Rhode Island Elects 13th Bishop on First Ballot

Around noon today at St. Paul's Episcopal church in Pawtucket RI, Clergy and elected lay representatives from the 51 churches that make up the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island voted to elect the Very Rev. Nicholas Knisely as the diocese’s 13th bishop.

There was a late start to the balloting process due to technical difficulties setting up the audio visual equipment in the front of the church after the Eucharist, but in the end the delay was of no consequence. Knisely was elected on the very first ballot, from a slate of five nominees.

Knisely, 51, is dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Phoenix, Ariz. (Diocese of Arizona).  On the first ballot he received 64 votes of 111 cast in the lay order and 47 of 88 cast in the clergy order, which gave him the majority in both orders. Read more below about Bishop-Elect Knisely or go to the transition blog where the Nominee Profile booklet and a letter from Knisely to the diocese are posted.

First-Ballot Results

Nominee	Clergy	Lay
The Rev. Kurt Dunkle	9	15
The Rev. Cathy George	1	6
The Very Rev. Nicholas Knisely	47	64
The Rev. Ledlie Laughlin	27	20
The Rev. Jennifer Pedrick	4	6

There was much joy in the announcement of Knisely's election, the applause and cheering were raucous. Knisely then spoke a few words to RI from a cell phone held to the Honorable Scott Avedesian's microphone, and before he hung up the attendees of the election all sang Knisely's favorite hymn back to him, a joyous congratulation and welcome.

Before Bishop Elect Knisely officially becomes the Bishop of Rhode Island, he must receive consent from representatives of other dioceses in the wider church and must be ordained by the presiding bishop. Because the election occurred close in time to the 77th meeting of the General Convention in July, Episcopal Church canons provide for the required consents to be sought from the bishops and deputies at that convention.

Assuming that consent is received, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is scheduled to ordain Knisely as bishop Nov. 17 at St. George’s School in Middletown. The current bishop, the Rt. Rev. Geralyn Wolf, will retire at that time.

Prior to becoming dean of the cathedral in Phoenix, Knisely was rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Bethlehem, PA. During his tenure there, he also served as an adjunct instructor in physics and astronomy at Lehigh University. Knisely had previously served as rector of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Brackenridge, PA, and curate at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Wilmington, DE.

Knisely is a 1982 graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Physics with an emphasis in Astronomy. In 1987, he earned a Master of Science in Theoretical Physics from the University of Delaware; he has completed “all but dissertation” for a doctoral degree in Experimental Chemical Physics from that same institution. He completed a Certificate of Anglican Studies at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and a Master of Divinity degree in 1991 from Yale Divinity School.

He is married to Karen McTigue Knisely, who works as a database manager for a non-profit Hospice. They have a daughter who is 18 and one who died at the age of two. He enjoys spending as much time as possible outdoors, walking and hiking, bicycling, playing golf and occasionally cross-country skiing or sailing. He is an avid reader.