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About Bishop Stokes

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Prior to becoming the Bishop of New Jersey in 2013, Bishop Stokes served as the Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach, Florida, Associate for Christian Education at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, and School Chaplain and Curate to Grace Episcopal Church and Day School in Massapequa, Long Island. He is a recognized preacher and Christian educator. He has been active in the area of anti-racism, is a certified trainer in multi-culturalism and anti-racism and was a member of the Committee on Anti-Racism for the Episcopal Church. He has served at many levels of governance in the Episcopal Church. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of General Theological Seminary. He and his wife Susan live in Trenton. They have four grown children, and several grandchildren.

Bishop Stokes will retire in June 2023. He and Susan plan to live in St. Augustine, Florida.

Latest Messages from Bishop Stokes

Bishop's Weekly Message
Steve Welch

June 2—A Liminal Moment

Liminal time is threshold time, when we stand in between what has been and what will be. And, as you can probably imagine, it has become very familiar to me over the past year. I am in-between. I am not yet the thirteenth Bishop of New Jersey, but I am on my way.

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Bishop's Weekly Message
Steve Welch

May 26—Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Susan and I are still filled with a profound sense of gratitude and thanksgiving for the blessings and love we experienced at Sunday night’s Farewell Gala. I am confident I can speak for Canons Mary Ann Rhoads and Ann Notte, as well as for Mary Ann Clisham, in saying that they feel the same way. It was an extraordinary evening highlighted by a Spirit-filled, high-energy keynote address by our Presiding Bishop. . . . More than 700 attended in person and more than 100 attended online. The event raised more than $51,000 for Episcopal Community Services of the Diocese of New Jersey. Wow!

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Steve Welch

May 19—Ascension

You and I are the most recent inheritors of the mission and ministry that Jesus handed on to his disciples. We are those called to be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth, ” beginning in New Jersey.

Moreover, while the Jesus’ ascension marks a transition for him, his ascent to heaven and God’s right hand, the promise he made to his followers in Matthew’s Gospel still holds true: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). It is this promise which adds to the mysteriousness of his ascension.

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