Union of Black Episcopalians, New National Missioner Set Goals for Shared Ministry: Thursday Thesis: Meeting People with Purpose
Episcopal News Service. July 1, 2004 [070104-2-A]
Bob Williams
New collaboration is taking shape as the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE) prepares for its annual meeting July 5-9 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
That partnership will be marked by the installation of the Episcopal Church's new national missioner for Black Ministries, the Rev. Angela S. Ifill.
"The Union of Black Episcopalians is a major organization recognized across the church, and it is important for that organization and the national Office of Black Ministries to work together for the good of the whole church," said Ifill, who began work in New York at the Episcopal Church Center February 17.
"I am excited about the relationship as it presents many possibilities and the great potential for collaboration on issues such as congregational and leadership development, recruitment, and addressing issues of social justice," Ifill said.
Collaboration is essential in meeting the challenges currently faced by congregations with primarily Black membership, Ifill said. "Some of the congregations are small, and this is an area in which we need to pay attention in order to determine ways that those specific congregations can begin to grow where possible," she notes. "Where there is a possibility for growth, let's make that happen."
The UBE gathering, the organization's 36th annual meeting and national conference will open at 8 p.m. on Monday, July 5, with Eucharist at Cincinnati's Christ Church Cathedral. Bishop Herbert Thompson of Southern Ohio will be celebrant and the Rev. Mpho Tutu, daughter of South Africa's retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu, will preach.
Tuesday, July 6, will feature a 9:30 a.m. keynote address delivered by the Rev. Dr. Kortright Davis, rector of Holy Comforter, Washington, D.C., and professor of theology at Howard University.
Missioner Ifill's installation is set for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 6, in the context of a Eucharist to be celebrated by Bishop Arthur Williams Jr. of the Episcopal Church Center, retired suffragan of Ohio. Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina will preach.
Wednesday will bring conference participants a guided tour and lecture at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
Young people are a priority for UBE and the upcoming conference, Ifill said. "To that end, a workshop is planned to encourage conversation around vocation and ministry, both lay and ordained."
A Eucharist for youth is planned for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7, at Christ Church Cathedral with Bishop Suffragan Gayle Harris of Massachusetts as celebrant and the Rev. Allen Robinson, rector of St. James in Baltimore, Maryland, as preacher.
Conference participants will also share in "A Tribute to Ohio African American Bishops," a dinner gala honoring Bishops Thompson and Williams, set to open with a 6 p.m. reception at the Cincinnati Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel on Thursday, July 8. Tickets, priced at $60 each, are required.
Conference workshops are planned on topics including "Archives: Black Episcopalians' Contributions to the Church," "The Role of the Episcopal Church in Slavery and Emancipation/Freedom," and "The Episcopal Church: Caribbean Perspective and Experience."
Election of officers is also scheduled, along with recognition of outgoing officers led by UBE's current president, the Very Rev. Dr. Sandye Wilson, rector of St. Andrew and Holy Trinity in South Orange, New Jersey.
Wilson will preach at a the conference's closing Eucharist at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, July 9, for which UBE's new president-elect will be celebrant.
For her part, Ifill said she looks forward to working with new officers, as well as all leaders in Black ministry across the church.
Ifill brings a variety of skills to her new role. She was previously associate rector of St. Paul's Church in Cleveland Heights in the Diocese of Ohio, where she began ministry in August 1998. Before that she served two years as canon pastor of Trinity and St. Philip's Cathedral in Newark. After earning a master of divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary, she served in the Diocese of Long Island at Trinity and St. John's Church in Hewlett, New York. Before entering seminary, she worked for 15 years in business and industry and for a time as a deputy director for training at the National Urban League office in New York City.
On the international level, Ifill was a member of the Anglican Communion Delegation to the United Nations World Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. In the Diocese of Ohio she served as chair of the Commission to End Racism, in which capacity she organized and implemented diocesan-wide and ecumenical, community-based conferences on the practice of anti-racism.
Ifill is a self-described avid student of African Christianity and has visited in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Mozambique.
Among her national church ministries, Ifill is also a member of the Church Pension Fund Committee on Abundance.
Earlier this year, Bishop Orris G. Walker of Long Island said of Ifill and her new ministry: "I am pleased that the Diocese of Long Island has again been able to make a major contribution to the wider mission of the church."
Bishop J. Clark Grew II of Ohio, said: "In her five years in the Diocese of Ohio, Angela has made a major contribution to diocesan life especially in the area of social justice and through her efforts to eradicate racism. She has a passion for seeing God at work through the movements for peace and justice in our church and in society."
UBE President Wilson concurs: "Angela has had a long commitment to congregational development, the black church and to the church in the city. She brings a deep spirit and passion for justice and a zeal for this work. I welcome her."