Judy Woodruff interviews Presiding Bishop Michael Curry for PBS NewsHour:
JUDY WOODRUFF: You’re now six months into this position. How has the fact that you are the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States, a descendant of slaves, how has that affected what you have been able to do so far?
THE MOST REVEREND MICHAEL CURRY: Certainly, that has affected, only in the sense that it is a first. Beyond that, I have a funny feeling I was probably elected for a variety of reasons.
I suspect that my election was a moment of hope that we could begin to help the Episcopal Church and Episcopalians begin to focus outward in some new ways, outward in ways that actually share the message of Jesus of Nazareth, which is fundamentally a message of love of God and love of neighbor.
And that’s a game-changer, in and of itself, the various forms and ways we’re divided between each other, whether it is racial or socioeconomic or political or religious or tribal or national or on and on and on, helping this church to become instruments of God’s work of reconciliation in this world.
That really does have something to do with helping the world stop living a nightmare and start living something closer to God’s dream. And that’s worth doing. And I have a feeling that’s why I got elected.
