Lent Is Not Rocket Science: An Exploration of God, Creation, and the Cosmos

The season of Lent prompts us to ask questions, big and small, about the nature of our being, and about our role in the world. Astronomer, physicist and Episcopal Bishop W. Nicholas Knisely explores the intersection of faith and science, creation and the cosmos.

Bishop Knisely was elected to be the 13th Bishop of Rhode Island in June of 2012, and was ordained Bishop on November 17th, 2012.

The Bishop 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, Nicholas decided to leave behind his studies of Physics and Astronomy and was sent to Yale/Berkeley Divinity School to study for the priesthood. He was ordained to the diaconate in Delaware in 1991 and to the priesthood in 1992.

Nicholas 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.