Maryland to consecrate its first African-American bishop

From the Baltimore Sun:

When the Rev. Canon Eugene T. Sutton was elected the 14th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, the first person he called was his 94-year-old grandmother, a devout Baptist who lives in a Washington nursing home. “Her prayers for me have made all the difference in the world,” Sutton said.

But more than that, he knew she could appreciate the twists of history that led to his election. Sutton, who will be consecrated tomorrow as the state’s first African-American bishop, is the great-great-grandson of slaves. Maryland’s first bishop, the Right Rev. Thomas John Claggett, was a slaveowner.

“I’m immensely proud and humbled,” Sutton said as he prepared for tomorrow’s ceremony at Washington’s National Cathedral, which will be attended by his grandmother, parents, wife, four children and stepchildren and thousands of others. “I’m proud because of the work of my ancestors of African heritage, who by the work of the hands and the sweat of their brows made it possible for me to be here today.”

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