With great appreciation, we thank Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond for his decade of service as TEC's Episcopal Moderator. Now, with great joy, we announce Bishop John C. Iffert (Diocese of Covington, KY) as TEC's new Episcopal Moderator!
Bishop Iffert was born on November 23, 1967, the youngest of three siblings, and grew up on a farm near Du Quoin, Illinois. Soon after graduating from Illinois State University, he became active in Koinonia and TEC. He had a very positive experience on a Koininia retreat in Springfield, Illinois, and was invited the day after the retreat by a team member to come on TEC the very next weekend. These experiences were a conversion experience for him, deepening his faith. He became very involved with Springfield TEC, Koinonia, REC, and other retreat ministries. In that first year, he attended 13 retreats. He credits TEC with deepening his spiritual life and with helping him develop the habits of daily prayer, daily scripture reading, and daily Eucharist. He moved to Belleville, Illinois, and enrolled at Mundelein Seminary, where he earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1996 and a Master of Divinity in 1997. During these seminary years, he became involved with the Belleville TEC community. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Wilton Gregory for the Diocese of Belleville on June 7, 1997.
After priestly ordination, Bishop Iffert served in several parish assignments in the Diocese of Belleville. He also served as a member of the diocesan personnel board, Defender of the Bond for the Tribunal, Spiritual Moderator for the Belleville Deanery CYO, and Spiritual Director for Belleville TEC. In August 2003, he entered the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and served at the St. Thomas Catholic Center at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. In 2008, his temporary vows with the Dominicans expired, and he returned to the Diocese of Belleville.
There, Bishop Iffert served in several parish and diocesan assignments, including co-vicar for priests, a member of the Diocesan Finance Council, and as a member of the College of Consultors. He worked alongside community and church leaders to found Lifeboat Alliance Family Shelter, where they help people who are homeless weather life’s storms. In 2013, this ecumenical ministry received the Governor’s Cup Award as an exemplary service project to the local community.
In 2019, he attended a TEC Conference workshop for TEC Spiritual Directors and joined the Spirituality Ministry Team of the TEC Conference. As a member of this team, he helped to edit the updated Reflection Outlines and Prayer Services in the TEC Conference Manual. In 2020, he became vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Diocese of Belleville.
On July 13, 2021, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Iffert as the eleventh bishop for the Diocese of Covington. On September 30, 2021, he was consecrated at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington.
We are pleased to announce today, October 1, 2022, he becomes the Episcopal Moderator of the TEC Conference, providing prayer, support, guidance, and visibility for TEC.
Bishop Iffert, adapting the word for St. Isaac Jogues, prays this prayer daily, and he has pledged to pray it for each of us:
Lord, wherever I go from here, let me be strong in faith and poor in spirit. Make me a man after your own heart.
