Episcopalians tap first black chief bishop
Curry will succeed first female leader
The Episcopal Church elected its first African American presiding bishop, choosing Michael Curry of North Carolina during the denomination’s national assembly Saturday.
Curry was elected in a vote by bishops at the Episcopal General Convention, the top legislative body of the church. Curry won in a landslide with 121 votes. The other three candidates had 21 votes or less. The decision was affirmed on a vote of 800-12 by the House of Deputies, the voting body of clergy and lay participants at the meeting.
Curry will succeed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who will complete her nine-year term on Nov. 1. She was the first female presiding bishop and the first woman to lead an Anglican national church.
The New York-based Episcopal Church is the U.S. body of the Anglican Communion, an 80 million-member world fellowship of churches with roots in the Church of England.
“We’ve got a society where there are challenges before us. We know that. And there are crises all around us. And the church has challenges before us,” Curry said s he was introduced to the assembly as presiding bishop-elect. “We are part of the Jesus movement, and nothing can stop the movement of God’s love in this world.”
Norberto “Bert” Jones, 65, of Newark, New Jersey, joyously hugged friends after the results were announced, marveling at being alive to see a black U.S. president and black Episcopal presiding bishop.
“This is beautiful,” said Jones, a lay deputy and African-American. “God works awesome wonders, man. We’re getting to that point of understanding that it’s not about color and culture, but what you bring to the table. “
Curry was elected as the nation is grappling with the aftermath of this month’s massacre of nine congregants at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and amid the Black Lives Matter movement over the deaths of black men in police shootings and in police custody.
The Episcopal Church has been confronting its own history of racism. The church has asked dioceses to research their links to slavery and the history of racism. Many early Episcopalians were slaveholders whose donations were used to build churches, cathedrals and schools. In 2008, Jefferts Schori held a national service of repentance to apologize for the church’s complicity with slavery, segregation and racism.
Curry, 62, has been bishop of North Carolina since 2000, leading a diocese of 48,000 church members, 112 congregations and a network of ministries. He will now lead a nearly 1.9 millionmember denomination known for its history as the faith home of many of the Founding Fathers and U.S. presidents.
A Chicago native, Curry has two daughters with his wife, Sharon.