The Virtual Forum: Exploring the Beloved Community

Submitted by the Event Organizer

The Forum with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry
— Exploring the Beloved Community —

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in conversation with Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop of California.

As we enter our seventh month of sheltering in place, when community is more precious and urgent than ever, go deeper with the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church into his understanding of the Beloved Community – where the term come from, how he first encountered it, how his understanding of the Beloved Community has changed over time, among other questions – in conversation with Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop of the Diocese of California.

Register to join the Zoom webinar.
Space is limited. The Forum will also be broadcast on Facebook, and posted on our Youtube channel for viewing following the livestream.

About the guest

The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry is the 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church, elected to a nine-year term in 2015. The descendant of enslaved Africans brought to North America by way of the trans-Atlantic slave routes, he was born in Chicago in 1953. His father was an Episcopal priest and his mother was a devout Episcopalian. She died at a young age, and Presiding Bishop Curry, along with his sister, was raised by his father and his grandmother. He received a Master of Divinity degree in 1978 from Yale University Divinity School and has received honorary degrees from Episcopal Divinity School; Sewanee: The University of the South; Virginia Theological Seminary; and Yale. Throughout his ministry, Presiding Bishop Curry has been active in issues of social justice, reconciliation, speaking out on immigration policy and marriage equality. He has authored five books: Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Time (2020); The Power of Love (2018); Following the Way of Jesus: Church’s Teachings in a Changing World (2017); Songs My Grandma Sang (2015); and Crazy Christians:  A Call to Follow Jesus (2013). He was one of the subjects of In Conversation: Michael Curry and Barbara Harris by Fredrica Harris Thompsett (2017). He has authored numerous publications including columns for the Huffington Post and the Baltimore Times. In 2018, Religion News Association named Presiding Bishop Curry religion newsmaker of the year. He is married to the former Sharon Clement, and they have two adult daughters, Rachel and Elizabeth.

About the host

The Rt. Dr. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus is the eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California. Prior to his election in 2006, he served as Bishop Suffragan in the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama.  Andrus is from Oak Ridge, Tennessee and has a BS in Plant Science, a Masters in Social Sciences and a Master of Divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary. His leadership has focused on key issues related to peace and justice, including immigration reform, civil rights for LBGTQ+ persons, health care, and climate change. His advocacy work has taken him to the Paris UN Climate Conference in 2015 (COP21), the 2016 conference in Marrakesh (COP22), as well as the Dakota Access Pipeline demonstrations at Standing Rock, North Dakota. Bishop Andrus serves on the boards of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, California Pacific Medical Center, the Episcopal Impact Fund, the Episcopal School for Deacons, Episcopal Community Services, and the American Bach Soloists, among other foundations. Andrus is married to Sheila Andrus, Ph.D., former director of the Sparkman Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health, and they have two adult daughters, Chloé and Pilar.

About The Forum

The Forum is a series of stimulating conversations about faith and ethics in relation to the important issues of our day. We invite inspiring and illustrious people to sit down for a real conversation with the Forum’s host and with you. Our guests range from artists, inventors and philosophers to pop culturists and elected officials, but the point of The Forum is singular: civil, sophisticated discourse that engages minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.