The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) entered a historic new chapter with the election of the Rev. Yehiel Curry as its fifth Presiding Bishop in 2025. Elected in July and installed on October 4, Curry, the former bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, is the first African American to lead the predominantly white denomination, marking a powerful shift toward diversity at the highest level of American Lutheranism.
His election to the six-year term is particularly significant given the ELCA’s commitment to multicultural ministries and addressing systemic racial injustice. Curry succeeds the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton and inherits a church grappling with membership decline and internal disagreements over doctrine and inclusion. Curry’s background as a mission developer, public school teacher, and pastor of an urban congregation provides him with a unique, community-rooted perspective.
He has articulated a vision focused on lay equipping and making the church more connected and welcoming, leveraging his life experience to help the 2.7-million-member church embody its commitment to service and social justice in a changing world.
