If you look back far enough – 130,000 years, to be exact – people today share a common ancestor. For the Right Rev. Michael B. Curry, who delivered the sermon May 23 at Baccalaureate, that bond requires Elon graduates to leave what he called this “sacred place” and to always treat others as family.
“We are family. We may be dysfunctional, but we’re family,” Curry said. “We will only find light as a human race when we learn to live as family.”
A highly regarded preacher and public speaker, Curry is the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese, a community of churches in central North Carolina. He has been featured on “The Protestant Hour,” a popular ecumenical radio program, and he is a frequent presenter at conferences around the country. He is known for his inspirational sermons and speeches.
Before arriving in North Carolina, Curry served as rector of parish ministries in Ohio and Maryland. He has been active in crisis control ministry and ecumenical summer day camps for children, as well as several educational programs.
Born in Chicago, Curry received his bachelor’s degree from Hobart College and his master’s of divinity degree from Yale University Divinity School.
“We need you to leave this sacred place and go into this world and love each other,” he said. “We all, in a very real sense, come from the same source.”
The ceremony featured an invocation and benediction from the Rev. Kirk B. Oldham and the Right Rev. Robert J. O’Neill, respectively, both of whom are fathers to Elon seniors who graduate this spring.
Nolan Wildfire offered remembrances of Elon on behalf of the senior class.