RIP: Bishop Edmond Lee Browning, 24th Presiding Bishop

From ENS-

Bishop Edmond Lee Browning, the 24th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, died on July 11, 2016. He was 87 years old and was living in Oregon.

Browning served as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church from 1986-1997. Browning’s election as presiding bishop in 1986 was seen as a reflection of the church’s broadening diversity due to his extensive international and multicultural experience.

Browning hoped to encourage a growing awareness of diversity in the church. He was well-known for his quote, “no outcasts in the church.”

“The Episcopal Church is faithfully seeking to truly become, ‘a house of prayer for all people,’ as Jesus said quoting the Hebrew prophets, and that is greatly the case because Presiding Bishop Browning taught us that the church must be a place where there are no outcasts,” said Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry, the 27th presiding bishop. “That enduring legacy is still helping to set many a captive free. It is evidence that God is not finished with us yet, for every once and a while spiritual giants still walk among us as living reminders. And one of those reminders was Edmond Lee Browning, 24th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church. Well done good and faithful servant. May you rest in peace and rise in glory.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/07/11/rip-bishop-edmond-lee-browning-24th-presiding-bishop/

What’s the faith background of the Episcopal Church’s new leader?

From Get Religion-

AN EPISCOPALIAN ASKS:

Can you tell us something more about the presiding bishop of our [Episcopal] Church? I’ve heard only upbeat things about him from people who have met and heard him. Will he be a Marco Rubio – a very effective speaker who can connect with people?

THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER:

Perhaps so. Here’s some information about the personable Michael Bruce Curry, 62, who was installed this month as the new presiding bishop of America’s troubled Episcopal Church. Some U.S. denominations lack such a solo head while the Episcopalians grant their chief unusually centralized power and, moreover, his term runs till 2024.

More here-

http://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2015/11/20/whats-the-faith-background-of-the-episcopal-churchs-new-leader

What’s the background of the Episcopal Church’s new leader?

From Patheos-

AN EPISCOPALIAN ASKS:

Can you tell us something more about the presiding bishop of our [Episcopal] Church? I’ve heard only upbeat things about him from people who have met and heard him. Will he be a Marco Rubio — a very effective speaker who can connect with people?

THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER:

Perhaps so. Here’s some information about the personable Michael Bruce Curry, 62, who was installed this month as the new presiding bishop of America’s troubled Episcopal Church. Some U.S. denominations lack such a solo head while the Episcopalians grant their chief unusually centralized power and, moreover, his term runs till 2024.

More here-

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2015/11/whats-the-background-of-the-episcopal-churchs-new-leader/

Episcopalian’s first Black Bishop turns up heat

From Washington DC-

After knocking loudly three times on the door of the Washington National Cathedral, Bishop Michael Curry was installed as the new presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church Sunday, the first African American to lead the 2.5 million-member denomination.

Curry preached on how his father was moved to become an Episcopalian after watching a church welcome his then-fiancee to drink from the common Communion cup in the often-segregated 1940s.

“The Holy Spirit has done evangelism and racial reconciliation before in the Episcopal Church,” he told a congregation of almost 2,500. But he added: “God is not finished with this church. God has work for us to do. Jesus has shown us the way and we are the Jesus movement, so my brothers and sisters, walk together, children, don’t you get weary.”

More here-

http://www.districtchronicles.com/news/view.php/1014145/Episcopalians-first-Black-Bishop-turns-u

'God is not finished' with Episcopal Church, new bishop says

From Tree Angle-

The service that installed Michael Bruce Curry as presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church on Sunday would have been unrecognizable to Episcopalians of the past century. And congregants say that’s a good thing.

The church’s first African-American presiding bishop was instated in a ceremony led by female bishops, openly gay priests and even a rabbi. After a spirited opening by a gospel choir, Episcopal leaders filed into the National Cathedral in Washington to the sound of guitars guiding a Spanish hymn and a Native American drumming prelude.

“Don’t worry. Be happy! God has not given up on the world, and God is not finished with the Episcopal Church yet,” Curry said.

More here-

https://treeangle.co.id/news/53868/2015/11/god-is-not-finished-with-episcopal-church-new-bishop-says

MICHAEL CURRY IS THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO LEAD EPISCOPAL CHURCH

From World Religion News-

The Episcopal Church on Sunday installed Michael Curry as its Presiding Bishop at the Washington National Cathedral. He took over the reins from Katharine Jefferts Schori, who also made history as the first female leader of the church. Michael Curry had words of praise for the latter, who he said led the church towards a level of spiritual maturity where everyone could be honest with each other. He hoped to build on the good work of his predecessor, whose nine-year term came to an end this year.

More here-

http://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/christianity/michael-curry-is-the-first-african-american-to-lead-episcopal-church

Can Episcopal Church's first black leader heal racial divides?

From Christian Science Monitor-

Declaring that "God has work for us to do," Bishop Michael Curry was installed as the Episcopal Church's first black leader Monday at the Washington National Cathedral, accepting the ceremonial crozier from outgoing Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Church's first female leader.

According to Bishop Curry, the welcome his family found decades ago at the Episcopal Church, which is 83 percent white, set into motion his own journey toward the priesthood, when his mother was handed the same communion chalice as the white parishioners. ...

More here-

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/1102/Can-Episcopal-Church-s-first-black-leader-heal-racial-divides

Video: Curry’s sermon at installation of the 27th Presiding Bishop

From ENS (with video)-

Jesus came to continue a movement. Actually, Jesus picked up and took the movement of John the Baptist to a new level. John was part of the movement born out of prophets like Amos and Isaiah and Jeremiah. And prophetic movement was rooted in Moses, who went up to the mountaintop. Jesus crystalized and catalyzed the movement that was serving God’s mission in this world.  God has a passionate dream for this world. 

Jesus came to show us the way.  Out of the darkness into the dream.

That’s what is going on in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles — the movement! The Apostle Paul and Silas, his partner in ministry, have been preaching, teaching and witnessing to the way of Jesus in the city of Thessalonica. While their message finds some resonance with many, it is troublesome to others. A riot breaks out because of the tensions. Our text describes those who are troubled by the teaching about The Way, as the Jesus movement was first called.

Listen to this description of the first followers of Jesus:

These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also…. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.  (Acts 17:6b-7)

Notice that the activity of Paul and Silas was seen not as an isolated incident in Thessalonica, but as part of a greater movement of revolution. “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also.” Paul and Silas by themselves might not have been of much consequence. But as part of a movement, they posed a problem.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/11/01/video-currys-sermon-at-installation-of-the-27th-presiding-bishop/

‘Pray for Him, not Prey on Him’

From The Living Church-

Several hundred people gathered Saturday for a Vigil Eucharist preceding Sunday’s installation of Presiding Bishop-elect Michael Curry.

The service, hosted by the Union of Black Episcopalians at the Washington Armory, began with prayers for and with Curry around a baptismal font, which flowed into a soulful performance of “Shall We Gather at the River?”

The Rev. Canon Sandye A. Wilson, rector of St. Andrew and Holy Communion Church in South Orange, New Jersey, preached about the historic nature of the occasion, the tension between the Jesus Movement and the institutional church, and the challenges that Curry will face in the coming years.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/pray-him-not-prey-him

Episcopal Church installs its first African-American leader: Chicago-born Bishop Michael Curry

From The Chicago Tribune-

The Episcopal Church, whose history is entwined with the founding of the United States, is installing its first black national leader this weekend.

Presiding Bishop-elect Michael Curry, who comes to the job after nearly 15 years leading the Diocese of North Carolina, was elected last summer to succeed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman leader of the church. Her nine-year term ends Sunday, when Curry formally steps in, during a ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral.

Curry takes leadership of the New York-based denomination after years of membership losses and amid ongoing tensions among fellow Anglicans over Episcopal support for gay rights and same-sex marriage. His installation also comes at a time of renewed national attention to racism, after the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the massacre of nine black congregants at a Charleston, South Carolina, church.

More here-

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-episcopal-church-first-african-american-leader-20151031-story.html

Video: Jefferts Schori reflects on nine-year term as Presiding Bishop

From ENS- (with video)

In a 10-minute video interview with the Episcopal News Service, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori reflects on her nine-year term in office that began Nov. 1, 2006. She discusses her vision of the reign of God on earth, her hopes for The Episcopal Church, what it has been like to be the first woman to hold the office of presiding bishop and primate, how she has been inspired and where she has found solace.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/10/30/video-jefferts-schori-reflects-on-nine-year-term-as-presiding-bishop/

Bishop Michael Curry’s vision: A world transformed by the love of God

From RNS-

Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry, the son of an Episcopal priest and grandson of a Baptist preacher, will be installed as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church on Sunday (Nov. 1) at Washington National Cathedral. Curry, 62, has been the leader of the Diocese of North Carolina for 15 years. He spoke with Religion News Service about being the first African-American to lead the denomination and his plans to focus on evangelism and inclusion.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Members of the Union of Black Episcopalians are calling your election their “Obama moment” and others have compared you to Pope Francis. How are you dealing with those comparisons?
More here-

http://www.religionnews.com/2015/10/28/episcopal-bishop-michael-curry-plenty-good-room-denomination/

New Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

From Religion and Ethics Weekly- (video)

The work of the Episcopal Church, says its new presiding bishop, is “to find ways to be a bridge community that brings differing people together under the rubric of love.” (Curry is being installed as the new presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church at a service on Sunday, November 1, at Washington National Cathedral.)

More here-

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2015/10/26/october-30-2015-new-episcopal-presiding-bishop-michael-curry/27619/

First black Episcopal Church leader will continue his father’s teachings

From The Washington Post-

Bishop Michael Curry vividly remembers growing up in segregated Buffalo in the 1950s and ’60s, where on one bright morning in 1963, he crossed Main Street from East Buffalo to West Buffalo to attend an integrated school.

As an Episcopal priest and civil rights activist, his late father, Kenneth Curry, helped lead the boycott of the city’s segregated public schools. And yet, like the larger culture at the time, worship in the Episcopal Church he so loved was largely segregated. As leader of a black congregation in Buffalo, he never would have been called to the pulpit of a white Episcopal church.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/first-black-episcopal-church-leader-will-continue-his-fathers-teachings/2015/10/14/bede82e2-72b2-11e5-8d93-0af317ed58c9_story.html

Curry offers possible preview of agenda as new presiding bishop of Episcopal Church

From Charlotte-

North Carolina Bishop Michael Curry, who will be installed next month as the new head of the Episcopal Church in the United States, offered a possible preview Sunday of his agenda. Topping the list: Promoting a form of evangelism that calls on members to listen to others’ faith stories and then share their own.

He also wants to stress the love of Jesus, foster social justice, work for reconciliation – racial and otherwise – and preside over a church that’s open to all, including both supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage.

Curry, an outgoing preacher and author of “Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus,” will be the national church’s first African-American presiding bishop. In a Q&A with parishioners at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in uptown Charlotte, he said that Episcopalians have been so shy about advertising what their tradition has to offer – including its liturgy, its sacraments and its commitment to social justice – that many people don’t know the denomination exists.

“We’ve got to get to the day when the average Episcopalian is in touch with their own faith story and faith journey and is able to share that appropriately and authentically,” Curry said. “That may be the game-changer. … We’re good about doing. We’re nervous about talking.”
More here-

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article37751331.html

Videos of the Presiding Bishop nominees

From The General Convention Office-

http://www.generalconvention.org/pbelect

JNCPB announces no additional nominees

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop (JNCPB) has released the following statement:

On April 27, 2015, the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop (JNCPB) announced its process for nominating bishops from the floor to the office of the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church at General Convention in June 2015.

The JNCPB is canonically charged with “establishing a timely process for any bishop or deputy to express the intent to nominate any other member of the House of Bishops from the floor at the time the Joint Nominating Committee presents its nominees to the joint session of the two Houses, and for each Bishop so nominated to be included in the information distributed about the nominees”.

The JNCPB outlined this procedure in a message to the Church on April 27, 2015.

The deadline for bishops and deputies to nominate a bishop under this procedure was May 12, 2015. JNCPB announces that no additional bishops were nominated.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/05/13/jncpb-announces-no-additional-nominees/

 

Four chosen as nominees for 27th presiding bishop

From ENS-

The Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop May 1 announced the names of the bishops it will nominate this summer to succeed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

The four names will be formally submitted to the General Convention during a joint session on June 26, the day prior to the day set for the election by the House of Bishops of the 27th presiding bishop. The nominees are:

The Rt. Rev. Thomas Breidenthal, 64, Diocese of Southern Ohio

The Rt. Rev. Michael Curry, 62, Diocese of North Carolina

The Rt. Rev. Ian Douglas, 56, Diocese of Connecticut

The Rt. Rev. Dabney Smith, 61, Diocese of Southwest Florida

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/05/01/four-chosen-as-nominees-for-27th-presiding-bishop-2/

Discernment period ends

From The Joint Nominating Committee-

The Episcopal Church Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop (JNCPB) has released the following statement:

Church Wide Nomination period for Presiding Bishop ends;
Discernment Process for Bishops Opens.

In The Call for Discernment and Profile for the Election of the 27th Presiding Bishop, the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop (JNCPB) established the period from September 1 through September 30 when any member of The Episcopal Church could submit the name of a bishop they believed should be considered as the next Presiding Bishop. The JNCPB would like to express thanks for the significant and positive response received during the last month. Over 165 people representing more than 60 dioceses submitted names.  That period is now closed.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/notice/jncpb-issues-announcement

Episcopal Church’s Katharine Jefferts Schori will not seek re-election

From RNS-

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman elected to head a national branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, announced Tuesday (Sept. 23) that she will not seek a second nine-year term in office.

Her departure will likely set off debates over her legacy and the future of the 2 million-member denomination.

More here-

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/09/23/episcopal-churchs-katharine-jefferts-schori-will-seek-re-election/