CINCINNATI -- Viewers all over the world will tune in to the royal wedding Saturday to admire Meghan Markle's wedding gown, track the ongoing retreat of Prince William's hairline and scope out the sea of intriguing hats sure to be worn by aristocratic guests.
Parishioners at St. Simon of Cyrene in Lincoln Heights are excited for all of that, they said Monday, but they have a special interest in one piece that others might overlook: The sermon, which will be delivered by one-time St. Simon pastor Michael Curry.
"I've had the privilege of hearing all of his sermons here at this church, and we knew that he was going on to be something great," Rudena Williams, who listened to the reverend preach in the late '80s, said.
Pearl Jordan, another longtime parishioner, agreed. She, Williams and others described Curry as a dynamic, down-to-earth speaker with a gift for engaging audiences' attention.
"He just catches people and he just draws them to him," she said.
The contents of Curry's sermon were as much a mystery as the cut of Markle's dress on Monday afternoon, but Jordan said she knew one thing about her former pastor's role in the ceremony: "Whatever he tells them will be something that they need to take with them for the rest of their lives."
