Billie T. Alban, a lifelong Episcopalian who rose to eminence in the field of organizational development, died February 7, aged 94. She taught at Columbia and Pepperdine Universities, lectured widely to executive level corporate leadership, and wrote extensively on the management of organizational systems. In 2008, she and Loren Mead of the Alban Institute co-authored Creating the Future Together: Methods to Inspire Your Whole Faith Community, applying lessons learned from a career in consulting with business leaders on ecclesiastical systems. Her major works, Large Group Interventions and The Handbook of Large Group Methods, draw upon her extensive experience as consultant to Fortune 500 companies.
Partnering with her husband, Guillermo Alban in his petroleum shipping business in Ecuador, Billie was a founding member of an Episcopal parish while raising two children and working arduously for the needs of marginalized women and children in Guayaquil’s barrios. In 1999, with Bishop Mark McDonald, the Rev. Jeffrey Lee, and Deacon Suzanne Watson, Alban was appointed Boone Porter Fellow at Nashotah House, the first cohort representing the four orders of ministry in the church.
She was an ardent advocate for the missiology of the early 20th century British priest, Roland Allen, and models of servant leadership first developed by AT&T’s Robert Greenleaf. Though rarely an office-seeker/holder in larger church circles, Billie referred to herself as a “permanent (perpetual) layperson” living out the vows of baptismal ministry among the priesthood of all believers, in and among the corporate structures of business. Never shy about her Christ-centered faith, she once composed and used a prayer for the IRS during an extended consultation with departmental leaders and staffers.
She is survived by her two daughters, two grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
The Rt. Rev. Andrew Fairfield, the X bishop of North Dakota, died February 16 at his home in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, aged 76.
He was the son of the Rev. Lindsey and Mary Parke, and his parents served as Episcopal missionaries in China until forced to evacuate during the Communist Revolution in 1948. A graduate of Trinity College, Hartford and Church Divinity School of the Pacific, he began his ministry serving mission parishes on Alaska’s Yukon River. He became rector of St. Stephen’s, Fort Yukon, and then assistant to the Bishop of Alaska in 1977.
His ministry in Alaska was focused on equipping and supporting indigenous people in church leadership and advocating for their needs in the wider church. He flew a small plane to make visitations to remote communities in the Alaskan interior and along the Arctic Coast, and cherished the warm hospitality and deep wisdom of the people he came to know and love.
He was elected bishop of North Dakota in 1989, and continued to use his plane to make parish visitations. In all, he logged over 5,000 miles in the air, over thirty years, without a single crash. An outspoken conservative, Fairfield served as a judge in the 1996 trial of Bishop Walter Righter, who was charged with heresy for the ordination of Barry Stopfel, a gay man. Fairfield cast the sole vote for Righter’s conviction, arguing at length that the Bible’s prohibition on homosexual activity was a matter of core doctrine.
In 2007, four years after his retirement as bishop, he was received by the Church of Uganda, and assigned to assist Bishop John Guernsey in caring for parishes that had departed the Episcopal Church. He served as an assisting bishop in the Anglican Church of North America’s Diocese of New England until his death. He died early on a Sunday morning, while reading a book, waiting to drive to church.
Fairfield’s successor, Bishop Michael Smith, said of him, “Bishop Andy was beloved in the Diocese of North Dakota. He was a humble man who will be remembered as the builder and encourager of total ministry teams.” Bishop Fairfield is survived by his wife, Sally, his two daughters, and four grandchildren.
The Rev. Dr. William S. Glazier, a priest and dedicated environmental steward, died February 5, aged 94.
Glazier was a native of Glastonbury, Connecticut, and a veteran of World War II. As a member of the 100th Infantry Division, he saw combat action in the Vosges Campaign in France, and was awarded the Bronze Star.
Following the war, he received a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and prepared for the ministry at Virginia Seminary. He was ordained in 1952, and began his ministry serving a series of rural churches in Connecticut. He served as an assistant rector at Grace Church in New York in the early 1960s and also was a short-term missionary in the Caribbean and Alaska.
After moving to Woodstock, Conn. in the mid-1960’s, he focused his ministry on the Manna Center, a service ministry he founded with his wife, Jean. He hosted a series of cable TV programs about global issues on local cable television for many years under the auspices of the Foreign Policy Association. He was an early advocate for solar energy and sustainable living, and presented programs on environmental topics for youth throughout Connecticut for many years.
He was chaplain and past president of the 100th Infantry Division Association, and led many tours of battle sites for fellow veterans. He was involved in many local service and social organizations in Mystic, Connecticut, where he retired with his second wife, Lois, and was a devoted member of Calvary Church, Stonington. He is survived by his wife, three sons, and five grandchildren.
The Rev. Robert M. G. Libby, a parish priest, journalist, educator, and author whose ministry focused on forgiveness and reconciliation, died February 26, aged 89.
A native of Long Island, he graduated from Emory University before serving as a Marine Corps officer during the Korean War. He prepared for the ministry at Sewanee Theological Seminary, and was ordained in 1958. After a curacy in Atlanta, Libby enjoyed a long ministry in several churches and schools in the Diocese of Florida. He was also a deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Florida for 12 years.
He was a journalist and prolific author, and served as the executive secretary for the Episcopal Church’s radio and television division from 1967-1971. He served as a correspondent for The Living Church at several General Conventions. His books include The Forgiveness Book, Grace Happens, Coming to Faith, Words..Words..Words, and a novel, A Summer Remembered.
The Rev. Roy Parker, Jr. OHC, a monk of the Order of the Holy Cross and a gifted calligrapher, died at the order’s motherhouse in West Park, New York, on February 20, aged 86.
A Californian, Father Parker earned a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before entering the Society of St. John the Evangelist in 1958. He prepared for the ministry at Episcopal Divinity School, and was ordained in 1967. He was released from the order in 1970, and served briefly on diocesan staff and at the Church of the Servant in Jamaica, Massachusetts.
He entered the Order of the Holy Cross in 1972, and was chaplain of the Manhattan Plaza Aids Project from 1989-1992. He was moved to the Order’s Mount Calvary Monastery in Santa Barbara, California, where he had a significant ministry of spiritual direction and created many beautiful pieces of calligraphic work. After a diagnosis of ALS, he returned to West Park, where he was cared for in a prolonged final illness by his brothers in the order. Prior Adam McCoy said that Parker’s last months were “a terrible struggle,” but added, “we rejoice in his life of faith and joy, which he shared so generously.”