James E. Bostwick This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Biography of Archbishop James E. Bostwick

   www.oldcatholic.org/nwarchbish - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/9/1999   Last Visited: 11/28/2001

   James E. Bostwick, Archbishop and Metropolitan
   
   The Most Rev'd James E. Bostwick was born August 14, 1949, in Watertown, Wisconsin, the son of Laurence and Isabelle (Roedl) Bostwick. He attended Queen of the Apostles Seminary, a Roman Catholic institution run by the Pallatine Fathers and Brothers, for four years and graduated in 1969, thereupon entering the Pallatine Fathers and Brothers in Phelps, Wisconsin, where he was vested as a religious brother for a year and a half. Changes brought about by Vatican II in the Roman Catholic Church -- the turning around of the altar to face the people, communion in the hand and numerous other jolts -- forced the Archbishop to leave.
   
   In 1972, he began to attend Holy Cross Seminary under the jurisdiction of the Old Catholic Church of America (OCCA), finding with the OCCA the traditional liturgy and teachings which had been so hastily abandoned by the Roman Catholic Church. He studied under Archbishop Walter Xavier Brown for three and a half years and was ordained to the priesthood April 10, 1976.
   
   After ordination, the Archbishop was made pastor of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Angels in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, where he remained until 1981.
   
   Our Lady of Hope, in DeForest, Wisconsin, was opened in 1981, and the Archbishop served as pastor there until just recently, when the Church of the Holy Spirit, in Madison, was opened. He now serves as pastor to Holy Spirit.
   
   On September 19, 1992 he was consecrated to the episcopacy by Archbishop Brown and made Bishop Coadjutor with the Right of Succession. On November 1, 1997 he was appointed Archbishop of the Old Catholic Church of America, and was Installed on December 20, 1997 (see Events page for photos of the Installation).
   
   Over the years, His Excellency has served as a counselor in drug and alcohol abuse-related fields. Among other things, he has paid visits to nursing homes to offer Mass, has conducted a Deacon's Mass at prisons, and has been increasingly involved with the administration of the OCCA.
   
   As the new Archbishop and Metropolitan for the Old Catholic Church of America, His Excellency has had to oversee the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. During this period of transition, increasing numbers of clergy have turned to the Archbishop for direction and incardination, and the OCCA has begun to spread, with parishes and clergy now extending all the way to South America. One of the Archbishop's primary concerns is the building of parish families, to which end much effort has been devoted, the most recent being that of the opening of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Madison, Wisconsin.
   
   In addition, His Excellency had led the effort to strengthen Holy Cross Seminary in response to the urgent need to train and prepare priests for ministry under the OCCA. Over the past year especially, there has been a great increase in the number of students wishing to attend Holy Cross Seminary, requiring a great deal of work and episcopal oversight.