Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s statement on President Donald Trump’s use of St. John’s, Holy Bible

From ENS-

The following is a statement from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry:
 
This evening, the President of the United States stood in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, lifted up a bible, and had pictures of himself taken. In so doing, he used a church building and the Holy Bible for partisan political purposes. This was done in a time of deep hurt and pain in our country, and his action did nothing to help us or to heal us.

The bible teaches us that “God is love.” Jesus of Nazareth taught, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The prophet Micah taught that the Lord requires us to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.”

The bible the President held up and the church that he stood in front of represent the values of love, of justice, of compassion, and of a way to heal our hurts.

We need our President, and all who hold office, to be moral leaders who help us to be a people and nation living these values. For the sake of George Floyd, for all who have wrongly suffered, and for the sake of us all, we need leaders to help us to be “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.”

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/pressreleases/presiding-bishop-michael-currys-statement-on-president-donald-trumps-use-of-st-johns-holy-bible/

There’s no church, but it’s still Easter and Christians are celebrating

From Channel 3000-

Bishop Michael Curry, head of the Episcopal Church, will be in two places at once this Sunday.

Thousands of Episcopalians and other Christians will see him deliver his Easter sermon from the pulpit of Washington National Cathedral at 11 a.m. He pretaped the sermon on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Curry himself will be sitting in his living room in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The effervescent preacher, who stole the ceremony at Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s wedding two years ago, may not even watch his own Easter sermon.

“I have never watched myself preach,” Curry said light-heartedly. “Maybe it’s humility, but I avoid that.”

Instead, the presiding bishop will pull out his iPad and watch another church’s service this Sunday.
It will be the first time in living memory he won’t be in church on Easter Sunday, Curry said. He’ll miss it, but said he sees a larger purpose at work.

“To love your neighbor is to love God. And one of the most loving things we can do this Sunday is not gather in a public assembly so that nobody else gets sick. It is an act of worship.”

More here-

https://www.channel3000.com/theres-no-church-but-its-still-easter-and-christians-are-celebrating/

Presiding Bishop who preached at Royal Wedding offers hope for churchgoers during COVID-19 pandemic

From North Carolina-

The bishop gave his perspective on processing an Easter with no family gatherings and no going to church. Curry likened the feeling to the first Easter: Jesus executed; his followers uncertain where God was; then the miracle of resurrection.

"Easter was about a tragedy that was turned into a triumph; about God working behind the scenes, invisibly, in ways that people didn't know," Curry said. "And if we work together with our God and together with each other we will find our way forward."

Curry gained global fame two years ago for his passion-filled sermon at Prince Harry and Megan's wedding. On Easter Sunday he is set to deliver the sermon at Washington's National Cathedral. But, because of COVID-19, Curry has already recorded it -- on his iPhone to be streamed live Sunday morning.

"So I'll be home, sitting in front of a computer screen, watching the service like everybody else by livestream," Curry said.

More here-

https://abc11.com/presiding-bishop-of-the-episcopal-church-michael-curry-nc-coronavirus-covid-19/6093944/

Rabbi and bishop offer messages of hope as holy season nears

Video from "Today"-

With Holy Week and Passover just days away, Rabbi Shai Held of the Hadar Institute and Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, join TODAY. “We can navigate through tough times by holding onto God’s hand and holding on to each other’s hands – at a respectful social distance,” Bishop Curry says. Rabbi Held says to “get on the computer” to connect with loved ones: “We still have the capacity to reach out and show love for each other.”

More here-

https://www.today.com/video/rabbi-and-bishop-offer-messages-of-hope-as-holy-season-nears-81587269644

A trial that should shame all Anglicans

From Christian Today-

Turns out, however, that Bishop Curry seems to have forgotten his own sermon – at least if his treatment of a fellow bishop in the US is anything to go by. For in a few weeks' time the Bishop of Albany, William Love, will go on trial, after Michael Curry restricted his ministry just over a year ago.

You might rightly wonder about Bishop Love's crime.  Was he siphoning off diocesan money, for example? Has he had a series of secret affairs? Does he not believe the Bible or deny that Jesus is the Christ? Has he, perish the thought, engaged in repugnant sexual acts with children?

But no. Bishop Love has done none of those things. Bishop Love stands accused of believing what most Christians – Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and indeed Anglican – believe, and have always believed, about sex and marriage. His crime, if one can call it that, is not to permit same-sex marriages in his diocese.

More here-

https://www.christiantoday.com/article/a-trial-that-should-shame-all-anglicans/134377.htm

13 Christian leaders criticize Trump policies they fear will increase poverty

From Christian Post-

Thirteen Christian leaders have signed onto a letter speaking out against President Donald Trump’s budget proposal and other administration policies that they say will add to the nation’s poverty and hunger issues. 

The Circle of Protection, a coalition comprised of leaders from various Christian organizations, published an open letter Tuesday calling out “administration actions that affect people in poverty.”

“As leaders from all the families of U.S. Christianity, representing church bodies and networks serving more than 100 million Americans, we are concerned about administration action to cut safety net programs that help low-income people,” the letter reads. “The gospel of God’s love for all people moves us to speak together on this issue.”

More here-

https://www.christianpost.com/news/13-christian-leaders-criticize-trump-policies-they-fear-will-increase-poverty-235180/?fbclid=IwAR3VgVV2TR3kVljoNgK8-v6s_aM9Lr5i5pcXr3na3bXMpMnFLmFNoZun8l4

Bishop Curry Brings ‘More Jesus’ to SE Revival

From Washington D.C.-

More than 3,000 people filled the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast Sunday as the Rev. Michael B. Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, preached during a revival titled “More Jesus, More Love.”

Curry mixed scripture with humor during the revival, which was part of a weekend of meetings and services convened by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington in which Curry preached at venues ranging from the National Cathedral to St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Southeast.

“This is the largest diocesan-wide gathering in our history, and part of an entire weekend of events with the potential to reach every congregation and beyond with a message of God’s love, revealed in Jesus, for all people,” Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, said in a statement.

Curry’s involvement in the 125th Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal District of Washington began Saturday at the National Cathedral.

https://www.washingtoninformer.com/bishop-curry-brings-more-jesus-to-se-revival/

'My People Still Are Not Free,' Rep. Ayanna Pressley Says At 50th MLK Breakfast

From Boston Public Radio-

The breakfast's keynote speaker, Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church, invoked King via Thomas Jefferson. He acknowledged the hypocrisy of Jefferson — a slaveowner who fathered children with one of his slaves, who also wrote the Declaration of Independence.

"He may have been wrong, but the words were right,” Curry said. “’We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

“Human equality, human dignity, is not conferred by Congress,” Curry added, “it is decreed by the Lord God Almighty.”

More here-

https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2020/01/20/50th-boston-mlk-breakfast

Head of US church reaches out to Harry and Meghan to offer support

From Page Six-

The head of the Episcopal Church, who delivered a powerful sermon on the “power of love” at the 2018 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, has reached out to the couple after their break from Britain’s royals.

US bishop Michael Curry, the first African-American to lead the Episcopal Church, is offering his “pastoral care” as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry settle in to their new life in Canada, according to the Times of London.

Citing civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., the Chicago-born Curry gave a rousing sermon at the couple’s lavish wedding at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor. His 14-minute speech, which drew smiles and some confused looks from the assembled royals and the couple’s celebrity guests, touched on themes of reconciliation and harmony in families — sentiments that seem oddly prescient today after the couple’s bombshell break with the Queen.

More here-

https://pagesix.com/2020/01/18/head-of-us-church-reaches-out-to-harry-and-meghan-to-offer-support/

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Christmas message 2019

From ENS- (with video)

In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, sometimes referred to as the prologue to the Gospel, sometimes spoken of as the whole Gospel in miniature the Gospel writer says this. As he reflects on the coming of God into the world in the person of Jesus. As he reflects on Christmas. He says, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.

I don’t think it’s an accident that long ago, followers of Jesus began to commemorate his coming into the world when the world seemed to be at its darkest.

It’s probably not an accident that we observe Christmas soon after December 21, the winter solstice. The winter solstice being in the Northern Hemisphere the darkest time of the year.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/pressreleases/presiding-bishop-michael-currys-christmas-message-2019/

Presiding Bishop Curry, preacher at royal wedding, in Pierre to make a new Episcopal bishop

From South Dakota-

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, head pastor of the Episcopal Church, is in Pierre to preside over the ordination of the Rev. Jonathan Folts, bishop-elect of the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota.

On Friday morning, Curry and Folts held a news conference in Trinity Episcopal Church as priests from around the state asked prepared questions.

Folts, who grew up in West Texas and was 51 when he was elected bishop in May of the 9,000 members of the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota, is the focus of the weekend as he will be ordained and consecrated a bishop to fill that office.

More here-

https://www.capjournal.com/news/presiding-bishop-curry-preacher-at-royal-wedding-in-pierre-to/article_91341722-fcfa-11e9-ab38-bb02da752968.html

Executive Council closes fall meeting with vote endorsing major ‘Way of Love’ expansion

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council concluded its four-day meeting here Oct. 21 with a series of votes that included an endorsement of plans for a dramatic expansion of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Way of Love initiative, featuring plans for a major revival event in New York and a growing list of media projects.

Curry spoke to the purpose of those efforts during a weekend committee meeting and again before the vote of the full Executive Council on its final day. Sharing the message of the Way of Love more broadly will counter a strain of conservative Christianity that has strayed from the teachings of Jesus, he said, and the church affirming a Christian message of love “can be helpful for a proudly divided and polarized nation.”

“This is really how can we make – and this actually is evangelism – how can we make the way of Jesus, which is the way of love, a part of what it means to be a Christian in this particular culture,” Curry said.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/10/21/executive-council-closes-fall-meeting-with-vote-endorsing-major-way-of-love-expansion/

Executive Council gathers in Montgomery, Alabama, as city underscores theme of racial reconciliation

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council gathered here Oct. 18 for a four-day fall meeting with racial reconciliation as a central theme, amplified by this city known for its prominent place in the histories of both the Civil War and the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

The business sessions have been scheduled around a full-day pilgrimage on Oct. 19 that will include visits to the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, as well as a meeting with Bryan Stevenson, the death row attorney whose Equal Justice Initiative founded the two institutions in 2018 to tell the story of racial injustice and violence in the United States, from slavery to mass incarceration.

“It is the history of America, and this is important for us to remember,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said in his opening remarks Oct. 18 in a meeting room at the Embassy Suites Montgomery Hotel and Conference Center. “It’s not just a Southern story, and it’s not just a regional story.”

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/10/18/executive-council-gathers-in-montgomery-alabama-with-city-underscoring-theme-of-racial-reconciliation/

Episcopal bishop preaches to hundreds

From Northern Michigan-

Hundreds of Upper Peninsula residents of all ages and walks of life gathered in the Northern Center Ballroom Sunday for “Revival-The Way of Love UP North,” led by the Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church.

Curry, who was installed as bishop in 2015, has authored four books and is known for his dynamic preaching style.

The event, held at Northern Michigan University, was organized by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan in partnership with the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

It began with a welcome from Bradley Nadeau of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and featured charismatic preaching, performances by the Queen City Dancers, the American Choral Directors Association Student Chapter Singers and a story from Hebrew scripture.

More here-

https://www.miningjournal.net/news/front-page-news/2019/10/episcopal-bishop-preaches-to-hundreds/

‘Royal Preacher’ coming to Upper Peninsula

From Northern Michigan-

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, in partnership with the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will welcome the Most Reverend Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop Primate of The Episcopal Church, to the Upper Peninsula on Sunday, Oct.13.

Beginning at 5 p.m. in the ballrooms of the Northern Center on the campus of Northern Michigan University, Curry will lead “Revival – The Way of Love UP North.”
 
Curry is known for his dynamic preaching and his love and enthusiasm for “The Jesus Movement,” which he describes as “following Jesus and growing a loving, liberating, life-giving relationship with God, with each other, and with creation.”
 
In addition, Bishop Curry made headlines in the spring of 2018 when he preached at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle. 

The event is family-friendly and open to everyone — Christians and seekers alike. It will feature charismatic preaching, offerings from local artists and musicians, personal testimony and storytelling, invitation to social action and intentional outreach with people who aren’t already engaged in a faith community.

More here-

https://www.dailypress.net/life/features/2019/10/royal-preacher-coming-to-upper-peninsula/

The mysteries of "God Friended Me"

From CBS-

Joe Morton was raised Catholic, but says that a lot of his TV character was based on the sermon delivered at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle by Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

"Those who do not love, do not know God. Why? For God is love! … That's what love is. Love is not selfish and self-centered. Love can be sacrificial, and in so doing, becomes redemptive."

Morton said, "So, I watched him during the wedding. And I thought: That's interesting, because he comes across as a Baptist as opposed to Episcopal. And I like that a lot."
Violett Beane plays Cara Bloom, a journalist who joins Miles in his attempts to mend troubled souls. "She's definitely more of a believer than I am personally," said Beane, who was raised a Quaker. "It's a really interesting religion; it's very open. And I think that trickles down to me as an actor being open and responsive."

More here-

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-mysteries-of-god-friended-me-brandon-micheal-hall/

Presiding Bishop’s sermon at opening Eucharist of House of Bishops’ fall 2019 meeting

From ENS-

Good morning.

Welcome to all bishops and spouses, who are here gathered today and thank you to the Diocese of Minnesota for hosting us.

Allow me to interpret one text, actually two, which is not going to be as long as you think. To interpret the epistle and the gospel from the lens of the third text from the Hebrew scripture, from the Epistle from Colossians (3:14, 17)

Above all, “Above all, clothe yourselves in love.  And in everything you do, in word and in deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Above all, clothe yourselves in love, and in everything you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And the gospel from John, chapter three.

God so loved the world, he gave His only begotten Son to the end that all that believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God so loved the world that He gave Jesus.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/pressreleases/presiding-bishops-sermon-at-opening-eucharist-of-house-of-bishops-fall-2019-meeting/

Bell-ringing ceremony to mark anniversary of first slaves landing in U.S.

From South Carolina-

The Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, invited all Episcopal churches to participate in what is being called a day of healing.

Each Church will ring their bells one minute for each of the four centuries that have passed since slavery began on wh
at is now American soil.

Many Episcopal churches were active in the civil rights movement, which is commemorated in a stained glass at St. Athanasius Episcopal Church on Albany Street in Brunswick. The stained glass memorializes martyrs of the movement.

St. Athanasius will hold its own bell-ringing observance.

Terry E. Brown, superintendent of Fort Monroe, stressed that Sunday’s event will be somber.

More here-

https://thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/bell-ringing-ceremony-to-mark-anniversary-of-first-slaves-landing/article_631d50c3-3d76-5c2d-9c07-ed259708a97d.html

Bishops Invite Faith Community to Toll Bells

From Afro-

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church and Bishop W. Darin Moore of the AME Zion Church are among clergy leaders across the country inviting their memebr to engage in a national action in rememberance and honor the first enslaved Africans in America. The petition is for churches to toll their bells at 3 p.m., for one minute on Sunday, Aug. 25.

As the landing point for the first enslaved Africans in the English colonies in 1619 and the site of the first emancipation policy decision during the Civil War, Fort Monroe marks both the beginning and the end of slavery in the United States.

“I’m inviting us as The Episcopal Church to join in this commemoration as part of our continued work of racial healing and reconciliation,” said Curry. “We can join together with people of other Christian faiths and people of all faiths to remember those who came as enslaved, who came to a country that one day would proclaim liberty. And so we remember them and pray for a new future for us all.”

More here-

https://www.afro.com/bishop-invites-faith-community-to-toll-bells/

 

From royal wedding to Delaware church, Michael Curry spreads message of love

From Delaware--

In an unannounced guest sermon Sunday morning, the Most Rev. Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, told the congregation of St. George’s Chapel that unconditional love has the power to heal the world’s divisions.  

Curry became a household name last May when he delivered a sermon about the healing power of love at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding at another St. George's Chapel, that one at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. He also spoke at former President George H.W. Bush's funeral last year.

This time, Curry added to his message, saying the world needs people dedicated to loving their neighbors and serving God to save society from dysfunction.

“This is not about building a bigger church,” Curry said. “This is about making a better world.”

More here-

https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2019/06/09/bishop-prince-harry-megan-markles-wedding-inspires-delaware-church/1401959001/