Read Letters from Kathy and Joe Angi
October 8, 2009
April 24, 2009
For older letters, contact Mission Connections
Kathy and Joe Angi
Joe and Kathy ended service in 2011.
They are available to speak as their schedule permits. Email them to invite them to visit you congregation or organization.
In June 2001, the 213th General Assembly of the PC(USA) commissioned the Reverend Kathleen Andress-Angi and Joseph Angi to serve the church in Budapest, Hungary. August 2010 marked the beginning of their 10th year of working with the Reformed Church in Hungary. Kathy and Joe work in the in the Refugee Ministry office of the Mission Department. This exciting area of work will challenge them to use all of their previous work experience to develop a ministry that has never existed before in Hungary.
The Refugee Ministry serves the refugee people of Hungary in multiple ways. First, it involves professionals and volunteers from local congregations to minister to the needs of people who are strangers in a new country. Second, it develops innovative programs to respond to the needs of these people, working in partnerships with the government and other NGOs. Third and perhaps most important, the program supports the spiritual and community life of people who have lost their homeland.
An important part of the work in Hungary is also to re-engage the church in mission. The Angis will help congregations in their work with refugees, mentoring lay mission groups who want to want to serve, and training church professionals in mission service beyond ecclesiastical duties. This work progresses slowly as the church and country move beyond the legacy of communism.
Joe is also actively involved with support groups for families and friends of alcoholics and other addicts. Alcoholism is a major problem in this area, impacting the lives of many beyond the person struggling with the addiction. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Al-Anon are in their early years in Hungary and need the support of experienced friends.
Prior to her current assignment, Kathy worked for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) in Croatia and Bosnia, training local teachers, pastors, social workers and parents to help children with the trauma of war. In 1999, she worked in Albania receiving Kosovo refugees. Kathy continues to work with PDA, responding to international disaster situations in Africa and the Middle East. Since moving to Hungary, Kathy also co-wrote a facilitator’s guide for community-based psychosocial care that is used by aid workers around the world working with Action by Churches Together (ACT).
Kathy has worked for many years as a child and family therapist. “My work with children and families has given me opportunity to learn how different families approach their lives each in their own unique way,” she says. “In similar ways, we as Christians approach faith and out understanding of God through the lens of our culture also. I value learning about God through the eyes and experiences of other cultures. Following Jesus and being led by the Spirit is a lifelong learning process for all of us. Together, perhaps we can more fully understand who God calls us to be.”
“What draws me to the mission field,” says Joe, “is the statement of Jesus that you are to love your neighbor as yourself.”
From 1988 to 1999, Kathy was in private practice in Oxford, Ohio. From 1989 to 1992 she also worked part-time as a child therapist for Mental Health Services Northwest in Cincinnati, Ohio. From 1983 to1990 she was a therapist and supervisor for Butler County Mental Health in Hamilton, Ohio. Prior to that, she was a family therapist at Bridgeview Girls Home in Port Huron, Michigan.
Kathy earned her bachelor’s degree from Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania in 1978, and her master’s degree in social work (1983) is from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2001.
Joe worked as a teacher for Cincinnati Public Schools from 1975 to 2000. He holds a bachelor’s degree in art education from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a master’s degree in art education from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Kathy was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament at College Hill Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, where Joe is also a member. She is a minister member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati. Both Joe and Kathy have been involved in mission at their church, taught Sunday School and taken on other leadership roles.
The Angis have six children. Tina, Canee, Elizabeth, Joseph and Adam live in the Cincinnati area and Brett is in the Army serving in Iraq. They also have six grandchildren.
Birthdays:
Kathy - November 5
Joe - May 3
