Executive Director named for Precious Blood Renewal Center

Teresa Albright, an experienced pastoral minister who has worked in the Kansas City area for 10 years, has been named the new executive director of Precious Blood Renewal Center. Her start date is Sept. 14.

As executive director, Albright will be the chief administrator of the Renewal Center. She has been tasked with preparing and implementing a long-range vision and strategy for the Renewal Center and leading the Renewal Center team in furthering the ministries of the word, renewal, reconciliation and restoration that form the heart of Precious Blood spirituality.

Of her new appointment, Albright said, ”For generations, the Missionaries of the Precious Blood have been a prophetic witness of renewal in our region. I look forward to helping the Renewal Center grow and thrive as a sacred space where individuals, households, congregations, and community leaders learn to participate in the work of reconciliation through bridge-building and peacemaking.”

Fr. Jeffery Kirch, provincial director of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, U.S. Province, said, “The Missionaries of the Precious Blood would like to welcome Teresa Albright as she joins us in our mission of reconciliation and renewal of the Church. She brings with her a wealth of experience in pastoral ministry and will be a wonderful addition to our team.”

Albright comes to the Renewal Center after nearly 10 years as a pastoral minster at Visitation Parish in Kansas City, Missouri, where she worked in adult, family and intergenerational formation programs. Before that, she worked as a director of religious education for the cathedral parish in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, and as a research and development associate for Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston.

Albright is no stranger to the Renewal Center. She served a two-year term on the Renewal Center Advisory Committee and helped facilitate retreats at the Center for RCIA/OCIA candidates and sponsors. She also has extensive experience in interfaith work in Boston, Central Missouri, Houston and Kansas City, having served in leadership positions with the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council.

Albright grew up in Johnson County, Kansas. She holds a bachelor’s degree in humanities from the University of Kansas, a master’s degree in theology from Boston College with concentrations in systematic theology and comparative theology, and she has studied at the Centre for Biblical Formation in Jerusalem. She is a lay associate of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion.

During her interview with the Search Committee, Albright was asked, “Dream a little bit with us. What would you like to see at the Renewal Center? What excites you?”

She said that one dream would be ”to help create an authentic space where people deeply rooted in their own faith traditions can come together to address shared challenges and learn from one another.” Those kinds of spaces are rare in the Kansas City area, especially in Catholic circles.

She added that the Renewal Center ”could do even more to make room for people who are asking questions about faith through contemplation and conversation with others. We would remain firmly grounded in the Catholic tradition while welcoming all who seek a deeper relationship with God and one another.”