SIM News

The Presiding Bishop Supports Sim

12/22/20

A Message From The Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Hello, I am Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and it is a real pleasure, better yet, a real privilege, to say a word on behalf of the Society for the Increase of Ministry.  I know for a fact that scholarships that enable people to engage in theological education make a profound difference in their lives and on the lives of those who come in contact with them.

These scholarships make it possible for many to receive a theological education that might not otherwise receive it. They make it possible for young people who are at the beginning of their life&rsquos journey, if you will, to have the resources to study, to learn deeply, and then to go out and to serve the world, following in the way of Jesus of Nazareth.  These scholarships make it possible for these people who learn the way of Jesus, the teachings of our theological traditions, to then put those teachings into practice by public witness, by pastoral service, by witness and care and service that actually makes a tangible difference in the world.

I know it, even now, as Presiding Bishop of our beloved Church, that across the landscape of our church, the need for theologically trained and equipped men and women, people who are prepared for ministries, lay and ordained, who have the capacity to serve in pastoral ways, who have the capability to bear witness in the public sphere, that need is ever-present and more dramatically called for in the times and the days in which we live.  But I know the need for the Society for the Increase of Ministry personally. Because of scholarships, I was able to go to seminary. Because of scholarships, I was able to receive a theological education.

I would not be your Presiding Bishop had it not been for men and women, in days past, who made it possible for a young 21-year-old to go to theological school and to learn.  I truly believe that this work of supporting scholarships for theological education is nothing less than the sacred work of God, to help God in the work of changing the world by the Way of Love.

Thank you for anything that you can do thank you for this ministry and God loves you, and God bless you!