The Rev. Robert Certain made headlines in 2006 when he gave a sermon at Gerald Ford’s funeral, and caught our eye here in the pre-Lead days when the Cafe was just the Daily Episcopalian for saying that one of Ford’s wishes was that we would work toward reconciliation in the church. Certain is in the spotlight again, this time having accepted the invitation to give the invocation at the Republican National Convention.
Certain says in an interview with the Palm Springs Desert Sun that he was invited because of a number of things he has in common with John McCain. Both were pilots that were shot down, and have met at POW reunion events, among other things:
I got an invitation from the convention team a couple weeks ago. John was raised as an Episcopalian; he made a statement he is still an Episcopalian though he attends a Baptist church. There is the POW tie; there was my service to the Ford family and my service on the (Department of Defense) Defense Health Board. So all of those things are out there.
He talks a bit more about how to put a reflective stamp on a “stage-managed” event: You can read it all here.