Atlanta bishop among candidates to succeed Michael Curry, Episcopal Church’s first African-American leader – WABE

The Episcopal Church, at its general convention in Louisville, Kentucky, is set to elect a new leader Wednesday to replace Michael Curry, who for the past nine years has served as the first African-American presiding bishop of the 239-year-old denomination.

There are five candidates for the position of presiding bishop, who is the chief pastor, president and chief executive officer of the Episcopalians.

Four of the candidates were selected by a church-appointed nominating committee:

—Bishop J. Scott Barker of the Diocese of Nebraska.
—Bishop Daniel Gutiérrez of the Diocese of Pennsylvania (which includes Philadelphia and four neighboring counties).
—Bishop Sean Rowe of the Diocese of Northwest Pennsylvania.
—Bishop Robert Wright of the Diocese of Atlanta.

A fifth candidate, Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe of the Diocese of Central New York, was added to the field via a petition from colleagues. Her appointment followed complaints from some Episcopalians that the initial list of candidates included no women.

The winner of the election will be ordered on November 1 to replace Curry and build a new 9-year-old team.

Gutiérrez would be the first Latino elected to lead the Episcopal Church. Wright would be the second African American, after Curry, and Duncan-Probe would be the second woman, after Curry’s predecessor, Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Rowe, 49, would be the youngest person ever elected presiding bishop.

The Episcopal Church is an offshoot of the Church of England in the United States and has been the spiritual home of many American founding fathers and presidents.

As in other traditional Protestant denominations, the Episcopal Church’s membership has been declining for decades. After peaking at 3.4 million in 1959, it fell to 1.9 million when Curry was elected leader in 2015 and fell to less than 1.6 million in 2022. Average Sunday church attendance by Episcopalians nationally was 614,241 in 2015; by 2022, it had fallen to 372,952.

In his opening remarks to the General Convention on Sunday, Curry urged delegates to remain optimistic.

“This Episcopal Church is stronger, more enduring and has a future that God has decreed and imagined,” he said. “Don’t worry about this church. Don’t cry or moan. Just roll up your sleeves and let’s get to work. This is our future.

Throughout his ministry, Curry has been an outspoken leader on a range of difficult issues, including racial reconciliation, climate change, immigration policy and LGBTQ+ equality. Among its favored causes: establishing ecumenical day camps for children, creating networks of child care providers and encouraging big investments in urban neighborhoods.

In 2018, he became a global star with a moving sermon at the widely televised royal wedding of Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Curry, 71, has been dealing with various health issues since May 2023, when he was hospitalized for treatment of internal bleeding and an irregular heartbeat. In March, doctors successfully surgically inserted a pacemaker as part of ongoing treatment.

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