Who Is Reverend Michael Curry? George H. W. Bush Funeral to Be Led by Bishop Who Gave Memorable Royal Wedding Sermon

From Newsweek-

George H. W. Bush has made his final trip to Washington, D.C. for his funeral Wednesday at the Washington National Cathedral. For the past few days as he lied in state, thousands of people have lined up for hours outside the U.S. Capitol building, sometimes late into the night as they waited for their brief chance to bid a final farewell to the 41st president of the United States.

The man who will preside over the former president’s funeral service, Reverend Michael Curry, is also of significance.

Born in 1953, Curry’s descendants came to North America as enslaved Africans via slave routes, according to the Episcopal Church. In 2015, he became the 27th and current presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, part of the global Anglican communion, making him the first African-American to lead the church.

Some of the most zealous causes listed by the Church that Curry has involved himself in throughout his ministry include social justice, reconciliation, immigration policy and marriage equality. His passionate sermon on the "redemptive power of love” at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May captured the hearts and minds of many who bore witness.

More here-

https://www.newsweek.com/who-michael-curry-george-bush-funeral-1245233

Abilene man, a former Episcopal bishop, calls Bush 'man of enormous spiritual treasure'

From Texas-

The minister was in a meeting when a secretary interrupted to tell him the vice president of the United States was on the phone.

“Claude,” the vice president said, “I’ve got a favor to ask.”

Claude Payne, then rector of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, didn’t hesitate in answering, “Of course, Mr. Vice President.”

The vice president was George H.W. Bush, who would be elected President Bush the next day, Nov. 8, 1988. The favor was that Payne would lead a brief service of thanksgiving at St. Martin’s the day after the election, no matter who won.

“It would be a thanksgiving for our country,” Payne said. “That’s a part of his DNA.”

Payne, 86, and his wife Barbara, retired to Abilene, their hometown, after Payne’s career as an Episcopal rector and bishop of the Diocese of Texas.

More here-

https://www.reporternews.com/story/news/2018/12/05/george-h-w-bush-man-enormous-spiritual-treasure/2221255002/

Author Stephen Mansfield on the quiet, steely faith of George H.W. Bush

From Salt Lake-

With the passing of George H.W. Bush from this life, we will have the opportunity to be stirred once again by tales from his lengthy journey. We will hear of his early heroism at war. We will be reminded of his storied political career. We will be touched anew by his tender 73-year marriage. We will be told of his mistakes, and of regrets of a kind familiar to us all.

Yet we will likely hear little about his religious faith, and this is unfortunate.

The truth is that his deep sense of God’s calling lay beneath all that he was and all that he gave us. We should remind ourselves of this part of him, both because it is an act of honor and because his brand of faith offers a needed antidote to some of the toxins of our time.

More here-

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/12/04/author-stephen-mansfield/

How George H.W. Bush enabled the rise of the religious right

From The Washington Post-

Following Wednesday’s state funeral for George H.W. Bush at Washington National Cathedral, the former president’s casket will be flown to Houston where a memorial service will be held at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church the following day.

Unlike his son George W. Bush, the elder Bush, a lifelong Episcopalian, was less-known for his religious faith. He was certainly not thought of as a champion of the religious right, the powerful political movement most associated with his predecessor, Ronald Reagan.

Yet it was Bush, the moderate establishment Republican whose family helped found Planned Parenthood, who secured the religious right’s permanent place in American politics. While historians largely credit Reagan’s presidency with helping religious conservatives move from the shadows of American public life into its spotlight, it was the Bush presidency, particularly its disappointments and defeat, that entrenched the religious right as the center of the Republican Party and guaranteed its ongoing influence.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/12/05/how-george-hw-bush-enabled-rise-religious-right/?utm_term=.a91b0b876c83

Priest from Birmingham will officiate funeral for President Bush, calls him man of deep faith

From Alabama-

A Houston priest originally from Birmingham will officiate the funeral Thursday for former President George H.W. Bush.

The Rev. Russell J. Levenson Jr., a close friend of the Bush family and the rector at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, was present when Bush died. There will be a service on Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and another Thursday at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston. Bush’s son, former President George W. Bush, will give the eulogy Wednesday at the National Cathedral. The president’s body will then be transported back to Houston for the service at St. Martin’s.

“He left this life for the next, and it is the way all of us would want to leave this life: surrounded by the ones you love, completely at peace, and ready for what follows,” Levenson said in a TV interview. Bush died Friday. He was 94.

Levenson graduated from Mountain Brook High School in 1980 and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1984 from Birmingham-Southern College. He was associate rector at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook from 1993 to 1997.

More here-

https://www.al.com/life/2018/12/priest-from-birmingham-will-officiate-funeral-for-president-bush-calls-him-man-of-deep-faith.html 

also here-

https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/remembering-george-h-w-bush/longtime-bush-family-pastor-talks-about-41s-final-days/285-620403425

George H.W. Bush helped lead GOP toward evangelicalism

From The Washington Post-

George H.W. Bush, who died Friday, was a lifetime Episcopalian, part of the blue blood of America’s founding Christianity. But as a presidential candidate, he was part of a Republican opening to evangelicalism that changed the country’s landscape.

A bombing mission that plunged him into the Pacific Ocean during World War II and his younger daughter’s death from leukemia were among the times when he said he looked to God and prayer.

Bush attended Christ Episcopal Church in Greenwich, Conn., as a child. His father, Prescott Bush, was a Republican senator from Connecticut. The future president’s mother, Dorothy Walker, would read to her family from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2018/12/01/george-hw-bush-helped-push-gop-towards-evangelicalism/?utm_term=.3ca5335aa8b5

The faith of George H. W. Bush

From Arizona-

George H. W. Bush recently celebrated his 93rd birthday. In four and half months, he is on course to surpass Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford as the former president who lived the longest. His son George W. is much better known for his religious convictions, but the senior Bush has a very strong faith as well, which significantly shaped his character and policies as president.

Bush was raised by devout Episcopalian parents and remained affiliated with this denomination almost his entire life. His father Prescott, a Republican senator from Connecticut, and his mother Dorothy led family worship every morning, using readings from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer and A Diary of Private Prayer by Scottish Presbyterian theologian John Baillie. They strove to teach their children how the Bible applied to daily life. While worshipping for many years at Episcopal churches in Houston, Washington, and Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush’s theology and social policies have more in common with evangelicals than with many fellow Episcopalians.

More here-

http://sonorannews.com/2017/06/22/13218/