This is from Episcopal Life Online:
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will offer the closing prayer at a National Prayer Service set for January 21 at Washington National Cathedral. President Barack Obama and his family are scheduled to attend the invitation-only service.
The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, Dean of the Washington National Cathedral, will welcome attendees to the event, followed by an invocation from Diocese of Washington Bishop John Chane.
The 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee announced on January 16 the spiritual leaders who will participate in the service, which is a tradition dating back to the inauguration of George Washington and is considered the conclusion of the official inaugural events.
The prayer service, set to begin at 10 a.m. EST, will be broadcast live on the cathedral’s website. Online participants can light “virtual” candles and leave personal messages of hope, renewal, and reconciliation at the website. Online visitors can also access an historic presidential photo gallery, view video footage of the national prayer service, and explore the role of this “church for national purposes” throughout the years, according to a news release from the cathedral.
The service will include scripture readings, prayers (including those for civic leaders and the nation), hymns and blessings delivered by faith leaders from across the United States. The Rev. Sharon E. Watkins, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will deliver the sermon, the first time a woman has preached at the service.
I am not only one happy Episcopalian, but I am one happy feminist theologian. Two women who are ordained and the leaders of their national religion/denominations are part of the National Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral on Inauguration Day. I will be watching the live broadcast that morning. I am so happy!
It is impossible for me to consider Katharine Jefferts-Schori without also becoming terribly sad at the damage done when Christians sue others Christians. I wish the Episcopal Church of the USA would cease their lawsuits against the breakaway parishes, as the Archbishop of Canterbury actually also wishes. Rev. Jefferts-Schori could end that grief with the stroke of a pen.
Not great news as it furthers the agenda that marriage is disposable. The elevation of Gene Robinson, blessed and sanctioned by Katharine Jefferts-Schori and the House of Bishops, affirms the low estate of marriage within Episcopal theology. Sad state for a Christian church. The Apostle Paul expressed decidedly different opinions.
Great news, especially on top of Gene Robinson and his partner being invited to begin the week with prayer.