Patricia Ann Curtis Davenport, the first African American woman to be elected a bishop in the ELCA, died Wednesday, July 29. Davenport served the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod as bishop from 2018 to 2024, as director for evangelical mission from 2009 to 2018 and as assistant to the bishop from 2007 to 2009. Yehiel Curry, presiding bishop of the ELCA, reflected on Davenport’s legacy. Davenport earned a degree from the Community College of Philadelphia and received her Master of Divinity from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (now United Lutheran Seminary) in 2001. Davenport was a lifetime member of the Philadelphia chapter of the African Descent Lutheran Association.