(Editor’s note: An earlier version incorrectly stated that Presiding Bishop Michael Curry performed the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He delivered the sermon.)
The Right Rev. Robert Wright, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, is among four candidates nominated to lead the denomination’s 1.9 million members worldwide.
Wright, 60, has served as the 10th bishop of Atlanta, and the first African American, since his ordination in October 2012.
“I’m asking you to think of this election process not in terms of winning and losing — there’s enough of that in the world — but rather in terms of discernment,” Wright said in a statement published in the diocesan newsletter. “What I and my fellow finalists want above all else is for God’s will to be revealed and God’s will to be done in this process. When God’s will is done, we find ourselves exactly where we are best suited to bring our gifts to bear and bless the world.”
The Episcopal Church’s next presiding bishop would be elected during the denomination’s 81st General Conference this summer in Louisville.
The diocese covers nearly 76 counties in north and middle Georgia, and is comprised of 120 churches.
Other nominees are Nebraska Bishop J. Scott Barker; Pennsylvania Bishop Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez; and Northwestern Pennsylvania Bishop Sean Rowe, who also serves as bishop provisional of the Diocese of Western New York.
Additional candidates may be nominated by petition.
While the list of nominees is diverse, it does not include any women or members of the LGBT community, according to an article in the Episcopal News Service.
The 28th presiding bishop would succeed Michael Curry, the first African-American presiding bishop who is also known for delivering the sermon at the 2018 royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The new presiding bishop would take office in November. An installation service is scheduled for Nov. 2 at Washington National Cathedral.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wright was born in a Roman Catholic orphanage and adopted at nine months.
After high school he joined the U.S. Navy and served as a helicopter crew-chief and search and rescue diver before attending Howard University. He earned a degree in history and political science there and began working for the Children’s Defense Fund and later for two mayors of Washington, D.C. as a child advocate.
Wright holds a master of divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria and was ordained a deacon in June 1998 at the Washington National Cathedral and later priest in February 1999 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
Before becoming the bishop of the Atlanta diocese, he was rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta where he served for 10 years.
About the Author
