Prominent bishop promotes 100 years of church and mission
by S. Rotan Hale
Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry, spearheaded the 100th anniversary of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia. In celebrating this milestone we (Episcopalians) are honoring the past both good and bad because the truth will set you up but ultimately it will set you free,” said Rev. Curry.
The conference drew an estimated 2,000 followers and culminated with Curry’s keynote sermon delivered at the Berglund Center on Sunday (1/28) to the conference that featured various area prominent Christian dignitaries who joined the bishop in what was the last leg of the entire conference.
“As part of the work, Episcopalians are committed to racial conciliation involving people across a variety of divisions–much like the work that Dr. King spoke of in creating the ‘beloved community,’” said Curry speaking on the mission. This convention is about the belief that Jesus has shown us that love is the way.”
Curry at 65, is the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. He emphasized the importance of love and how we as a society must practice an altruistic approach to life,” during an interview conducted after participating in a panel discussion held Saturday at the Dumas.
“We must make a commitment to the unselfish way of living which is what Jesus talked about when he used the word love. “And if we would commit our lives to that unselfish life–if more of us would do that, then society will change.” Bishop Curry believes that people will “either figure out how to be together or we will go down together.”
“I believe we don’t have to go down, and as Mia Angelo said, “I will rise,” we will rise,” he added.
Curry is a man whose eyes gleam with the spirit of certitude as he refers to the “good people out here doing some incredible things to ensure that we will rise. “There are what the people of India call great souls that are among us that still walk the earth,” he stated. “There will always be those great souls filled with the spirit of God.”
Canon, Presiding Bishop
Curry, a Chicago native, first rose to international prominence in 2015 becoming the first African American bishop to head the predominantly white Episcopal Church. Several years later, his notoriety got another boost as he presided over Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding (2018) and also officiated over the funeral of former president George H.W. Bush. He has an affinity for the Black press and said he once was a newspaper boy who delivered the Baltimore Challenger ‘back in the day’.
“As one who has always been supportive of our historic newspapers, I feel it’s important that kids know their history, largely disseminated through the Black press. “When Emmett Till was killed (Mississippi, 1955) it was the Black papers that kept the story alive until the larger media picked it up. The New York Times… and the Chicago news didn’t tell the story until later.”
As part of his visit to the area, Rev. Curry joined a group of local organizers and supporters on a march through historic Gainsboro. The group stopped at various points on their way to the MLK Bridge and the Dumas Center where Curry engaged in a panel discussion regarding gentrification of the Gainsboro area.
“We’re organizing these revivals across the hole of this church and beyond the US into Latin America,” explained Stephanie Spellers, canon to the Presiding Bishop for Evangelism and Reconciliation. “This is a really special moment for the church in doing the work that also includes confessions and healing. You can’t have a revival unless you focus on what revives you.” “Episcopalians all over are doing the work on the street, also learning and telling our own stories of complicity. The Episcopal Church is a powerful institution and we’ve not always been on the right side of history,” added Spellers, speaking with clear heartfelt conviction.
“Churches need to stand up and speak the truth and be courageous, strong, wise and be public and say what you’re doing to refugees… immigrants and Black folk is wrong. There’s no justification for this (treatment) in the Bible or by God.”
Moderator, Dumas Session
The session was moderated by Martin Jeffrey, a community activist who gave credit to Christ Episcopal Church as the driving force behind the march and the subsequent Dumas session.
“Southwest Virginia is a key component in what God is doing for this country,” declared Jeffrey. “The Episcopal Church (in general) has positioned itself as a credible voice” in the struggle to build the beloved community.”
Joining Bishop Curry on the panel was Bishop Mark Bourlakas 6th Bishop, Diocese of Southwestern Va; Mignon Chubb-Hale a local teacher and author of two book, the most recent being ‘At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality; and also two former area residents, Richard Chubb (Gainsboro) and Bruce Burks born and raised in northeast.
“When I grew up in segregated Roanoke, we had everything in this area on Henry Street.” said Chubb-Hale. “My doctors were over here, we had pharmacists, everything. We were self-sufficient until urban renewal.”
I still have PTSD from picketing in the fight for civil rights in Roanoke and every time the power structure would wipe us out.” Chubb mentioned school integration and the disconnecting effects of busing kids across town. He recalled picketing the Burrell Hospital (take-over) and the Claytor Memorial Clinic, an African American clinic that was the subject of a lengthy, entangled lawsuit–actually won by members of the Claytor family many years after the proposed condemnation by city authorities.
Burks characterized the two districts (northeast and Gainsboro) saying, “everybody was neighborly and looked out for one another.” Unfortunately as many residents would experience, redevelopment changed everything.
“Urban renewal came along with promises of funding for “better homes” and said we would still have our community.”
Explaining the downside, he said the homes provided to residents were more expensive than the ones they occupied, therefore leaving many relocated residents in debt.
“A lot of residents lost their homes as many were on social security,” he said. “The only time you would see those who were once your neighbors would be in the grocery store or at a funeral. Burks estimated about 1,600 families “just all got scattered.” In his opinion it was “more about destruction than progression.”
In his closing remarks, Burks raised the issue of saving the Dumas as one the area’s last bastions of African American heritage.
“As a community, we’ve got to do all we can to save the Dumas because now all we have left is the hospital, the funeral homes and the Roanoke Tribune,” Burks lamented with head held down.
“This pilgrimage, this walking through the Gainsboro community and hearing the stories of urban renewal… I’ve experienced it as well, growing up. One thing I’ve learned is that all progress is not necessarily social progress,” Curry noted. “Progress is not automatically moral and so to make it moral, progress must be mindful of what is social progress at the same time. Great words from a great (contemplative) man in a strategic position to make great changes.
Bishop Curry would continue to spread his message of love, unity and action to a crowd of supporters–assembled at the Berglund Center the following day.
