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Yehiel Curry Installed as ELCA’s First Black Presiding Bishop in Minneapolis

His elevation highlights efforts to broaden representation in a denomination confronting long-term membership decline.

Bishop Yehiel Curry, who was recently elected as the first Black presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), poses for a photo, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Talia Sprague)
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Bishop Yehiel Curry, who was recently elected as the first Black presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), poses for a photo, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Talia Sprague)

Overview

  • Curry’s six-year term began October 1 following his election on July 30 at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Phoenix.
  • He succeeds Elizabeth Eaton, the ELCA’s first woman presiding bishop, who led the church for 12 years.
  • The installation at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis featured the laying on of hands and Eaton placing her pectoral cross on Curry.
  • The ELCA, the largest U.S. Lutheran body, is more than 95% white and has shrunk from 5.3 million members in 1988 to about 2.7 million today.
  • A 53-year-old former social worker and Chicago public schoolteacher ordained in 2009, Curry previously led the Metropolitan Chicago Synod and has signaled goals of connecting congregations and elevating leaders of color.