James Kelsey

James Arthur Kelsey (born August 27, 1952 in Baltimore , † June 3, 2007 in Shingleton , Alger County , Michigan ; also Jim Kelsey ) was Bishop of Northern Michigan of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America .

Life

He attended school in New York City and Burlington, Vermont . He then studied philosophy at Ithaca College , where he graduated in 1974. His training as a theologian took place at the General Theological Seminary until 1977. Until his ordination by Bishop Robert S. Kerr in 1978 , he worked for a deanery in southwestern Vermont , where he assisted four congregations. As a priest he was called to pastor a congregation in Swanton , but at the same time served as a “priest-in-charge” for three other mission congregations. In the next few years the number of parishes in this union grew to eight, and Kelsey developed a strong interest in the concept of so-called “cluster ministries”. This concept of parish ministry attracted national interest because of its success, and the Swanton ward was named one of the ten most effective parishes by the Episcopal Church in the USA in 1982.

In 1985 Kelsey moved with his family to Oklahoma , where he served as a Canon Missioner ( Evangelist ) for the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma for “cluster ministries” for four years. His work focused on eight parishes that stretched over six counties in eastern central Oklahoma; his services as a consultant on such parish concepts gained increasing acceptance across the United States and Canada. In 1989 he was appointed to the Diocese of Northern Michigan to serve as "ministry development coordinator". In 1999 he was elected to the episcopate. Kelsey's main consecrator at the episcopal ordination was Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold ; Co-consecrators were his predecessors as Bishops of Northern Michigan Thomas Kreider Ray , Edward Lewis Lee of Western Michigan , Raymond Stewart Wood of Michigan, and Edwin Max Leidel of Eastern Michigan .

Kelsey died in a car accident in 2007.

family

Kelsey had been married to Mary since 1976, with whom he had three children, all of whom have since grown up.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Nancy Davidge: James Arthur Kelsey: Biographical Information ( Memento of April 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ The heart of ministry: the death and life of Jim Kelsey . In: Episcopal Library . June 9, 2007.