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Reflection Volume 13,Issue 3, Fall 2016 25 interview interview interview interview Short interview with Bishop interview interview interview interview James A. Zinzow ‘We offer the world the 7 Catholic Sacraments, with no strings attached ! Wow!’ During the Centennial celebration Bishop James Zinzow had his own anniversary. But his birthday wasn’t forgotten amidst the festivities! The Global Presiding Bishop of the lcc: the Most Rev. James A. Zinzow, Bishop Emeritus What is the challenge for your churches? Bishop James: Senior dedicatedmembers have been passing to aHigher Life, with limited young people taking their place. What is your wish for the future of the lcc? Bishop James: That we continue tomaintain the clear advantage we have over most churches that have difficult rules, that younger people, (and older people) will not accept. Unfortunately, as a Church we do not do a very good job of letting people knowwhat we have to offer!. Wat is uw wens voor de toekomst van de mensheid? Bishop James: That people learn to use the following 5 tools, to forge a better civilization in the 21st Century: 1 Visioning, 2 Networking, 3 Truth Telling, 4 Learning, and 5 Loving. What made you participate in the lcc? Bishop James: As a member of the Theosophical Society beginning in 1960, including a number of years as the head of the Milwaukee Branch, I studied deeply the spiritual path. It became clear tome that by joining The Liberal Catholic Church , as a priest, I could enter a formal means of helping humanity in an official and well establishedmode. A large group of Theosophists longed to have a LCC in Milwaukee, and were enthusiastic to support me when I founded a LCC in 1973 when I was ordained. My goal was to have a LCCMass inMilwaukee every Sunday at the new St. Raphael and All Angels LCC . I was it’s Rector for 45 years when I resigned from the ‘old guard’ and joined the new Progressive Branch of the LCC in 2006. I simply needed to join the branch that would allow women to enter the Holy Orders. What is your own mission or vision being a bishop? Bishop James: My mission and vision of being a Bishop is to support, at the moment, three successful parishes. For the last five years my mission, as the Global Presiding Bishop, was to support every Regionary as well as indirect- ly all of the churches worldwide. I turned over the acting Presiding Bishop duty to Bishop Michael Warnon at the GES meeting prior to the LCC 100th Celebration. I amproud of bringing three women through Holy Orders through PRIEST. I also have been an on-call Chaplain at the WaukeshaMemorial Hospital for 15 years. (They calledme ‘ the Priest of Last Resort ’ after 5 churches could not respond.) Would you like to share some of your personal life? Bishop James: To be brief, my marriage produced three fine children. My two boys and one girl became my best friends when they became adults. (My 28 year old son was shot and killed in 1997 in one of the senseless killings in Florida.) As an engineer and computer scientist I helped build the guidance system that helped the first Americans travel to the moon and back safely. I was instrumental in creating remote repairs for imaging systems in hospitals, within 15 minutes of an emergency telephone call, 50%of the time, instead of sending a repair person on a truck to the hospi- tal, which could take half a day to two weeks, in remote locations. I’m also an artist with oil’s on canvas, photography work for my local theater, and other art work. What country are you Bishop of? Are you also Regionary? Bishop James: When I became a Bishop in 2008 I was Ordi- nary of the 9 StateMidwest Diocese of the USAand andAux- iliary Bishop for the Southern Diocese, which holds today. As Presiding Bishop from 2011 to 2016 it was for the Global lcc. I will now function as Presiding Bishop Emeritus . How big is the country? The number of inhabitants? Bishop James: The USA: 3,718,710 sq. miles or 9,631,420 sq. km, divided into 50 states and 1 district. The population on July 1, 2016 was: 322.69million. When was the lcc established in the usa? Bishop James: Established in 1916 in the State of California, i.e. 100 years ago ... Celebration! In what cities do you have congregations? Bishop James: Parish of Saint Francis inMinneapolis, Minnesota; the Church of the Holy Sophia in Stockholm, Wisconsin; the Church of St. Raphael in Tulsa, Oklahoma.