This summer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected Yehiel Curry as the next Presiding Bishop of the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. Since 2019, Bishop Curry has served as the bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the ELCA and has recently chaired the denomination’s Conference of Bishops. He will assume the role of Presiding Bishop in October and will be the first African American to hold the position.
Curry will follow another historic Presiding Bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, who has served two consecutive terms in the role, beginning in 2013. Bishop Eaton was the first woman to be elected to the position. Before being elected to the role, she served as bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod.
Both Curry and Eaton have roots in pastoral ministry.
Good Faith Media recently had the honor of visiting with Bishops Curry and Eaton via Zoom. Our conversation has been minimally edited for space and clarity.
About ELCA
Craig Nash: Bishop Eaton, for those unfamiliar with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), what would you say are some of the distinctives of the denomination, both in terms of organization and theology?
Elizabeth Eaton: We are spiritual descendants of Martin Luther, who, in the 16th-century Reformation, reclaimed for the church the notion that it’s not up to us to earn our salvation, nor can we, nor do we deserve it. It’s God’s work that God has done in Jesus Christ.
This is really important because it’s a great leveler. Everyone needs to be justified because of original sin, or—as I tell my catechism class—the human ability to screw up.
But also, God’s grace is given to everyone. There’s no one group that can claim supremacy over any other. This grace is given freely to all of us, just as Jesus said, “It rains on the just and the unjust.”
Luther had a conservative understanding of human nature. He knew we are sinful, broken creatures, but at the same time, beloved of God. So this notion that we’re saint and sinner at the same time is really part of how we understand ourselves. It doesn’t give us license to do whatever we want. Luther wrote a treatise called The Freedom of the Christian, and his understanding was that we were set free in order to love our neighbor.
Polity-wise, we’ve settled in our constitution that the church occurs in three expressions: congregations, synods, and the churchwide expression. Each is fully the church, but not completely the church. We depend on each other. We’re sort of this hybrid congregational-Episcopal kind of polity. We elect our bishops; they’re not appointed by me.
Craig Nash: What is the role of the Presiding Bishop in shaping the church or speaking to the church, and what are some highlights of how you have lived into that role?
Elizabeth Eaton: The presiding bishop is the chief ecumenical officer, the chief teacher, and also the CEO of a large multinational corporation.
When I first came, I wanted us to reclaim who we were: that we’re church first, not just an NGO or justice-minded people. We’re a church, and a church has a unique role that no other institution on earth has, and that’s the proclamation of the gospel. Hopefully, that forms people to go out there and do things—but we are church first.
We’re Lutheran. Other denominations have gifts, but in ecumenical and interreligious dialogues, people have told us they want us to come as who we authentically are. I’m a little concerned that a lot of our folks don’t have an understanding of the basics of being Lutheran, which is not about cuisine or culture.
The average Lutheran in the Lutheran World Federation is a woman in Tanzania. There are far more Lutherans there and in Ethiopia than here [in the United States]. We’re church together. There’s no such thing as an individual Christian, no matter what we might think in this country. We’re baptized into Christ, and as Saint Paul said, we become members of one another.
And then we’re church for the sake of the world, formed by a proclamation of the gospel and sent out from there.
During COVID, I was sure that if our really small congregations were closed and not able to be physically open for three weeks in a row, they would fold—and they didn’t. Our churches showed remarkable creativity and resilience. We set up a fund to help each other, and within about a week, we had metrics for deciding grants and a committee to look at them.
I hoped we could raise $500,000—we raised over $1.8 million. We helped kids with online schooling, ensured food security, improved communications, and reached out to people who weren’t even members. People who were helped donated back so others could benefit.
New Leadership
Craig Nash: Bishop Curry, congratulations and blessings on your new role. What are some of your fears moving into this position?
Yehiel Curry: I started out in a congregation, and while I realized I had gifts that fit the larger church, I wondered if I’d get the kind of connections I’ve had in parish and synod life. I love preaching. I love listening to preaching. And I just received my schedule—early October on—I think I’ll get plenty of opportunity to preach, basically every weekend.
My connection is more in that way than from the administrative board meeting type of task. But I’m glad there’ll be a mixture of both.
Craig Nash: What are you most excited about?
Yehiel Curry: I get to learn. My mom has always talked about this thing called co-learning, where the assumed teacher becomes the student and the assumed student becomes the teacher. Already, as I meet staff and those who have been leading churchwide efforts, and with Bishop Eaton, I’m learning a lot. I’m learning how their hard work and care has led us, and I’m learning areas where I might think a little bit creatively or innovatively.
Craig Nash: What are two or three issues that are bubbling up within the denomination that you’ve had to deal with, or anticipate having to deal with?
Elizabeth Eaton: There are a number of things with this current [U.S. Presidential] administration. Things we would consider not supported by the gospel are becoming commonplace, and that’s frightening.
Another thing is that our denomination, in churchwide assemblies, is often more liberal than many in our congregations. So how do we hold ourselves together when we have deep disagreements? Bishop Curry has this wonderful phrase: We live in a “call-out culture,” but he wants to call in. I think that’s something we need, with the scourge of social media and how quickly people assign motive—and usually not a benevolent one.
I’m worried about that. But more deeply, I’m worried that if we’re putting our trust in ourselves—even in our marvelous social teachings and the work we do through world hunger or disaster response—and we’re not putting our trust in Jesus, then it’s us trying to save the world. And that has never worked when human beings tried to do it.
Yehiel Curry: Similar for me. I’ve resisted this notion of responding to everything that happens in the world, thinking that if people watched your life led by the gospel of Jesus Christ, that would be enough. But I’m realizing that sometimes to not say something makes people feel they’re not seen.
That balance—leading with your life and the love of Christ, but also responding so people know we notice and care—that’s probably been the biggest issue within the synod I’ve had to juggle. And I imagine it will be even larger in this office.
What’s In A Name?
Craig Nash: The term “Evangelical” is in your denomination’s name, but in the broader culture, it has taken on contentious meanings. How do you navigate that?
Elizabeth Eaton: It is difficult because I believe the word has been co-opted. “Evangelical” just means good news, euangelion. That’s the name of a lot of Lutheran churches around the world—the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, the Evangelical Ethiopian Mekane Yesus Church, the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Germany.
So that’s always been part of us. We’re trying to say, no, the gospel is at the heart. But many people don’t even know they need to know Jesus. And for many, the Jesus they think they know is not the Jesus of the gospel.
In the South, I hear that sometimes our name is just a non-starter. Maybe I’ve fought a quixotic battle in trying to reclaim “evangelical” as proper for us. But it’s not always easy.
Yehiel Curry: I gotta be honest: when I was looking for ministry, it wasn’t about denominations. I was looking for a place that met a spiritual need, a place I could fit. That’s how I found the Lutheran church. Only later did I realize I was part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
But I also recognize that today the term paints a picture. There’s a clear image in people’s minds. I lean into the tension Bishop Eaton described, but I also think about Bishop Leila Ortiz, who says we ought to reclaim “evangelical” so much that it paints a new picture.
It shouldn’t lean politically, or toward worship style, or conservatism or not. It should be about good news, about community, about painting a new paradigm of the gospel.
Return on Investment
Craig Nash: Bishop Curry, when you were elected Presiding Bishop at this summer’s churchwide assembly, you said you are a “return on investment” for the ELCA. Can you speak to that?
Yehiel Curry: As a new pastor, I would get remittance slips from the synod office about sharing a portion of our gifts. About half of those gifts from the synod went to the larger church—to plant congregations and raise leaders like me.
So those dollars were an investment. In many cases, a blind investment—people didn’t know me by name or the vineyard I would serve. But there I was, on the South Side of Chicago, and later in Riverdale, where the average income in 2017 was about $50,000, and we were doing the work. The investment continued to come.
We all invest in homes, cars, pensions—we expect a return. It dawned on me that so many had invested in me without even knowing it. I want to return that investment. I want to work for my church, the place that believed in me.
For more information about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, visit their website, Facebook page, and Instagram page. Bishop Yehiel Curry will be installed as Presiding Bishop on October 4, 2025, in Minneapolis.
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