The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is set to install the Rev. Yehiel Curry as its first Black presiding bishop this Saturday, marking a landmark moment for the predominantly white denomination.

“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” Curry told The Associated Press a week before his installation. “The fact that you’re a first.”

Curry will succeed the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, who served as presiding bishop for 12 years and was the first woman to lead the ELCA. During Eaton’s tenure, Curry observed the ELCA’s conference of bishops shift from a majority of men to a majority of women.

“I think her presence mattered,” he said. “And I’m hopeful that if presence matters that we will start to see more and more leaders of color.”

A formal ceremony at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis will officially kick off Curry’s six-year term, which began on October 1. He was elected at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly held on July 30 in Phoenix.

### Breaking Stereotypes in American Lutheranism

American Lutheranism is often associated with its Scandinavian and German heritage, particularly concentrated in the upper Midwest. By some measures, the ELCA is over 95% white. However, the denomination has invested in local congregations of color and multicultural ministries while maintaining strong ties with growing Lutheran churches globally.

“He is representing a very white denomination as a Black man from the United States. I think it’s a daunting, daunting call,” said the Rev. Leila Ortiz, a friend of Curry’s who recently completed a term as ELCA bishop of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod. “I trust him, and I trust God and I can’t wait to watch.”

### Facing Challenges as ELCA’s Leader

As the leader of the largest American Lutheran church body, Curry faces challenges common to many mainline Protestant denominations, including theological disputes over LGBTQ+ inclusion and significant membership declines. The ELCA’s membership has dropped from 5.3 million in 1988 to 2.7 million today.

Since 2009, the ELCA has blessed same-sex marriages and welcomed LGBTQ+ clergy, elevating its first openly gay regional bishop in 2013 and its first openly transgender regional bishop in 2021.

### A Unique Path to Leadership

Curry, 53, is only the fifth presiding bishop in ELCA history since the denomination’s formation through a merger in 1988. Prior to his election, he was one of 65 synod bishops, overseeing the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, where ELCA’s headquarters is located.

Born the seventh of 11 children on Chicago’s South Side, Curry grew up Catholic and attended Catholic schools through college. He worked as a social worker and later a public schoolteacher before his transition to ministry.

When he and his wife first visited Shekinah Chapel, a fledgling congregation in Chicago, they were in their mid-twenties. Curry didn’t initially realize it was part of a Lutheran church.

“The church had a mentoring program for young Black men and boys that I thought could serve some of my middle school students,” he said. “For me, it was the traditional Black worship experience except it was a little bit more contemporary. There was poetry, there was liturgical dance, there was a band and praise and worship.”

Shekinah Chapel grew from an ELCA program to an official congregation. Curry moved from lay leadership to formal ministry while attending seminary, ultimately being ordained in 2009.

“That’s uncommon where you get to lead in a place where you’ve been raised,” he said. “I now recognize how fortunate I am.”

Curry was also part of the Theological Education for Emerging Ministries (TEEM) program, designed to prepare ministers for ethnic-specific, multicultural, rural, and inner-city settings. His path highlights a way to grow new and diverse congregations within established church structures.

### The Diversity of Lutherans

Curry’s predecessors as African American Lutheran leaders include the Rev. Nelson Wesley Trout, the first Black ELCA synod bishop, and the Rev. Will Herzfeld, a Black presiding bishop for a predecessor ELCA denomination.

“Blacks have been around the Lutheran Church since it presented itself in New Amsterdam in the 1600s. We have been present in some small way from the beginning,” said the Rev. James Thomas, a retired ELCA seminary professor and author of *A Rumor of Black Lutherans*.

Globally, the largest and fastest-growing Lutheran churches are in Africa. Curry’s leadership can help highlight “the fact that African Americans have been contributing to Lutheranism for a very long time, and not just here in the United States but around the world and in Africa,” said the Rev. Yolanda Denson-Byers, author of *See Me, Believe Me*, a book about challenges leaders of color face in the mainly white ELCA.

Bishop Regina Hassanally of the ELCA Southeastern Minnesota Synod sees Curry’s elevation as a dual call—for him and for the denomination.

“There can be a temptation to think that calling a leader of color is enough,” she said. “But the reality is that it means creating supports and infrastructure and actually allowing that person to lead out of all of their gifts and their full identity, not just one piece of their identity.”

### Looking Ahead

Curry’s goals include exploring ways for the ELCA to become a more connected church, strengthening relationships from local congregations up through the church hierarchy. Being a welcoming and thriving church is one of the denomination’s stated goals.

“Sometimes you come up with these unique statements and strategies, but then we move on as transition happens,” he said. “I want to take something that we’ve affirmed already and maybe dig a little deeper.”

With Curry’s historic installation, the ELCA steps into a new chapter, embracing diversity and inclusion while navigating the challenges of the modern church landscape.
https://www.phillytrib.com/religion/largest-us-lutheran-denomination-to-install-yehiel-curry-as-its-first-black-presiding-bishop/article_e2550c54-7f30-458f-88ef-20bd6c28374b.html