The Rev. George Curry
George Curry is one of the more prominent members of the Church of England’s clergy. A deeply conservative evangelical critic of the general direction of the Anglican movement, Curry is also opposed to the ordination of women and gay people and supports the return of the death penalty. He is also a young earth creationist.
Curry has, in the last few years, been widely quoted in the national media on controversial issues within the Church of England.
Curry is involved in Truth in Science but is also involved with two leading evangelical organisations within the CofE. He is a council member and trustee of the Newcastle-based Christian Institute. Curry is based in Newcastle. He is vicar of St Paul’s and St Stephen’s Churches, Newcastle (inner city churches in the west end of the city) and, like John Burn, chairman of the Christian Institute, has long-standing roots in the city. He is, like Burn, a local magistrate. We also understand that Curry has been involved with Emmanuel College.
Most significantly, he is chairman of the Church Society (whose headquarters are in Watford). This is a long-established evangelical organisation within the CofE (unlike the Christian Institute which is of relatively recent origins).
The Rev David Holloway, one of the founders of the Christian Institute and a fellow trustee alongside Curry, was also a founder member of another evangelical organisation within the CofE – Reform (http://www.reform.org.uk). Holloway remains a trustee of Reform according to information filed with the Charity Commission. (Reform is based in Sheffield.)
This is very significant. The interlocking involvement of Curry, Burn and Holloway means that three young earth creationists, all from Newcastle, control or are highly influential in three of what looks like the five most influential Anglican evangelical organisations within the UK. We also point out that fundamentalists appear to be involved in a fourth, the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (see Oxford connections).
George Curry was ordained in the diocese of Carlisle in 1975. He was trained at Cranmer Hall, University of Durham. Curry has a number of other connections with Newcastle. He is Chairman of Newcastle New Deal for Communities (see http://www.newcastlendc.co.uk/page/whos_who/index.cfm0.
Curry is chairman of the board of governors of St Paul’s Primary School in Newcastle (see http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/stpaulsceprimaryschool.)
