--- title: Royal Wedding: Bishop Michael Curry Sermon Reactions description: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry may have been the stars of the royal wedding, but Bishop Michael Curry was definitely a strong runner-up. canonical: https://time.com/5283974/royal-wedding-bishop-michael-curry-reactions/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-19T13:35:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T19:49:45.000Z og:title: The Internet Is Raving Over Bishop Michael Curry's Sermon og:description: Curry is the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church og:url: https://time.com/5283974/royal-wedding-bishop-michael-curry-reactions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef3e082cb159348b/698930df096a9407916a2749/bishop-michael-curry.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: BRITAIN-US-ROYALS-WEDDING-CEREMONY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Is Raving Over Bishop Michael Curry's Sermon twitter:description: Curry is the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef3e082cb159348b/698930df096a9407916a2749/bishop-michael-curry.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Is Raving Over Bishop Michael Curry's Royal Wedding Sermon ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. Curry is the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Updated: Dec 12, 2023 7:49 PM UTCPublished: May 19, 2018 1:35 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Updated: Dec 12, 2023 7:49 PM UTCPublished: May 19, 2018 1:35 PM UTC [Meghan Markle](http://time.com/5245809/meghan-markle-royal-wedding-dress/) and [Prince Harry](http://time.com/5283649/prince-harry-meghan-markle-altar/) may have been the stars of the [royal wedding](http://time.com/5276277/royal-wedding-live/), but Bishop Michael Curry of Chicago was definitely a strong runner-up. Just before a stirring performance of Ben E. King’s [“Stand By Me”](http://time.com/5282658/royal-wedding-stand-by-me-meaning/) by Karen Gibson and the Kingdom Choir, the Most Reverend Michael Curry delivered a rousing sermon that both began and ended with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As Harry and Meghan sat nearby holding hands, Curry—who was appointed the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2015—gave an address centered on “The Power of Love.” Many watching were quick to tweet about his inspiring words. ## That’s Fire Some viewers latched onto Curry’s enthusiastic catchphrase of “That’s fire!” to praise the sermon. > [](https://twitter.com/BenPhillipsUK/status/997805066496159745) > [](https://twitter.com/GlennonDoyle/status/997801204888621057) > [](https://twitter.com/Ladypolitik/status/997804118977560576) > [](https://twitter.com/a%5Fcastellanos14/status/997802692004188161) > [](https://twitter.com/CityGirl1/status/997802551029436416) > [](https://twitter.com/saabster%5F1/status/997801420681367552) ## That’s Energy Others had more general feelings of excitement about Curry’s message. > [](https://twitter.com/NaomiCampbell/status/997802011503550464) > [](https://twitter.com/michcoll/status/997799055580426240) > [](https://twitter.com/lkherman/status/997800087928672256) > [](https://twitter.com/FranceCarbines/status/997799099603800065) > [](https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/997803286328676352) > [](https://twitter.com/AprilDRyan/status/997799027851911168) > [](https://twitter.com/burriscj/status/997799615104798720) > [](https://twitter.com/BradGalli/status/997800676636884992) > [](https://twitter.com/dollyalderton/status/997801717004726272) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5283974/royal-wedding-bishop-michael-curry-reactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5283974/royal-wedding-bishop-michael-curry-reactions/"},"headline":"The Internet Is Raving Over Bishop Michael Curry's Royal Wedding Sermon","datePublished":"2018-05-19T13:35:13.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T19:49:45.000Z","description":"Curry is the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church","url":"https://time.com/5283974/royal-wedding-bishop-michael-curry-reactions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","royal wedding"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef3e082cb159348b/698930df096a9407916a2749/bishop-michael-curry.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef3e082cb159348b/698930df096a9407916a2749/bishop-michael-curry.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BRITAIN-US-ROYALS-WEDDING-CEREMONY","caption":"BRITAIN-US-ROYALS-WEDDING-CEREMONY","creditText":"OWEN HUMPHREYS/AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5283974/royal-wedding-bishop-michael-curry-reactions/","name":"The Internet Is Raving Over Bishop Michael Curry's Royal Wedding Sermon"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"Curry is the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5283974/royal-wedding-bishop-michael-curry-reactions/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5283974/royal-wedding-bishop-michael-curry-reactions/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```