Bishop Catherine S. Roskam

Bishop Suffragan

Bishoproskam

Bishop Catherine S. Roskam

"I love being bishop. I love this work. I feel deeply called to it" - The Rt. Rev. Catherine S. Roskam

 

Bishop Roskam oversees the 66 congregations of Region II, including Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties providing support for congregational development, clergy care and leadership training. Her vision for mission includes a deep commitment to youth and young adults and to cultural and racial inclusiveness.


Bishop Roskam served on the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church as Chair of the International Concerns Committee and is a representative from the Episcopal Church to the Anglican Consultative Council. She was instrumental in founding the Global Women's Fund, a diocesan program devoted to empowering women in the developing world, as well as The Carpenter's Kids (see below).


Prior to her call to the episcopacy, Bishop Roskam served as missioner for the Episcopal Diocese of California and in various parishes both in California and New York, including Holy Apostles, Manhattan, where she did extensive AIDS work and also developed the counseling and referral service for Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen.


Bishop Roskam has consulted on the national level in church growth, managing congregational change, and cultural sensitivity training. She is a graduate of General Seminary and an Associate of the Society of St. John the Evangelist.

 

Work with children

No school in America should be without books, yet there are public schools right here in the diocese, in the South Bronx, without enough books for their students. It is the inequity in education that has spurred Bishop Roskam to establish, All Our Children. The goal of this simple education initiative is to get each of diocese's parishes to support public education by making a commitment to a local public school for a minimum of 5 years with involved parishioners giving 40 hours a year. Support can include volunteering in the school, offering in kind support or telling the stories of children's needs to policymakers through advocacy.

 

"We are hoping this will take off, and that the New York churches will become a model for other Episcopal churches in the country," Bishop Roskam said.

Bishop Roskam also supports education in Africa. In 2005, she helped establish the Carpenter's Kids Program, a partnership between the diocese and the Anglican Diocese of Central Tanganyika, in Tanzania. Carpenter's Kids provides children orphaned by HIV/AIDS the opportunity to go to school. To date, more than 4,500 children are enrolled in the program; the goal is to help 10,000 children by 2010. More than 2.5 million children have been orphaned because of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania.

 

Personal

Bishop Roskam is writing a historical novel about an incident that happened in her family in 1910. It has involved a lot of research; what's really wonderful about an historical novel is that it's like entering into another time. Writing it is like a meditation; it's very nourishing for me. I also read a lot, fiction and nonfiction, and usually have at least two books going at the same time.


Bishop Roskam lives on half an acre overlooking the Hudson River in a Yonkers with her husband of 42 years, Philip K. Roskam, a psychologist, and their two dogs, Sweetie Peetie and Zena Warrior Princess. The Roskams have a daughter, Gemma, who is married and lives in Los Angeles. Bishop Roskam grew up on Long Island and was a professional actor before becoming a priest.

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