By CatholicPhilly Staff • Posted December 6, 2023

Stacy Williams has been named as the next Director of the archdiocesan Office for Black Catholics by Archbishop Nelson Pérez, according to a Dec. 6 announcement. Her appointment becomes effective July 1, 2024.

She will succeed Kimberly Walker who has served in that capacity for the past year.

Williams is currently the Director of Religious Education and Pastoral Associate at Saint Malachy Parish in North Philadelphia, where she has served for the past 13 years.

During that time, she has helped parishioners form and strengthen loving and personal relationships with God through the parish’s faith formation programs. She has also developed and led comprehensive initiatives aimed at combatting racism and promoting diversity for parishioners as well as the community-at-large.

Williams has also been highly involved with pastoral planning for the parish and coordinating its Youth Ministry Program.

Prior to her time at Saint Malachy Parish, Williams taught at various Catholic elementary schools in the Philadelphia region and worked as a Program Analyst at United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Public History and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from Southern New Hampshire University as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Williams College. She also earned a Certificate in Youth Ministry from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary and a Certificate in Teaching for Spiritual Growth from Weston Theological Seminary.

As part of her responsibilities, Williams will also join the Archbishop’s Commission on Racial Healing. Formed by Archbishop Pérez in 2021, it is composed of 18 individuals including clergy as well as lay men and women from urban and suburban parishes representing the diversity of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia through the lenses of race, age, gender, and language.