On Sunday, June 3, the Episcopal Church suffered a grievous loss with the death, in a car accident, of Bishop Jim Kelsey of Northern Michigan. Early in his ministry he was rector of Holy Trinity Church in Swanton, VT, and there will be a memorial service for him there on Friday, at the same time as his memorial in Marquette.
I never met +Jim, but I certainly knew OF him, because I was involved with Total Ministry in Minnesota, and +Jim was the most intensely committed bishop in the movement. The report was that he did not invite seminary-trained priests to Northern Michigan at all; rather, his parishes all raised up their own clergy and educated them locally as part of parish ministry teams.
I'm moved to wonder why these great, forward-looking young men and women are so often snatched from us before their time, while the wicked go on forever (I'm with the psalmist here). George Bush, smirking his way through life while he condemns thousands to death daily; Dick Cheney, lying to children in Wyoming about the origins of the war in Iraq and plotting to force a war with Iran. The most depressing thought -- or is it the only hope? -- is that perhaps these people will be with us until we learn to love them as intensely as we love the ones, like +Jim Kelsey, whom we so deeply mourn.
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