US Episcopal Church elects first black presiding bishop

The US Episcopal Church has elected its first African-American presiding bishop.

Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina was elected on Saturday by a landslide in a vote at the Episcopal General Convention, the top legislative body of the 2.5 million-strong church.

The clergyman, known for an energetic preaching style, earned 121 of 174 votes from bishops on the first ballot. The other three candidates could only garner 21 votes each or less.

"Nothing can stop the movement of God's love in this world," Curry said at the church's 77th convention, held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The 62-year-old has said he would focus on evangelism and acts of service, along with a "churchwide spiritual revival."

"In this mission moment of the church's life," he said, "the primary role of the presiding bishop must be CEO in another sense: Chief Evangelism Officer, to encourage, inspire and support us all to claim the calling of the Jesus movement."

Curry, who studied divinity at Yale University, earlier served in Baltimore, Maryland. He has been bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina since 2000.

The Episcopal Church is the US body of the 80 million-member Anglican Communion, with churches across the world and its origins in the Church of England.

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