Global Relations Director, Rachel Parry, is leaving USPG after 24 years to move to a newly created post at the Anglican Communion office. She has been appointed Commissions and Networks Support Officer and will take up her role in January.
Rachel Parry (left) with Carmencita Karagdag-Peralta in Manila, the Philippines.
‘It’s been the privilege of my life to have served in USPG and to have got to know so many people and shared so many stories and experiences,’ Rachel said. ‘My life has been immeasurably enriched and my faith profoundly challenged and transformed by the witness and faith of so many Christians across cultures, countries and continents.’
USPG’s General Secretary, Revd Duncan Dormor, said, ‘Rachel is a highly respected and loved member of the USPG family and she will be hugely missed. Her service to USPG over the years has been invaluable. In her new role she will be drawing on her extensive knowledge of people around the Communion and their diverse contexts and we look forward to working closely with her.’
Rachel said she was excited by the prospect of a new challenge.
‘When I saw the new job advertised at the Anglican Communion Office, I thought “Gosh, that’s perfect for me.” Jobs with a global relational role do not come up often at the ACO and this felt like a wonderful opportunity.’
Recalling the days when the ACO and USPG shared premises at Partnership House in London, Rachel said she was especially excited to be renewing the link.
‘I am looking forward immensely to continuing to work with longstanding colleagues and friends and to making new friendships and relationships, and to playing my part in supporting the Networks and Commissions which are such a crucial part of the wonderful missional fabric of the Communion tapestry that binds us all together.’
The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, said he was delighted to be welcoming Rachel to the ACO.
‘She will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience from her time at USPG, and I have no doubt that she will be a huge asset to the Communion,’ he said. ‘Our commissions and networks are an integral part of how we support local mission, and this new role marks an important point in our journey to better support the work of the Communion all around the world. Please join me in praying for Rachel as she prepares for this new role.’
Rachel has overseas mission in her blood. She was born and grew up in Papua New Guinea where her parents were serving as missionaries. After studying English Language and Literature at Durham University, she spent two years teaching English in Zhenjiang in China with the Amity Foundation.
She returned to the UK in 1997 and soon embarked on her remarkable USPG career. Initially she took up a temporary role running the annual bursary programme meeting before landing a permanent post in what was then the Mission Personnel Team focussing on East Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa and managing the Bursary Programme. Early in her USPG career, she also studied for a masters in Asian Politics at SOAS, the School of Oriental and Africa Studies, London University. She was appointed Director of Global Relations in January 2014.