5 Questions with incoming bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh

Ketlen Solak can remember a time when others were taken aback by her telling them she would one day like to lead the Episcopal Church.

But on Saturday, Solak’s wish will be fulfilled when she succeeds Bishop Dorsey McConnell at a consecration ceremony making her the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Solak will become the first woman and first person of color to helm the religious leadership post in Western Pennsylvania.

Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Solak moved to Virginia when she was 16. Both she and her husband Scott, a pianist and composer, studied music in college.

The diocese elected Solak, 59, last June. She had been serving as the rector of Brandywine Collaborative Ministries in Wilmington, Delaware. As bishop, Solak will oversee 36 parishes across 11 counties, including the diocese’s Trinity Cathedral in Downtown Pittsburgh.

The consecration service will begin at 11 a.m. at Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside.

On Friday Bishop-Elect Solak spoke with the Tribune-Review. Her answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Question: What does it mean to you to be the first woman and first person of color to serve as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh?

Answer: For me personally, I enjoy the fact that I feel that God has called me to a new place of responsibility and I feel very humbled and honored by that. I rejoice that it seems to be a positive aspect of our communal lives together that the people, the Episcopalian Christians in the diocese of Pittsburgh, have seen fit to call me to this position.

Q: As a woman and a woman of color is there a certain perspective, or particular experience that you can bring to this that has not existed before?

A: For me, knowing myself as I do, what I think I bring is that sense of personhood where I feel myself so much as a person made in the image of God. And for me, that is the source of my identity. Of course being a woman that’s a special gift – to be a part of a particular gender. It’s a special gift to be a part of a particular color. But I think what I bring most is that faith that I’ve been gifted with and all of the other gifts that come along with who I am due to my education, due to my experience in life and just who I am as a person.

Q: What do you see as the main challenges for you in this position given the time in which we live and the racial tensions that exist in this country and in Pittsburgh?

A: What I would hope to bring most is helping all of us to remember that we are people called to live and love – in love for God and in love for each other – truly, in spite of disagreement, in spite of anything else.

Q: I’m guessing that it might have been difficult at some point for you as a Black woman. Did you run into obstacles on your way to becoming a bishop or being told you can’t become one and, if so, how did you overcome them?

A: I remember a friend who had a little moment of pause at the idea of my saying that I felt called to ordained ministry as a woman. But he no longer holds to that view.

Q: As you embark on this historic chapter in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, what are the goals that you have set for yourself in terms of things you want to accomplish for the church?

A: My approach is a little bit different. I am a person who really wants to discover who we are together. And so, if anything, my goal is to get to know the people. But my first priority is to always find ways to help others in whichever ways, small and big, to discover or re-discover their faith or their love for Jesus. Or to get to know Him or to become curious about Him.