[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs press release] Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has announced the retirement of the Rev. Angela Ifill from her position as Episcopal Church missioner for the office of black ministries, a position she has held since 2000.

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.”

As missioner, Ifill developed the New Visions Initiative for Congregational Renewal and Vitality; The Rites of Passage resource Rising Stars Experiences (RISE), an alternative to the School to Prison Pipeline; and the Values to Live By guide for young people.  She established a Clergy Leadership Institute for the recently ordained; an Institute for Learning and Advancement for the Sudanese Community; and conducts the annual SOUL leadership skills training conference for youth and young adults and seminarians.

“It has been my privilege and honor to serve the church in the capacity of missioner for black ministries,” Ifill said.  “And I am thankful to God for the opportunity.”

Ifill’s career includes serving as a missionary in 1994 in Uganda; associate rector at St. Paul’s Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio; and canon pastor at Trinity and St. Philips Cathedral in Newark, New Jersey.

Her other work in the church includes:

• Trustee on the Board of Virginia Theological Seminary
• Liaison for St. Augustine’s University and Voorhees College
• Board member for the Society for the Increase of Ministry (SIM)
• Consultant with the Hartford Seminary Congregational Study Project with the Diocese of Massachusetts
• Anti-racism work in the church.

Ifill, a resident of Florida, will retire in November and will remain a consultant with the church.