The Rev. Dr. Jean Baptiste Ntagengwa has been appointed director of transition ministry for the Diocese of Massachusetts, to serve on the Congregational Development Team and coordinate the clergy transition process for congregations. He will begin his work on the diocesan staff on Nov. 26.
“We are delighted that Jean Baptiste has agreed to join the diocesan staff. In addition to
The Rev. Dr. Jean Baptiste Ntagengwa
bringing experience in the wider Anglican Church, he knows a number of congregations in our own diocese and has worked on several initiatives for congregations of color. We particularly appreciate his significant scholarly achievement, his quiet strength and his leadership in deanery and diocesan matters. All will serve him well in the new work he will be taking on,” the Rev. Canon Libby Berman, Canon for Congregations, said in an Oct. 24 e-mail announcement to clergy and diocesan leadership.
Ntagengwa spent his early years in Rwanda, where much of his extended family still lives. He earned in 1988 a certificate in accounting and economics from the Ecole d’Economie et de Commerce de Janja, in Ruhengeri, Rwanda, and then completed his Bachelor of Divinity degree at St. Paul’s United Theological College in Limuru, Kenya, in 1998. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican diocese there. In 1999, he moved to Boston, where he completed his master’s degree in theological studies at Harvard Divinity School in 2001 and his doctorate in theological studies at Boston University in 2008. His dissertation, “Cycles of Violence in Rwanda: Ethical Leadership and Ethnic Justice,” explores theological and ethical models for relationship that could be useful in curtailing centuries of violence in that nation. In the Diocese of Massachusetts, Ntagengwa has served as the assistant priest at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mattapan and most recently as priest-in-charge at St. John St. James Church in Roxbury. He also currently works with the Refugee Immigration Ministry in Malden.
He and his wife, Christine, live in Everett and have three children, Jean-Fidele, Peace and Moses.
"With this appointment we are broadening our ability to respond to the changing needs of congregations and clergy in transition and look with new eyes at our processes and approach, especially to partner with clergy as they discern their next call. We welcome Jean Baptiste to his new ministry, and we look forward to all that we will accomplish together," the Rev. Canon Mally Lloyd, Canon to the Ordinary, said in the announcement.