The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry is the 27th and current presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church in the United States. Elected in 2015, he is the first African American to serve in that capacity. He was previously the bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina.

In his autobiography, Bishop Curry shares that both sides of his family were descended from slaves and sharecroppers in North Carolina and Alabama. He was born in Chicago and attended public schools in Buffalo, New York. He graduated with high honors from Hobart College in Geneva, New York, in 1975. He then earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1978 from the Yale Divinity School. Curry has also studied at The College of Preachers, Princeton Theological Seminary, Wake Forest University, the Ecumenical Institute at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, and the Institute of Christian Jewish Studies.

Bishop Curry was ordained deacon at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buffalo, New York by the Rt. Rev. Harold B. Robinson in June 1978 and priest at St. Stephen’s, Winston-Salem, North Carolina by the Rt. Rev. John M. Burgess in December 1978. He served initially as deacon-in-charge and subsequently as rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church (1978–1982) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; then as rector of St. Simon of Cyrene Episcopal Church in Lincoln Heights, Ohio (1982–1988). He served as rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland (1988–2000). 

Curry was elected eleventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina on February 11, 2000, and consecrated bishop on June 17, 2000, at Duke Chapel on the campus of Duke University in Durham. The consecrating bishops were Robert Hodges Johnson, J. Gary Gloster, and Barbara C. Harris. Throughout his ministry in North Carolina, Curry was also active in issues of social justice, immigration, and marriage equality. 

On May 1, 2015, the joint nominating committee for the election of the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church nominated Curry and three other bishops as candidates for 27th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church. The election occurred on June 27, 2015, at the 78th General Convention meeting in Salt Lake City, and Curry was elected by the House of Bishops meeting in St. Mark’s Cathedral on the first ballot with 121 of 174 votes cast. Laity and clergy in the House of Deputies ratified Curry’s election later the same day. Curry was installed as presiding bishop and primate on November 1, 2015, All Saints’ Day, during a Eucharist at Washington National Cathedral.

On May 19, 2018, Bishop Curry had the honor of delivering the sermon at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Royal Wedding at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in England.

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Last week, we had a great turnout for our first Sacred Conversations guest speaker, Dr. Terry Jones. If you missed his excellent presentation, you can access the recorded Zoom here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iyxKghbmxg&t=43s 

With Dr. Jones' help, we have compiled a list of resources related to our conversation. This list and other resources can be found on our Anti-Racism Resource page. 

A note from Dr. Jones on resources: “Based on brevity (under 125 pages), availability (on the Internet), and readability, I would select the Health Equity Network’s Segregation in St. Louis and Richard Rothstein’s The Making of Ferguson.”

During his talk, Dr. Jones also recommended Troubling the Waters by Jerome Morris, which focuses on education.

A useful website: https://colin-gordon.sites.uiowa.edu/

Interesting articles:

• https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/closing-doors-race-and-opportunity-in-st-louis-schools
• http://www.stlamerican.com/news/columnists/algebra-of-inequality-in-public-schools/article_4652c71d-7e4e-5e54-94e3-6b597e952c23.html
• https://uncf.org/pages/K-12-Disparity-Facts-and-Stats?gclid=Cj0KCQiAx9mABhD0ARIsAEfpavQ7TdOjrHDReds_RCgVAXdTH1KCR_IPQVvDbk0LchEypJjd_htaok4aAp1hEALw_wcB
• For Historic Context: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/planning/cultural-resources/preservation-plan/part-i-african-american-experience.cfm

When we asked Dr. Jones what WE could do to improve education equity in our area, he said: “Get involved with policy on a local level!” So here you go:
https://www.ladueschools.net/
https://www.slps.org/
or google your local district.