Dr. Kenneth Forde

Dr. Kenneth Forde  (1933-2019) was awarded the Bishop Cross in 2008 Diocesan Convention

Presentation of the Bishop Cross by The Right Reverend Mark S. Sisk Fifteenth Bishop of New York<

“Whenever the Church can see work that is professional being transformed by the vocational, we perceive the ordinary being changed into the extraordinary. This unique and powerful witness to our baptismal life has been notably displayed by Doctor Kenneth Forde, a native of New York City who received primary and secondary education in Barbados, then returned to this diocese to earn degrees from the City College of New York and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Subsequently, he served in the United States Army as an assistant chief of surgery. Now as a retired Professor of Clinical Surgery, he continues on the Board of Trustees, of Columbia University, with a prolific leadership record of several prominent medical professional agencies, along with numerous published works on the subjects of gastrointestinal and endoscopic surgery, and the causes and prevention of colon cancer, culminating in numerous honors and awards, including a dedicated professorship named in his honor. He was the founding editor of the academic journal ‘Surgical Endoscopy”; he has served on several editorial boards and has been recognized by Columbia University in receiving its Federation Medal, its Gold Medal for Excellence in Clinical Medicine and its Silver Medal for Meritorious Service.

Many of these achievements were accomplished in the face of pernicious systemic racism. Dr. Forde’s work is a beacon of inspiration, showing how compassion overcomes resistance and mercy heals in the midst of misery. While rising to the heights of medical excellence, Dr. Forde consistently exhibited a humble manner of servanthood in his parish of Christ Church, Riverdale, Bronx as a member of the vestry, as a Warden, a Lay Reader, a Eucharistic Minister, as a member of the choir and several parish committees. Beyond these areas of formal participation, he has the strongest and most well-earned of reputations for commitment, fairness and the love of God. The larger Church has benefited from his commitment, most recently by the Caribbean Anglican Consultation, by his board membership for Episcopal Social Services, as a Trustee of Berkeley Divinely School at Yale and as a commander in the Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem.

Therefore, in recognition and gratitude for his service to his community, his parish, his diocese and his Bishop, we on this 14th day of November 2008, in the eleventh year of our consecration, do award him the Bishop’s Cross.”

[Published Winter 2020]