse of a Digital Nation: What the Demise of Twitter Means to the Internet and the World Beyond It / Post.: What makes the internet magical is that it is ultimately us, not itself. We decide when and where and ho …