Pastor Bernard Curry is a native of Burlington, North Carolina. He is the son of the late Overseer Bennie Curry and the late National Mother Alice Curry. He received his primary and secondary education in the Burlington City Schools System where he later returned and taught 9th grade civics and economics for 12 years. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Sociology with a minor in Education from North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
Pastor Bernard Curry received Christ as his personal Savior at the age of eleven. While in college, Pastor Curry was called into the ministry. He preached his initial sermon in March of 1983 at St. Mark United Church of God in Sanford, NC where his father served as pastor for 28 years. He received his minister’s license on August 13, 1983, and he became an ordained elder on August 12, 1984.
On May 21, 1977, Pastor Bernard Curry married Linda Banner who at that time was a member of Hoods Chapel United Church of God in Lenoir, NC. In 1986 God entrusted to them one of the most precious of assignments and that was the spiritual well-being of His flock. The General Board of Directors of the United Church of God, Inc. assigned Pastor Bernard Curry to Mt. Zion United Church of God in Greensboro, North Carolina. Pastor Curry has served as senior pastor of Mt. Zion for 30 years. He strongly believes and advocates the church going “beyond the four walls” and ministering to those in the community. Pastor Bernard Curry is chosen and called by God to preach and teach with conviction the Word of God. He is a servant who has a great love for the souls of men and women; he has a passion for God’s work.
Pastor Curry is a member of the United Church of God Elders’ Council, and he serves as clerk to the United Church of God Southern District Board of Directors. During the 2013 Holy Convocation, Pastor Curry was appointed to the United Church of God General Board of Directors. In 2016, Pastor Curry served as the chairman of the United Church of God Centennial Celebration Committee.
Pastor Bernard Curry has been teaching in the Sociology and Anthropology Department, as well as the Education Department, at Elon University since 1991. He teaches Introductory Sociology and Sociology of Education. For 23 years Pastor Bernard Curry coordinated the secondary schools history/social studies program and taught Methods of Teaching Middle Grades and High School Social Studies. He taught prospective teachers and supervised student teachers.
On December 12, 2014, Bernard Curry became a member of the Advisory Council of the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club in Burlington, NC.
Pastor Bernard Curry loves to travel both in the United States and internationally. He has traveled to the following countries: England, France, Italy, Scotland, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Western Australia and Ghana, Africa and South Africa. He has preached both in London, England and Ghana, Africa.
Pastor Bernard Curry resides in Burlington with his wife, Linda, who retired from the Alamance-Burlington Schools System as an English teacher. They have one daughter, Leeya C. Winstead, son-in-law, Anthony Winstead, and two grandchildren, Kingston Benét Winstead and Kruze Mason Winstead.
