In Conversation: Michael Curry and Barbara Harris

by Fredrica Harris Thompsett

Get to know two trailblazing Episcopalians as they talk informally about things that matter to them.As a teenager, Michael Curry served as a part of the “Youth Presence” at General Convention 1979. While there, he met Barbara Harris, not yet a priest. The story of their friendship is one that tracks the history of the Episcopal Church over the intervening years. In this volume, the two talk about a wide range of topics—their families and the strong women who shaped them, the vocation of the priesthood and the episcopacy, and social justice, among others—in a conversation facilitated and edited by Fredrica Harris Thompsett.

124 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2017

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Spirit is leading us as as a church that is going to have a promising future,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

What a gift to the Episcopal Church from Fredrica Harris Thompsett who sat Bishop Barbara Harris and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry for a facilitated conversation shared in this new book from Church Publishing. She an African America and the first female bishop in the Anglican Communion; he the long time bishop of North Carolina, now Presiding Bishop, both know the weight of being “the first” while simply trying to be faithful and knowing they will make mistakes. This deeply honest and illuminating conversation is worth sitting with.

Speaking of God’s dream of justice and peace, Bishop Barbara Harris said, “It may be a long time coming, but believing that it is the will of God, it inevitably has to happen, maybe not in our lifetime, but ultimately.”

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been curious about each of these individuals for a while now. I learned a few things, but the conversation was not the magic I’d hoped it might have been for gleaning some particular insight into their experiences. That will have to wait for some other book.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-edited snapshot of two brilliant theologians and preachers. Make sure to read the excerpts in Chapter 7 to learn a few snippets of information that add much to the story of their theologies.