The Rt. Rev. Robert C. Wright
Denomination: The Episcopal Church (TEC)
Organization: Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, GA
The Right Rev. Robert C. Wright serves as the tenth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, GA, to which he was ordained in October 2012.
Formerly he was rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Atlanta Georgia, the oldest black Episcopal congregation in the state of Georgia.
Bishop Wright was born in a Catholic orphanage in Pittsburgh, PA. He is a product of the Pittsburgh Public School system. He served in the U. S. Navy as a helicopter Crew-Chief and Search and Rescue Diver. He was educated at Howard University, the Virginia Theological Seminary and Ridley Hall, Cambridge England.
He has worked as a child advocate, first for the Children's Defense Fund and later for two mayors of Washington D.C. He served as Canon Pastor and Vicar at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City. He is married to Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright and they have five children.
Day1 Weekly Programs by The Rt. Rev. Robert C. Wright
View All Day1 Weekly Programs...
Bishop Rob Wright: The Sower, the Soil, and the Supplement
Tuesday July 11, 2023
Bishop Rob Wright says the good news of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13 is that it’s about a good God, throwing good seed, looking for good soil to multiply good in the world.
Rob Wright: Up Ahead
Tuesday July 02, 2019
Bishop Rob Wright says "harvest" is about connecting with people, sharing purpose with people, gathering people. It’s how God’s people can embody the phrase “For God so loved the world.” But the laborers are few, Jesus says. So what does it take to be a true harvest laborer?
Bishop Rob Wright: The Sound of the Authentic
Tuesday December 27, 2016
"The sound of the genuine," a phrase of Howard Thurman's, is just a way of talking about God, says Bishop Rob Wright. Grasping the reality that, if we can hear the sound of the authentic, we will spend our lives with purpose and meaning, can make our new year happy, and even holy.
What's the Point?
Tuesday March 12, 2013
In his sermon for the fifth Sunday of Lent, Bishop Robert Wright explores the Apostle Paul's teaching in Philippians 3:4-14 to encourage the church to press on toward the goal.
Why Some People Don't Catch Fish
Tuesday February 02, 2010
The Very Rev. Robert C. Wright takes a fresh look at Christ's call to the first disciples, and reveals why some Christians are not effective in serving and reaching others.
Love Is for Grownups
Tuesday January 26, 2010
The Very Rev. Robert C. Wright mines the depths of 1 Corinthians 13, and shares how to love for Christ's sake in today's world.
Articles by The Rt. Rev. Robert C. Wright
Bishop Rob Wright: Delivered
Friday March 14, 2014
What have we done to faith? That's Paul's question to Christians in Rome.
Bishop Rob Wright: Test
Friday February 21, 2014
Do you remember fire drills? Class interrupted. Walking quickly and quietly outside. It was a test for the principal, the teachers and the students. The building might burn, but we would be fine.
Bishop Rob Wright: Unlearn
Saturday February 15, 2014
As soon as you learn the commandments and feel competent in the tradition, Jesus asks for more.
Bishop Rob Wright: Foolishness
Friday January 31, 2014
What we call power some call foolishness. Jesus' cross points back to the particular crucifixion of a particular man, and simultaneously points us forward through our pain, doubt and death into life. It's a paradox. An intense movie with a twist ending. None fully comprehend it, but it's true.
Bishop Rob Wright: Note to Church: Activate
Saturday January 25, 2014
Jesus said we should 'pray to God to send laborers out into his harvest.' (Matthew 9:35-10:23).
Bishop Rob Wright: Will Power: Martin Luther King
Sunday January 19, 2014
'I just want to do God's will,' Dr. King said in his last sermon. For all his erudition, these words may be his best gift to us.
Bishop Rob Wright: Up from the Water
Friday January 10, 2014
John baptized Jesus. Baptism marked a new beginning of his life with God. Up from the water, Jesus had that moment.
Bishop Rob Wright: Activity
Friday December 13, 2013
What is leadership anyway? Some think leadership is a special sauce: equal parts charisma, smarts and training. Jesus and John knew better: Leadership is activity, available to all. All.
Bishop Rob Wright: One Word
Friday December 06, 2013
When did we get this lifetime supply of grace? At our birth! It's inside us ready and waiting. Divine appetite. Godly capacity. So far so good; what's our part?
Bishop Rob Wright: Plans
Saturday November 23, 2013
The church proclaims that 'Christ is King.' King of what? One answer is king of plans.
Bishop Rob Wright: Gaining
Friday November 15, 2013
Endurance allows us to gain our souls, Jesus said. Soul is the breath of God in us from the beginning. Call it inborn divine capacity. Treasure in a clay jar. But, we can activate it.
Bishop Rob Wright: Surrounded
Sunday November 03, 2013
Lots of people believe in angels. God's messengers. Beings with and without physical form. Partners with God in love. They are a part of God's instrumentation for goodness and relationship with us. We simply call them angels.
Bishop Rob Wright: One
Friday October 11, 2013
Ten were healed of their disease. One returned, gave thanks and celebrated God for this saving act. Jesus marveled at this man's gratitude. He also marveled that nine were silent and absent when it was time to say thanks.
Bishop Rob Wright: Move!
Friday October 04, 2013
God is faithful, so we respond in faith. God plays the tune, we choose to dance. Jesus said that with faith you can move a tree.
Bishop Rob Wright: Connected
Friday September 27, 2013
Faith is to connect to and live out God-induced dreams.
Bishop Rob Wright: 50! The Harvest is Plentiful
Saturday September 21, 2013
We went on a campus walk at The University of the West Indies; 50 young people told us that they wanted to know more about Christ and Christian community. I was startled by the number. All we did was say hello. No proselytizing, just an offer of conversation.
Bishop Rob Wright's Day1 Prayer Breakfast Message: An Apostolic Future for the Church
Sunday September 15, 2013
Since this is a prayer breakfast, let me share a part of my prayer life with you. I have been bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta for just shy of one year. And of all the prayers I have prayed, the prayer that seems to have moved into my heart and set up shop comes from Jesus’ observation and directive from Luke 10.2: The harvest truly is great, laborers are few: pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into His harvest.
Bishop Rob Wright: For the Lost
Friday September 13, 2013
I was born in a foundling home. (That's Catholic Church speak for orphanage.) That may be why I think a lot about Jesus' three stories of being lost and found: a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost man.
Bishop Rob Wright: Clay
Friday September 06, 2013
Jeremiah heard a whisper from God: Go and watch the potter work the clay. See how he takes something flawed and spoiled and reworks it according to his good purpose. There's a spectacular image for our best relationship to God!
Bishop Rob Wright: Satisfied
Saturday August 31, 2013
I love the Psalms: 150 pieces of rap music in the Bible. They're honest. Where are you, God? Do you see my pain? Why do the evil prosper? Then there are other psalms, psalms I hope you can say, psalms that speak of being satisfied with God.
Bishop Rob Wright: 16 Minutes
Saturday August 24, 2013
Sixteen minutes and 16 seconds. That was the length of Dr. King's 'I Have a Dream' speech given 50 years ago this week. It was the climax of the March on Washington, bringing 300,000 men, women and children of every color, creed and class together.
Bishop Rob Wright: To Bring Fire
Friday August 16, 2013
To bring fire is Jesus' purpose statement in Luke 12:49. Purpose guides like the bright North Star in a black sky. Our purpose is uniquely ours. It's our mature decision and commitment.
Bishop Rob Wright: Hall of Faith
Saturday August 10, 2013
Baseball has Cooperstown, New York; football has Canton, Ohio; basketball has Springfield, Massachusetts. Where is the hall of fame for the faithful?
Bishop Rob Wright: Foolish
Sunday August 04, 2013
It's jarring to see Jesus call an enterprising businessman a fool. Look at his life: small ï¬elds into big ï¬elds, small barns into bigger barns. Luke 12: 13-21
Bishop Rob Wright: Not in the Whirlwind!
Sunday June 30, 2013
It's been a whirlwind this week for our country with the Supreme Court decisions on voting rights and the right to marry. My phone exploded with calls, e-mails, Facebook and Twitter posts. Each wanted to know where I am on the issues.
Bishop Rob Wright: Rest
Sunday June 23, 2013
When I rest, I feel so good, such that I don't know why I don't rest more. Summertime, for many, brings a slowdown. I pray that you will use this slowdown to rest your minds, bodies and souls this summer.
Bishop Rob Wright: Father's Day
Sunday June 16, 2013
Ever thought about Noah on Father's Day? God asked Noah to build something out of faith in plain view of his children.
Bishop Rob Wright: Details (Luke 7:13) - Day1.org
Monday June 10, 2013
You can read the Bible and get lost in the details. Preachers do it all the time! Anthropology, sociology, psychology -- it's all there, all interesting. But don't miss in scripture how God chooses to be God!
Bishop Rob Wright: Worry
Sunday June 02, 2013
If it's not the economy, it's the water. If it's not the water, it's the family. Seems irresponsible not to worry. Jesus said, You can't add one inch to your height by worrying.
Bishop Rob Wright: How to Be Christian with other Faiths
Friday May 24, 2013
How are we to be -- in a climate of relativism, amongst the spiritual -- with nonbelievers and with believers of every stripe?
Bishop Rob Wright: In Thanksgiving
Sunday May 12, 2013
Thank God for those mothers we love but see no longer, mothers who live with God now but watch over us from heaven's balcony.
Bishop Rob Wright: New
Sunday April 28, 2013
To be Christian is to choose to be like Christ. We judge our growth in the Lord by how much more we look like the Lord from one year to the next.
Bishop Rob Wright: A Psalm for the Living (Psalm 23) - Day1.org
Friday April 19, 2013
We pray Psalm 23, mostly, when people die. But it's much more a psalm for the living!
Bishop Rob Wright: More Than Fish
Sunday April 14, 2013
Jesus died and Peter returned to fishing. Back to an old version of himself. Leading people, but only to fish-less waters. Catching nothing, but busy at it! Into this frustrated disappointment comes Jesus, risen. He guides Peter toward fish, more fish than he could have imagined.
Bishop Rob Wright: Here Comes the Dreamer
Friday April 05, 2013
Yesterday the Episcopal Church with people globally gave thanks for the life and ministry of a man who taught nonviolence and was murdered for it.
Bishop Rob Wright: Lent 2013: Toward
Friday March 22, 2013
When God is moving inside of you, you move toward God in the world. That's Palm Sunday in a nutshell.
Bishop Rob Wright: Lent 2013: Loss and Gain
Friday March 15, 2013
Loss is God's growth strategy. Jesus' life teaches us this. His life teaches us that loss for God's sake is gain. An evolving, generative and joyful spiritual life hinges on uncoerced losing-offering so we can gain more Christ.
Bishop Rob Wright: Lent 2013: Bitter
Sunday March 10, 2013
Jesus told a story about a man with two sons: one a runaway, one bitter.
Bishop Rob Wright: Lent 2013: Looking for Fruit
Friday March 01, 2013
Fruit is the exterior confirmation of interior generation. God is not as vague as we would like God to be. Fruit is a clear expectation from God to us.
Bishop Rob Wright: Lent 2013: Rejection
Saturday February 23, 2013
One definition of sin is resisting Truth. God is the founding reality of all realities; that is the Truth.
Bishop Rob Wright: Lent 2013: Identity Theft
Sunday February 17, 2013
Lent is the season to reclaim the truth of who we are. A time to shake off partial definitions and distorted understandings of ourselves.
Bishop Rob Wright: An Ash Wednesday Meditation
Wednesday February 13, 2013
We are dust, we are finite, and God alone is infinite. This truth brings liberation. How?
Bishop Rob Wright: 5 Days Left
Friday February 08, 2013
In just five days we will begin the season of Lent. I love Lent; I find it so pregnant with spiritual possibility. I beg you, let this Lent be more than the exercise of willpower.
Bishop Rob Wright: Above the Law
Wednesday February 06, 2013
I wish more of us who consider divorce would also consider that you and your beloved may not be done, only stuck!
Bishop Rob Wright: Why Change?
Tuesday January 29, 2013
What prompted Paul to change his life? Jesus called his name and asked him a question.
Bishop Robert Wright Offers Some Words from Dr. King
Monday January 21, 2013
Dr. King's last Sunday sermon was preached in The Washington National Cathedral. Here is an excerpt we would do well to meditate on today.
Bishop Rob Wright: Just a Moment
Monday January 14, 2013
On the day Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended and God spoke. It was one of those life-changing moments, where God is so close. We have had those kinds of moments. When was your last one?
Bishop Rob Wright: Like the Wise Men
Saturday January 05, 2013
Here are three ways to be like the wise men this year.
Bishop Robert Wright: Inappropriate Joy?
Friday December 21, 2012
Talk of joy will seem inappropriate to many this Christmas. Death has brought us a thick cloud of sorrow. But a teenage mother, Mary, helps us claim joy in the face of death. She calls to us, "My spirit rejoices in God my Savior...." (Luke 1.47)
Bishop Robert Wright: God's Word in the Wilderness
Sunday December 09, 2012
While the world's leaders are leading, maintaining the status quo with their words, "...the word of God came to John in the wilderness." God's word breaks into the real world and re-describes it; it finds the gaps in our words and breaks in where it can be heard. So what?
Bishop Robert Wright on Advent: Again
Monday December 03, 2012
Advent is the season where we practice how to expect something new from God.
Video by The Rt. Rev. Robert C. Wright
The Right Rev. Robert Wright - A Day1 Conversation
Wednesday April 24, 2013
The Right Rev. Robert Wright, the new Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, sits down with Day1 host Peter Wallace to discuss the work of being Bishop in such a diverse diocese, the historic nature of his election, and the work ahead of Episcopalians in Georgia. Don't miss it! It's a conversation of faith, and hope, only on Day1.
The Very Rev. Robert C. Wright (Part 1) - Day1 Conversations with Peter Wallace
Monday November 22, 2010
The Very Rev. Robert C. Wright, rector of Atlanta's St. Paul's Episcopal Church, sits down in the studio with Day1 host Peter Wallace for a discussion on life at St. Paul's Episcopal Church and the lively faith community that has developed there.
The Very Rev. Robert C. Wright (Part 2) - Day1 Conversations with Peter Wallace
Monday November 22, 2010
The Very Rev. Robert C. Wright, rector of Atlanta's St. Paul's Episcopal Church, sits down in the studio with Day1 host Peter Wallace for a discussion on life at St. Paul's Episcopal Church and the lively faith community that has developed there.