Jim Kelsey

Who was Jim Kelsey?

James Arthur Kelsey was the tenth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, based in Marquette. He was consecrated July 24, 1999, at St. Michael Roman Catholic Church, Marquette, and died in a car accident while returning home from a parish visitation. Jim Kelsey's funeral service on June 9, 2007, drew more than 600 friends and colleagues in ministry. "There is no one to step in and replace Jim. It is a loss we cannot replace," said Tom Ray, who preceded Kelsey as Northern Michigan's diocesan bishop. Recounting the feeling in the room when the Standing Committee and the Core Team met one day after Kelsey died, Ray said, "this must be how the disciples felt after Jesus' crucifixion.".

Kelsey, whose twin brother, the Reverend Stephen Kelsey, is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, was born and reared in Baltimore and received degrees from Ithaca College and General Theological Seminary. He was ordained a deacon in 1977 and a priest in 1978 by Bishop Robert S. Kerr of the Diocese of Vermont. A proponent of Total Ministry, he served from 1985 to 1989 as canon missioner for cluster ministries in the Oklahoma, then served for 10 years as ministry development coordinator in Northern Michigan before being elected bishop in 1999.