Bishop of Maryland the Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton and Presiding Bishop the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry
at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore
Jul 07, 2022 at 6:00 am
According to the church’s top official, though, the most important issues discussed will be racial injustice and racial reconciliation: how and why racial discrimination took root in the nation and the church, what harm it has caused, and how Episcopalians can “repair the breach” to which it gave rise.
And, he said, the actions of the Diocese of Maryland on the issue played a role in the city hosting the gathering.
The Most Rev. Michael Curry, once a priest in West Baltimore, is the church’s first African American presiding bishop and 27th bishop overall. He said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun that fundamental tenets of the Christian faith call the denomination to take such actions, no matter how many mistakes it has committed over the centuries.
“Our prayer books say, ‘We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep,’ and we certainly have,’ ” Curry said. “The point of acknowledging that is not to wallow in it, but to face our sins and mistakes, then turn together and join hands toward building a new future. That includes connecting across our racial differences and our variety and our diversity without repeating the same old mistakes.”
Curry, 69, served as rector of St. James Episcopal Church in West Baltimore from 1988 to 2000. He was elected at the 2015 general convention to serve a nine-year term as presiding bishop.
