CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Bishop Michael Curry's position as Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church may be retiring as he approaches the mandatory retirement age of 72, but he plans to always serve.
Curry spent time in August speaking at Chautauqua Institution.
Two On Your Side's Claudine Ewing had a chance to sit down with the Bishop about his ministry, events, and thoughts on the city of Buffalo where he was raised.
When asked what is his prayer for Buffalo, Bishop Curry said "There is a renaissance which means there's a future. I just pray that Buffalo will, as it grows economically, that it will grow politically and morally, where everybody is treated as a child of God. Where everybody is my sister, my brother, my sibling, and that we build a city like that and we will be a great city."
When the Bishop is no longer serving as Presiding Bishop, he said "I can't not serve. I don't have to lead anything. I don't have to be a leader, but I want to serve."
Many recall Curry's role in the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
"The request actually came from them through the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the head of the worldwide Anglican community, but the Church of England, as well and Episcopal Church." His involvement, he said came "in the course of their conversations about getting married and their pre-marital work, they kind of talked about what they were hoping for in the service that they hoped that it would be representative of everyone."
When it comes to religion and politics, he said "The wall of separation as Thomas Jefferson kind of framed it has to do with the institution of religion, that doesn't have to do with peoples spiritualities or even religious traditions. We have freedom of religion. So people have religious expression. There is no religion that is the official religion of the United States or that gets any particular sanction."
He added "If you are a person of faith, your faith must inform your life. It must."
Curry was raised in the same neighborhood where a white supremacist opened fire in a Buffalo grocery store in 2023, killing ten black people. Three people were wounded by gunfire.
"One of the toughest parts of the time that I've been Bishop has been walking with others who have been through that kind of tragedy, that was not necessary. Hatred kills. Bigotry kills. Negativity kills And people get hurt. Everybody is a child of God," he said.
On a lighter note, the Bishop is a Buffalo Bills fan. "I'm a Buffalo Bills fan. I will be to the day I die and I can't wait to see them win The Super Bowl."