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.

Bishop Curry will preach at the opening revival worship on July 9 and will talk with author Brian McLaren on the future of the church at the closing plenary on July 12.

At the 80th General Convention in 2022, Julia Ayala Harris was elected president of the House of Deputies, the presiding officer who works alongside the presiding bishop.

President Ayala Harris is the first Latina and woman of color to hold the position. She is passionate about a multitude of issues, such as immigration, race and ethnicity, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and truth-telling, as well as justice initiatives.

As a lay leader, President Ayala Harris served the church in multiple roles, including leadership roles on the Executive Council; the Presiding Officers’ Working Group on Truth-Telling, Reckoning, and Healing; and the Task Force for Women, Truth, and Reconciliation, among various other legislative committees and interim bodies.

In The Episcopal Church, President Ayala Harris has continually found healing, blessing, and wholeness in God’s unconditional love. Throughout her lay ministry, she has worked to bring about a church that can share that blessing with all of God’s people.

President Ayala Harris will preach at the closing worship on July 12. 

Bishop Gene Robinson is the first openly gay man to be elected bishop in the high church traditions of Christendom. He was invited by President Barack Obama to give the invocation at the inaugural ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial in 2009. He was elected Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire on June 7, 2003, after having served 28 years in that diocese. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Washington, DC. Bishop Robinson continues as an activist in the area of full civil/human rights for the LGBT community in the U.S. and abroad.

Bishop Robinson will be the celebrant at the festival closing eucharist on July 12.

Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is a core faculty member of The Living School and podcaster with Learning How to See, which are part of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He is also an Auburn Senior Fellow and is a co-host of Southern Lights. His newest books are Faith After Doubt (January 2021), and Do I Stay Christian? (May 2022). You can learn more about Brian and his work at: http://brianmclaren.net/ 

McLaren will host a conversation with Bishop Curry at the closing evangelism-focused plenary on July 12. 

Rev. Mariama White-Hammond is a pastor, advocate, facilitator, and farmer who seeks to create a more faithful, just, and sustainable world. She serves as chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space for the City of Boston and oversees policy and programs on energy, climate change, sustainability, and open space.

Rev. Mariama is known for convening groups at the intersection of climate, race, economic justice, and faith and was selected as one of the Grist 50 Fixers for 2019 and Sojourners 11 Women Shaping the Church. Born and raised in Boston, she began her community engagement in high school. After college, she became the executive director of Project HIP-HOP (Highways Into the Past – History, Organizing and Power), where she served for 13 years. An ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in 2018 she founded New Roots AME Church, which she currently pastors, in Dorchester, Mass. Learn about Rev. Mariama and her work at: https://www.revmariama.net/.

Rev. Mariama will preach at the creation care-focused revival service on July 10.

Dr. Kwok Pui Lan is the Dean’s Professor of Systematic Theology at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, a past president of the American Academy of Religion, and former professor at Episcopal Divinity School. An internationally known theologian, she has authored and edited numerous books on Asian and Asian American feminist theology, biblical interpretation, and postcolonial theology, including Postcolonial Politics and Theology and Discovering the Bible in the Non-Biblical World. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Dr. Kwok received her doctorate from Harvard University.

Dr. Kwok will speak at the racial reconciliation-focused plenary on July 11.

Sarah Augustine, a Pueblo (Tewa) descendant, is co-founder and executive director of the faith-based Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition. She has represented the interests of Indigenous communities to the United Nations, the World Health Organization, governments and international corporations. 

A Mennonite lay leader, Augustine is a columnist for Anabaptist World, and co-hosts the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery podcast with Sheri Hostetler. She has taught at Heritage University, Central Washington University, and Goshen College. She is author of The Land Is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery (2021).

Sarah Augustine will preach the racial reconciliation-focused revival service on July 11.

Live Hymnal is a community of musicians and singers whose passion is for amplifying joy in the hearts of God’s people by bringing new life to sacred music. Live Hymnal will serve as the “house band” for It’s All About Love. They look forward to working with musicians and artists from across The Episcopal Church and the Baltimore community during the four festival worship services.

The Rev. Zack Nyein serves as senior associate rector at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York, N.Y., assuming responsibilities in a wide array of ministries, including social justice, creative worship, newcomer engagement, and children, youth, and families. Active in the wider Episcopal Church, Zack currently serves on the Task Force for Prayer Book and Liturgical Revision, the board of the Episcopal Evangelism Society, the board of Kanuga Episcopal Camp and Conference Center, and as director of worship for Imagine Church, an innovative Episcopal online worship experience launched during the pandemic. Zack is a lifelong choral singer and a lover of travel, the arts, and fitness. He holds degrees from the University of Tennessee and Yale Divinity School and resides in Hell’s Kitchen with his husband, Dr. Michael Waterson.

Graves serves as the canon for communications in the Diocese of Maryland. Before coming to Maryland, she served as the canon for communications in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina and was a professional bookseller, bookstore owner, and Episcopal bookseller. In addition to all things communications and technology, Carrie is passionate about spiritual formation, especially dream work and the Education for Ministry program. She loves being involved in racial reconciliation, justice, and ecumenical and interfaith ministries in the church.

For over twenty years, Lilly Lewin has created and curated experiential worship experiences around the world for conferences, including Youth Specialties’ National Youth Workers Convention and local churches and camps. She is a speaker, worship curator, and the co-author with Dan Kimball of the book “Sacred Space.” Read her FreeRange Friday blog at GodSpaceLight.com.