We are honored to welcome The Rev. Canon Jean Baptiste Ntagengwa, Th.D., Canon for Immigration & Multicultural Ministries, as the guest preacher and presider for worship this Sunday, October 10 at 10 a.m. Join us in-person and online for worship and connection on Sunday at 10 am for the Holy Eucharist Rite II, in-person in our Main Sanctuary and online Facebook or our website. We look forward to seeing you there.
Ntagengwa spent his early years in Rwanda, where much of his extended family still lives. He holds a certificate in accounting and economics from the Ecole d’Economie et de Commerce de Janja, in Ruhengeri, Rwanda, and a Bachelor of Divinity degree from St. Paul’s United Theological College in Limuru, Kenya. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican diocese of Embu, Kenya.The Rev. Canon Jean Baptiste Ntagengwa, Th.D’s position as canon for immigration and multicultural ministries was created in response to the diocesan mission strategy. “The mission strategy makes a commitment to invest in ministry with immigrant communities and communities of color, so what do we need to be developing and doing together to accomplish that? There is a lot of listening that we need to do, and relationships that need to be created.”
Before fleeing in 1994 to Zaire, where he coordinated a small refugee camp at Eveche Anglican de Bukavu for a year, Ntagengwa held different leadership positions in Rwanda as financial administrator of an Episcopal hospital, regional representative in Butare of Banques Populaires and as a chaplain of a high school in Musanze.
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 ethics and missions 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. Before taking on his current position, Ntagengwa served the diocese as director of transition ministries for six years. Prior to that he served at various parishes, including as an assistant priest at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mattapan and as priest-in-charge at St. John St. James Church in Roxbury. He also worked with the Refugee Immigration Ministry in Malden as case manager and director of direct care.
He and his wife, Christine, live in Everett and have three children, Jean-Fidele, Peace and Moses, and one grandson, Josiah.
