The longest-serving agency director in the Archdiocese of Louisville will be retiring in June, and a national search for her successor is underway.
M. Annette Mandley-Turner, director of the Office of Multicultural Ministry, plans to retire June 30 after serving in the Archdiocese of Louisville for about 50 years.
“Most of my adult life has been spent in some aspect of the church,” she said in a recent interview. “I have enjoyed working in a setting where I’m free to be open about my love for God.”
Turner was the first director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministry, established in 1989 by the late Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly. The office later became the Office of African American Ministry, which became part of the Office of Multicultural Ministry.
Before becoming a director, she served the archdiocese as a youth minister for parishes in Region 1. She came to that role after teaching in Catholic schools, including the old Christ the King, St. Columba and St. Denis schools.
Under Turner’s leadership, the Office of Multicultural Ministry has offered dozens of programs and ministries for parishes, schools and the wider community, including Moving Toward Oneness, a program that brings together parish communities from different areas to address racism and other prejudices. A new session of Moving Toward Oneness is set to begin in June.
The office also offers a variety of services and programs at the Catholic Enrichment Center in West Louisville, including a food pantry, tutoring and enrichment classes.
Turner has also served the church at the national level, including as a board member of the National Black Catholic Congress and the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, chair of the National Association for Black Catholic Administrators, and on a committee for evangelization with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
A retirement celebration to honor Turner’s service is being planned.
To view this job posting and other employment opportunities with the archdiocese, visit www.archlou.org/employment-opportunities/.
