A combined 40-plus years of service concludes in November 2016 and February 2017 with the retirement of three figures in The Episcopal Church: the Reverend Angela Ifill, Missioner for the Office of Black Ministries (who will continue as a consultant for TEC); Canon Peter C. Ng, Partnership Officer for Asia and the Pacific and C. Kirk Hadaway, Officer for Congregational Research.
Remarks from the Presiding Bishop on each (found at the press releases linked above) follow.
Presiding Bishop Curry said, “Among Angela’s many contributions to the cause of Christ through the building up of our black churches in the Episcopal Church, let me highlight this – Angela has made a profound and enduring difference in the lives of young people through programs like SOUL, RISE, and support of our Episcopal HBCUs. In a time when we as a society are struggling to end the school-to-prison pipeline, she has helped the church to not just lament and talk about it, but to do it. There are black young people whose lives have been changed because of her work. That is investment in the present in our black communities for the sake of our future. As we save the children, we ultimately save ourselves. Angela has helped us doing that.”
“The true Christ-centered holiness, humility and humanity of Peter have made him a bridge person between cultures and peoples and churches in Asia, the Pacific Rim and the Americas,” Presiding Bishop Curry said. “He has helped us all to make real the old song that says — in Christ there is no east nor west, in him no south or north, but one great fellowship of love, throughout the whole wide earth.”
“Kirk’s work and service to the church has helped the church to hold itself accountable,” Presiding Bishop Curry said. “His insights, his wisdom and his statistical analysis have helped clarify with the actual mission context that we are currently living in, and in which we seek to bear witness to Jesus Christ. He has done this, helping us to practice our faith in the contact of the hard facts of the world. Faith gets real when the word becomes flesh and dwells among us. Kirk has helped us to keep it real.”