WS Chronicle

In above photo: Rev. Dr. Hector Sintim addresses the congregation as St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, Nov. 8. (Photo by Timothy Ramsey)

By Timothy Ramsey

For The Chronicle

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 810 N. Highland Ave. in Winston-Salem, is where Michael Curry, the new presiding bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, served as deacon in charge from 1978-1982.  Rev. Dr. Hector Sintim, priest in charge at St. Stephen’s, called Curry’s ascension to the position “an opportunity for change.

A church member, Gertrude Murchison, was on the search committee that elected Curry to the Diocese of North Carolina in the year 2000, where he served as bishop until recently when he was chosen presiding bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church.

Murchison was asked about her experience in the welcoming party during the installation of Curry in Washington D.C. on Nov. 1 at the Washington National Cathedral.

She said, “It was a wonderful experience and there were people from all over the U.S. and the service was outstanding. Bishop Curry is special, he is full of fire and God has his hand on him and I think that is wonderful.”

Sintim touched on the state of the Episcopal Church on Sunday, Nov. 8, by saying that the church is going through a transformation from the standpoint of leadership and becoming more open minded and accepting than in previous years.

“To us, it’s a new opportunity for change. We are anticipating with Bishop Curry and the Pope, they can affect the religious community thereby affecting the world, because the Catholic and Episcopal Church are the most dominating and recognized churches in the world,” said Sintim of the installation of Bishop Curry. 

He went on to say, “We are in a tough time and we need tough leaders to bring a transformation to the world, not only for those who go to church, but also for those who do not, so that we may deal with the issues of the day, issues of the economy, and issues of the world.”

Sintim finished by saying, “Bishop Michael Curry is what we call an Ubuntu leader, which means ‘You are because I am, I am because you are. Part of you is in me and part of me is in you and therefore for me to be able to function effectively, I need you and you need me.’ Bishop Curry is one of the most charismatic leaders of all the Bishops and that was one of the criteria of why he was chosen for the position and with him in charge, there will be a lot of transformation and some members may slip out, but the strong ones will stay and then we can change our community, change our nation and change our world.”