12 November 2010

Former Bishop of New York visits Christ Church Cathedral


The current [November 2010] edition of the Church Review (Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough) carries the above photograph and the following report on page 13:

Former Bishop of New York visits Christ Church Cathedral

The Harvest Thanksgiving Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral was attended by larger numbers than expected this year, with the presence of a large number of parishioners from the Episcopal Church of Saint Paul and Saint James in Glastonbury, Connecticut.

The visitors from Connecticut were on pilgrimage-tour of Ireland, visiting Dublin, Glendalough, Kilkenny, Cashel and Galway. The group was led by the Revd Nancy E. Gossling from Saint Paul and Saint James, and included the retired Bishop of New York, the Right Revd Richard F. Grein.

Bishop Grein, who was the 14th Bishop of New York, is now bishop-in-residence at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in New Canaan, Connecticut, where his wife, the Revd Anne Richards, is priest.

He studied at the Theological Seminary at Nashotah House, and taught pastoral theology and worked in parishes in Minnesota and Kansas before he was elected Bishop of Kansas in 1981. In 1989, he was elected Bishop of New York, a diocese with about 65,000 Episcopalians, 207 congregations and 600 priests.

As Bishop of New York, Dr Grein also helped bring US support to the Russian Orthodox Church to help rebuilding the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and the Hospital of Saint Alexis. For this work, Dr Grein was made an honorary Metropolitan of the Ecumenical Throne.

The Revd Nancy E. Gossling left a career in retailing and banking, but left this to focus on being a mother and a volunteer. She has served in leadership roles with the Connecticut Prison Association, a local housing partnership, and a transitional living facility for homeless families.

She is a co-founder of Justice & Mercy, an interfaith agency that focuses on prisons and the criminal justice system. She entered Berkeley Divinity School at Yale in 1997 and received her Master of Divinity degree in 2000.

The preacher at the Harvest Thanksgiving Eucharist was the Dean of Christ Church, the Very Revd Dermot Dunne.

Pic: Canon Patrick Comerford, the Revd Nancy Gossling, Dean Dermot Dunne and Bishop Richard Grein