Preaching to the royals

Associated Press

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When Prince Harry of the United Kingdom married American actress Meghan Markle in May, there was the usual British pomp in the ceremony at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor. But there were also some American touches, including a gospel choir singing the pop classic “Stand By Me.” Perhaps the most electrifying moment, however, was the sermon by the Most Reverend Michael Curry ’78MDiv (left). A graduate of Yale Divinity School, Curry is presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church (the US branch of Anglicanism). During Curry’s buoyant and animated sermon, which focused on the power of love to change the world, tweets about the wedding peaked at 40,000 per minute. On the Today show after the wedding, Curry said he wasn’t bothered by the quiet reaction from the wedding guests. “Episcopalians aren’t known for being loud and raucous in church,” said Curry, “but I’ve learned to be able to hear an ‘amen’ by looking in their eyes. And I was looking in the eyes of people who were there, and they were doing quiet British amens.”