Pastoral Assignments
Bishop McKnight was born in 1968 in Wichita, KS, and graduated from the University of Dallas in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry.
Following his admission as a seminarian, he graduated from the Pontifical College Josephinum Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, with a Master of Arts in Theology and a Master of Divinity degrees. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Wichita on May 28, 1994.
In May of 2008, he was appointed pastor once again in Wichita before his appointment to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in July 2010, serving as the Executive Director of the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, until his appointment as Pastor of Church of the Magdalen in Wichita in July 2015.
On November 21, 2017, Pope Francis named him the fourth Bishop of Jefferson City, and he was ordained and installed on February 6, 2018.
Education
Following his first pastoral assignment as an associate pastor, he was sent to Rome for studies in sacramental theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm where he successfully defended a dissertation in 2001 for a Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.).
Following his doctoral studies, he served as a pastor, a chaplain and visiting scholar at Newman University, Wichita, and as the Director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese.
In July of 2003 he was appointed to the faculty at the Pontifical College Josephinum where he taught graduate courses in liturgy, homiletics and dogma. While on the faculty, he served in the administrative positions of Director of Liturgy, Dean of Students, Director of Formation in the school of theology, and Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations.
Awards & honors
He serves on the following national boards:
Chairman, Board of Directors, Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate,
Chairman of the Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions and a member of the National Collections Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (January 2019 – Present)
Bishop McKnight is a recognized expert on the permanent diaconate and published author (Understanding the Diaconate: Historical, Theological and Sociological Foundations, Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2018).
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