*** DEBUG START ***
*** DEBUG END ***

The Power of Love: The royal wedding sermon, by Michael B. Curry

by
21 December 2018

Lyle Dennen reads the book of the royal-wedding sermon

THIS small book is a collection of sermons preached by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, Michael Curry. It begins with the bravura address given at the royal wedding of Harry and Meghan.

I thought that the vitality of that sermon was due probably to the warmth and personality of the preacher, and that, reading it in a book form, I would find that the sermon felt flat and simplistic. I was very wrong. It has an authority, because it reflects the simple strength of the teaching of Jesus Christ that love has a power to transform: transform you, transform the people around you, transform society.

The core theme of all the sermons is this transfiguring power of love. Bishop Curry has a moving use of language by which he picks up phrases from scripture, spirituals, or hymns. By his repetition of these phrases through a sermon, they become like waves crashing on rocks. Beneath Bishop Curry’s plain words is a profound theology and a clear mystical insight of how union with Christ must lead to social action.

All the sermons were written for quite specific occasions. You might need to translate some of the material from the American scene to the British, and enjoy doing so.

Bishop Curry is well known as a champion of civil rights, with a passionate commitment to equality for race, gender, and orientation. But he does not see this as an excluding battle of “us against them”. Rather, the power of love can bring unity to people of differing views — not a bad message to be preached in Brexit Britain.

This book would make a great present for a couple preparing to get married. It would be a great present for anyone to have Curry for Christmas.
 

The Ven. Lyle Dennen is a former Archdeacon of Hackney.

 

The Power of Love: The royal wedding sermon
Michael B. Curry
Hodder & Stoughton £14.99
(978-1-529-33730-3)
Church Times Bookshop £13.50

Browse Church and Charity jobs on the Church Times jobsite

Church Times Bookshop

Save money on books reviewed or featured in the Church Times. To get your reader discount:

> Click on the “Church Times Bookshop” link at the end of the review.

> Call 01603 785905 (Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm).

The reader discount is valid for two months after the review publication date. E&OE

Forthcoming Events

 

Festival of Preaching: Preaching Truth to Power

13 September 2025

Join us at London's Southwark Cathedral for this one-day event — a transformative gathering of bold voices, prophetic vision, and Spirit-led conviction..

tickets available

 

Finding inspiration in the Psalms : a Church Times one day festival

2 October 2025

Join us in York for this one-day event exploring the gift of the Psalms through poetry, art, liturgy and music.

tickets available

  

Visit our Events page for upcoming and past events 

The Church Times Archive

Read reports from issues stretching back to 1863, search for your parish or see if any of the clergy you know get a mention.

FREE for Church Times subscribers.

Explore the archive

Welcome to the Church Times

 

To explore the Church Times website fully, please sign in or subscribe.

Non-subscribers can read four articles for free each month. (You will need to register.)