WASHINGTON, DC -- The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced today that Rev. Adam Hamilton of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection has been selected to deliver the sermon at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday, January 22. The National Prayer Service will be held at Washington National Cathedral at the conclusion of Inaugural activities and will celebrate America’s diversity of faith.
“The National Prayer Service is an important tradition in the
United States,” said Rev. Hamilton. “I am honored and humbled to
have
been asked to deliver the message for this service as President Obama
and Vice President Biden begin their second term.”
A recognized community and spiritual leader, Adam Hamilton is the
founding pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in
Leawood, Kansas, which he launched with his wife and two children in
1990. The congregation has since grown to over 18,000 under his
leadership and is the largest United Methodist Church in the United
States. Hamilton holds a Master of Divinity Degree from Southern
Methodist University, where he was awarded the B’nai B’rith Award in
Social Ethics. Hamilton was named one of “Ten people to watch in
America’s spiritual landscape” by Religion and Ethics Newsweekly and
United Methodist Person of the Year for 2012 by the United Methodist
Reporter for his leadership within the United Methodist Church. He has
written and published 15 books and been the recipient of numerous
community service awards.
“We are so blessed to be joined by leaders of many faiths for this
prayer service to lift up our nation and our president,” said the Very
Rev. Gary Hall, dean of Washington National Cathedral. “To have
represented the diverse faith perspectives of America within the
Cathedral’s nave is a sign of the distinct role that people of faith
have to play in our national discourse and policy decisions.”
“The tradition of the National Prayer Service honors the values and
diversity that make America strong, and we are privileged to have
Reverend Hamilton’s voice joining this celebration of the role of
people of faith during the 57th Inauguration,” said Steve
Kerrigan, CEO of the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
A tradition dating back to President George Washington, the National
Prayer Service will include prayers, readings, blessings and hymns
delivered by religious leaders from across the United States. The
Cathedral has been the site of inaugural prayer services since Franklin
Delano Roosevelt’s first inauguration in 1933. The Very Rev. Gary Hall,
dean of Washington National Cathedral, and the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar
Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, will participate
along with the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev.
Katharine Jefferts Schori.
Attendance for the National Prayer Service is by invitation only and
tickets are required. The service will also be webcast live at www.nationalcathedral.org.
For
the latest updates on the 2013 Presidential Inauguration please
visit www.2013pic.org.