The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry is presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church. At the church’s 78th General Convention in June 2015, he was elected to a nine-year term in this role and installed in November of that year; he serves as The Episcopal Church’s chief pastor, spokesperson, and president and chief executive officer. 

Throughout his ministry, Bishop Curry has been a prophetic leader, particularly in the areas of racial reconciliation, climate change, evangelism, immigration policy, and marriage equality. The animating vision and message of his ministry is Jesus of Nazareth and his way of radical, sacrificial love, and he regularly reminds Episcopalians they are “the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement.” 

Bishop Curry was ordained a priest in 1978 and served parishes in North Carolina, Ohio, and Maryland until his 2000 election as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. He graduated with high honors from Hobart and Williams Smith Colleges and earned his Master of Divinity degree from Yale University. Bishop Curry is the author of five books and a regular guest on national and international media outlets.

Consecrated in 2010, María Griselda Delgado del Carpio is bishop diocesan of the Episcopal Church in Cuba. She was ordained to the diaconate in 1986 and to the priesthood in 1992. She was one of the first three women ordained to the sacred ministry in the Diocese of Cuba.

Bishop Delgado del Carpio was born in La Paz, Bolivia, in 1955. She studied at the Methodist College and later at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. In the 1980s, the World Council of Churches granted her a scholarship to attend the Evangelical Seminary of Theology in Matanzas, Cuba. It was there that she found The Episcopal Church. At that time, the recently elected Bishop Emilio Hernández Albalate was focusing his pastoral care toward the ordination of women. 

She carried out her pastoral work in communities throughout the province of Matanzas. She reopened some of them and started new ones, many of which continue to flourish into communities of faith to this day. As bishop, she has encouraged the missionary work of bringing the Gospel to more places and planting new communities of faith, developing small agroecological projects, as well as construction and remodeling of temples and adjacent buildings. Essentially, her work is focused on creating and sustaining a continuous process of vocational formation toward the ordained ministry. 

The text that inspires and accompanies her is found in the Gospel of Matthew: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Bessie is a tribal administrator, self-governance coordinator, and tribal family youth specialist in the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska. She was ordained as a priest in 2001. Within the Diocese of Alaska, she served on the Standing Committee, Commission on Ministry, Bishop Search Committee, as dean of the Interior Deanery, and as a member of the diaconate since 2000. She has also served as vice president, Seth De Ya Ah Corp., and president, Minto Development Corp.

A 10-time deputy to General Convention, Bessie served on the Presiding Bishop’s Blue Ribbon Task Force, and on Stewardship and Development, Social Justice and Advocacy, Women of Vision, World Mission committees. She was also a member of the Native American Theological Association and National Committee on Indian Work. Her educational background includes Cook Christian Training School, Native American Theological Association, United Theological Seminary, and University of Alaska. 

Bessie has expertise in profit and nonprofit organizational management. In her longtime involvement with The Episcopal Church, she offers a multicultural perspective and skills of listening, sharing, working collaboratively, coordinating, planning, visioning, implementing policies, and seeking creative and innovative ways to ensure pastoral and sacramental presence in small rural congregations.

Rachel is an Indigenous ordained priest in The Episcopal Church. As a Shackan First Nation person, she represents The Episcopal Church on the board of the Anglican Indigenous Network, which she represented earlier this year as a member of the Anglican Consultative Council’s delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW66). In 2021, she served on The Episcopal Church delegation to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and also served on the presiding bishop’s delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Rachel has almost 30 years of experience in cross-cultural communication, specialized ministry, social justice advocacy, and environmental advocacy. She is the founder of Circles of Color, a grassroots community of Episcopalians of color and authentic allies in the Episcopal Church of Western Washington. 

Rachel is a board-certified healthcare chaplain, endorsed through the Office of the Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Forces and Federal Ministries. With an academic background in cultural anthropology and cross-cultural communication, she specializes in assessment and care plan development for recovery processes related to incidents of community and organizational trauma. Rachel is dedicated to issues of social justice, environmental care, and the institutional transformation of The Episcopal Church for a sustainable future. As a writer, her work has appeared in the Anglican Theological Review, God Space, Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices, The Living Church, and more. Additionally, she maintains a reflective commentary blogsite called Greening Spirit. Rachel is the rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Everett, Washington.

The Rev. Altagracia Pérez-Bullard is the director of contextual ministry and assistant professor of practical theology at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. Before joining the VTS faculty, she served as the canon for congregational vitality in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Through church leadership development, both lay and clergy, she assisted congregations as they engaged and collaborated with their changing contexts to bring new life to their communities. She has served in the church for over 30 years as a youth minister, community leader, and priest in the dioceses of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. 

Dr. Pérez-Bullard has brought leadership to the issues of HIV/AIDS, youth violence, worker justice and a living wage, health disparities in BIPOC communities, housing, and community empowerment. In each of these areas, she has sought to build bridges and create alliances between communities across lines of difference, whether they are characterized by race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, or physical and mental abilities. 

Altagracia holds a doctorate in practical theology from Claremont School of Theology (California), Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology degrees from Union Theological Seminary (New York), and a Bachelor of Science in educational psychology from New York University. She is married to Cynthia Bullard Perez and is grateful for the blessing of being mother to two and stepmother to four children. 

The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland in 2008. Previously he served as canon pastor of the Washington National Cathedral, directing its Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage. He has published articles on prayer, spirituality, and justice, and contributed to the books, “The Diversity of Centering Prayer” and “Reclaiming the Gospel of Peace: Challenging the Epidemic of Gun Violence.” 

Bishop Sutton is recognized as a thought leader on issues of racial reconciliation and reparations, testifying before the United States Congress alongside author Ta-Nehisi Coates, actor Danny Glover, and economist Julianne Malveaux for Congressional Bill HR40 that calls for the establishment of a national bipartisan commission to study reparations as a restitution for slavery and racial discrimination. He has appeared on National Public Radio, PBS television, Fox News, at The Chautauqua Institution, Howard University, and other public forums. His board memberships include the Institute for Christian, Jewish and Islamic Studies, the Institute for Sustainable Communities, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and Bishops United Against Gun Violence. He was named by the Center for American Progress as one of “14 Faith Leaders to Watch.” 

A graduate of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, he did graduate study at Princeton Theological Seminary and Anglican studies at the University of the South’s School of Theology. In addition to serving several parishes, he taught homiletics and liturgics at New Brunswick Theological Seminary and Vanderbilt University Divinity School. He is married to Sonya Subbayya Sutton, president of the Association of Anglican Musicians, and they have four adult children and stepchildren. 

Mariann Edgar Budde serves as spiritual leader for 86 Episcopal congregations and 10 Episcopal schools in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties. The first woman elected to this position, she also serves as the chair and president of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, which oversees the ministries of the Washington National Cathedral and Cathedral schools. 

A passionate believer in the gospel of Jesus and The Episcopal Church’s particular witness, Bishop Budde is committed to the spiritual and numerical growth of congregations and developing new expressions of Christian community. She believes that Jesus calls all who follow him to strive for justice and peace, and to respect the dignity of every human being. 

Bishop Budde was consecrated as the ninth bishop of Washington in November 2011. Prior to her election, she served for 18 years as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis. She earned a bachelor’s in history at the University of Rochester, graduating magna cum laude. She earned both a Master of Divinity (1989) and Doctor of Ministry (2008) from Virginia Theological Seminary. Her sermons have been published in several books and journals, and she is the author of two books, “Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love” (2019) and “Gathering Up the Fragments: Preaching as Spiritual Practice” (2007).

Myra B. Garnes is the canon for Youth & Young Adult Ministries for the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. Prior to her arrival in New York, she was the director of the Cathedral Scholars Program at the Washington National Cathedral and served as an academic class dean and director of multicultural education at the National Cathedral School in D.C. She was installed as an honorary canon to the Cathedral of the Incarnation on Sept. 26, 2015. Canon Myra leads a ministry with young people grounded in principles of social justice and rooted in the Gospel. Together, they aspire to create moments in which they will experience God and grow in their faith so that they feel loved and will welcome others while living out their baptismal covenant. 

Canon Myra has served the larger church in several capacities as the Province II Youth Ministry Network coordinator, as a member of the Forma Board of Directors, and a member of the EYE17 Mission Planning Team. She is a catechist for the Baptized for Life Discipleship Initiative sponsored by Virginia Theological Seminary, a youth ministry liaison for The Episcopal Church Office of Youth Ministries, and a member of the Black Ministries Council of Advice. Canon Myra was honored with the Distinguished Leadership Award from the Office of Young Adult and Campus Ministry for The Episcopal Church during the church’s General Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

In her free time, you will find her cheering for the Ohio State Buckeyes, traveling the globe, walking/hiking, and spending time with loved ones across the country. 

Having been ordained (2015) when her contemporaries were retiring, the Rev. Fisher-Stewart recently retired after having served as associate rector, Calvary Episcopal Church, and interim rector, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, both in Washington, D.C. Prior to being ordained, she served as lay associate for 10  years with the Church of Our Saviour, also in Washington, D.C. She serves as the president, Crummell-Cooper Chapter (D.C.), Union of Black Episcopalians. Prior to ordination, she taught at the university level and retired from the Metropolitan Police Department, where she served for 20 years. She served as director for the Center for the Study of Civil Disorder for the Police Foundation and chief law enforcement consultant for the International City/County Management Association. 

Committed to seeing God’s justice in this present life, her guiding scriptural verses are Luke 4:18-19 and Amos 4:18-24. She loves to push boundaries in and out of the church. Her other love is teaching, where she pushes those in Bible study to answer the question, “Why is this important to you?” A lifelong learner herself, she has degrees from the University of Maryland Global Campus, the University of Maryland, the American University, the University of the District of Columbia, and the Wesley Theological Seminary. 

She is also the author of “Black and Episcopalian: The Struggle for Inclusion” (2022, Church Publishing) and editor and contributor of “Preaching Black Lives Matter” (2019, Church Publishing). The love of her life is her son, David.

Ana Victoria holds a degree in social communication, with a minor in journalism, and studied at the National School of Dramatic Art (ENAD). She served as national coordinator of the Dominican Episcopal Youth (2014-2016). In 2017, she was a professor of diction, intonation, and fluency at the Center for Theological Studies of the Seminary of the IX Province. She was member of the Episcopax Magazine Committee between 2017 and 2019, and a member of the planning team for EJE19.

From an early age, she worked as coordinator and assistant for the Summer Bible Schools in different congregations of the Diocese of the Dominican Republic, and she collaborated in the writing of stories for their brochures. During that time, Ana Victoria directed the Sunday School for the congregations of Cristo Rey and Parroquia Ayudada San Marcos in the Dominican Republic. She serves on the board of directors of the youth group at Epiphany Cathedral Church.

The Most Rev. Moisés Quezada Mota is a diocesan bishop of the Episcopal Church of the Dominican Republic, the country where he was born. He completed his theological studies at the Center for Theological Studies in Santo Domingo. He has conducted studies and research in the theological field. He served as a priest for 33 years in congregations and educational centers of the church and as  coordinator of Province IX of The Episcopal Church. For more than 20 years he exercised an educational ministry as professor of theology at the Center for Theological Studies and in the formation of laity. He has participated in social and ecumenical activities in the Dominican Republic and abroad. He was ordained bishop coadjutor on Feb. 13, 2016, and installed Aug. 4, 2017. 

Married to Jeannette Pringle de Quezada, he has two children, Moises Elias and Mercedes Alejandrina Quezada Pringle. 

The Rt. Rev. Diana D. Akiyama was elected to be the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon on Aug. 29, 2020. She was consecrated at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral on Jan. 30, 2021. 

A native Oregonian, Akiyama returned to Oregon after living in Washington, Texas, California, and Hawaii. Ordained to the priesthood in 1989, she describes her ministry in largely unchurched communities, such as college and university campuses, as a dynamic mission field. She served on the Committee on the Status of Women and the Commission on Racism of The Episcopal Church in the early years of her ministry. In 2001 Diana was awarded a doctorate in religion and social ethics at University of Southern California. While in Los Angeles, Akiyama served in an interim capacity under the Rev. Edwin Bacon at All Saints Pasadena; she was appointed by Bishop Frederick Borsch to the Commission on Ministry and served on the bishop’s pastoral team to aid congregations struggling with trauma related to clergy misconduct. She served as regular pulpit supply for Church of the Angels in Los Angeles until moving to Hawaii in 2013. 

In the Diocese of Hawaii, Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick appointed Akiyama as the dean of Waiolaihui’ia, the diocesan clergy formation program. She also served as the vicar of St. Augustine’s Kapaau on the Big Island, and as the chair of the Commission on Racism.

The Rev. Canon Manoj M. Zacharia serves as the rector of the historic St. Anne’s parish in Annapolis, Maryland. He is a graduate of Vassar College and General Seminary and earned his doctorate in philosophical theology from the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. Manoj comes from a long line of ministers in various orders as his Christian roots are in the ancient St. Thomas tradition of Kerala, India. He grew up at Grace Episcopal Church in Port Jervis, New York, and St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church, New York. One of his favorite memories was receiving his first communion as a 6-year-old from the Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, bishop of New York. 

Previously he served as sub-dean of Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, rector of St. Paul’s and Resurrection (Episcopal Diocese of Newark), and in various parishes as licensed by the Anglican Church of Canada, Church of South India, and the Mar Thoma Church. He has served as a deputy to General Convention and as a member of the Standing Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations. 

His academic theological interests include Syriac Christianity, new comparative theology, and the evangelical tradition within the Anglican Communion. His life experiences include working in politics, business-economic development, and the financial field. Manoj also completed a fellowship at the Hartman Institute (Shalom Hartman) through the Christian Leadership Initiative sponsored conjointly by Hartman and the American Jewish Committee. His ultimate blessings are to be married to Joelle and parent Abigail and Johan.

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings was elected president of the House of Deputies by her peers at the 77th General Convention of The Episcopal Church in 2012, and was unopposed for reelection in 2015 and 2018. She is the first ordained woman to hold the position.

As president, Gay is committed to fostering a new generation of leaders in The Episcopal Church and encouraging the church’s work for justice through the actions of General Convention and the work of Episcopalians throughout the church. She works closely with the elected and appointed leaders who serve the church between conventions, with more than 850 members of the House of Deputies, and with the presiding bishop and other church leaders.

Gay, ordained in 1979, was a 10-time deputy from the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. She previously served for 17 years as canon to the ordinary in the Diocese of Ohio and for nine years as associate director of CREDO Institute Inc., a church wellness program.

Prior to serving as president, Gay served on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church from 2006-2012 and held many elected and appointed leadership positions, including chairing the General Convention legislative committees on Structure, World Mission, Communications, and Canons. She was a founding steering committee member of the Chicago Consultation, which supported the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Christians.

Gay is a graduate of Colgate University and Episcopal Divinity School and has received honorary doctorates from both institutions as well as from Church Divinity School of the Pacific. She lives in Sagamore Hills, Ohio (outside Cleveland), with her husband, Albert, who has been a parish priest for 46 years. They have been married for those same 46 years. Their son, Sam, lives nearby and is a sound engineer. Their beloved daughter, Lee, died in 2010.