Bishop Shay Craig
Bishop Diocesan
The Very Rev. Shay Craig was born in Omaha and raised near San Francisco. She is the granddaughter of western-Kansas ranchers and Missouri farmers, from whom she learned resilience and a dark sense of humor. She was first welcomed into the Episcopal Church at St. Stephen’s, Belvedere, Calif at age six.
Craig holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After college, Shay moved to Chicago, was married and worked in various administrative jobs before staying home to raise her four children: Emma, now living in Gainesville, Florida, Sam in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Caden in Portland, Oregon and Jamie in Salina, KS.
Craig felt called to ordained ministry while a lay leader at Christ Church in Winnetka, IL, where she served on the Vestry, taught middle-school Sunday School and helped to create an infamous “Musical Journey through the Bible in an Hour.”
After earning a Master of Theological Studies in Hebrew Bible from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL, Craig worked as the Diocese of Chicago’s development officer until she was ordained a priest in 2018. Soon after, she moved to Salina, Kansas. She served as Christ Cathedral’s canon from 2018 to 2020, then moved west to Hays, a mid-sized college town, to mentor and grow those at St. Michael’s Episcopal and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.
Returning to Salina in 2023, Craig worked to expand the diversity and size of her parish family, introduced new small groups and led Christ Cathedral to grow its vibrant signature events including the Kirking of the Tartans, multiple Christmas Eve services and its Blessing of the Animals, often attended by 50+ pets of all sizes.
Craig has a passion for rural ministry and discerning the Spirit at work in small congregations in remote locations and with limited resources. She has worked with churches across her Diocese and Province on creating community, redefining vitality and sustainable leadership. Craig co-hosts monthly Zoom meetings for small and rural churches in Province VII. She is described by many in her church families as approachable, innovative and committed.
In addition to her most recent leadership as dean of Christ Cathedral, Craig has served as the Diocese of Western Kansas’s canon for congregational development and vitality and as standing committee chair. Craig also serves as a member of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, on the Finance Committee.
Craig is married to John Houston – an Assistant General Counsel for the Kansas Supreme Court Office of Judicial Administration. She embraces the opportunity to meet and know the people who make up the Episcopal Church in North Dakota, hearing their stories and glimpsing the vision of the Kingdom that God has in store for the Body of Christ there.
Ashley Dobbs Hubbard
Jessica Krzewina
Diocesan Administrator
Jess manages the diocesan communications program to support connection and ministry with and among leaders, congregations and other local ministry contexts; organizes events that support diocesan community life and develop and sustain the ministry of all the Baptized; oversees financial administration in support of the treasurer and Finance Committee; handles human resources and benefits; manages diocesan property; supports fund-raising efforts; provides administrative consulting and support for congregations and other local ministries; and maintains the diocesan office at Gethsemane Cathedral.
Before joining the diocesan Ministry Support Team in 2022, Jess served at the Lutheran Church of Christ the King in Moorhead for eleven years, first as Office Administrator and Children’s Ministry Director, and then as Director of Children’s Ministry and Christian Education. In these roles she managed communications in various media, organized events, recruited and led numerous volunteers, assisted with financial management, and oversaw the office and information technology. She is excited to be focusing now on these and other administrative areas of work, where she feels God is particularly calling her at this time, and to share her gifts with the church in the broader diocesan context.
Jess is a deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Religion, with a Church Professions Certification, from Concordia College, and a Master of Arts in Children, Youth, and Family Ministry, from Luther Seminary. She lives in St. Cloud, MN with her husband and dog.
