HBO says it will telecast “an updated version” of Sunday’s inaugural-related concert tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time, By “updated,” the premium cable network means it will include the invocation that had been delivered by the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the openly gay New Hampshire Episcopal bishop, at the ceremony’s start
Inspired by the Inauguration 2009 Sermons and Orations Project of the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center, the Boston Globe invited local clergy to e-mail the texts of inauguration-related sermons and prayers for their Articles of Faith religion blog
Elizabeth Alexander: Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.
UPDATE: with the Rev. Dr. Lowery’s full text. To see video of the invocation and benediction, click Read more at the bottom of this item.
ABC News reports that Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor who faced criticism for his anti-gay views in the weeks leading up to the inauguration, today
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori offers the following statement on the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States: As Episcopalians, we pray
As massive crowds swarmed the National Mall on Tuesday to witness Barack Obama’s inauguration as president, the man at the center of the maelstrom began
A day filled with the nearness of God, the joy of hope and expectation, and the most remarkable sense of community I’ve ever experienced on such a large scale. As e. e. cummings said, “how should any human merely being doubt unimaginable You?” Indeed. ~+Gene
A PIC source reports that some clips from the Lincoln Memorial event, including Bishop [Gene] Robinson’s prayer, will be played on the Mall prior to the swearing in ceremony. In addition, there are reports that HBO will likely include the prayer in its re-broadcast of the event.
By the third century C.E., Christianity had become a widespread religious movement that crossed ethnic, class, and gender lines throughout the Roman Empire. While population numbers for the ancient world are notoriously elusive, conservative estimates suggest that by the year 300, Christians may have numbered in the several millions (out of a population of about 60 million)