Obama church watch
Curiousity about the eventual church home of the new president still abounds, judging by a quote from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs which was recently featured as the Religion News Service’s Quote of the Day.
“Obviously, I think given the enormous problems that the country faces, it’s quite safe to assume that prayer, even not in the confines of a church, is something that he practices regularly,” Gibbs reportedly told reporters in explaining that the Obamas have yet to find a permanent church home in Washington.
I guess the minute the First Family makes their pew arrangements permanently, it will make headlines.
(AP PHOTO: President Barack Obama speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5 in Washington, D.C.)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
New faith-based council head speaks
News has circulated that President Barack Obama has chosen Joshua DuBois to lead the President’s Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
According to a story by The Associated Press, DuBois is a political strategist who was religious affairs director in the Obama campaign.
Those who wish to learn more about DuBois, can check out the Religion & Ethics Newsweekly “One Nation” Religion and politics blog which features a report by managing editor Kim Lawton about DuBois selection, reaction to his selection and challenges his council will face.
To see the report, click here: Joshua Dubois.
Jewish rabbi gets heat for National Prayer Service role
Rabbi Haskel Lookstein participated in the National Prayer Service, an interfaith prayer service held Jan. 21 at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
Now a rabbinical council says he broke Jewish law by being a part of the service, which is was a traditional service held after the presidential inauguration.
The Religion News Service reports that the Rabbinical Council of America is saying that Lookstein, an Orthodox rabbi based in New York, broke Jewish law by participating in a prayer service held in the sanctuary of a church.
The RNS reports that Rabbi Basil Herring, the council’s executive vice president, said he does not expect Lookstein to be punished for his role in the service.
“We simply wanted to make the point that he was not going there on behalf of the rabbinical council, and that whatever he did, he did in his own capacity,” Herring told the RNS.
Lookstein was one of three rabbis who participated in the service, which helped conclude the presidential inauguration activities for Barack Obama.
Meanwhile, a RNS story reported that Lookstein told the Jewish news service JTA that “after consultation with people who are absolutely committed to halacha (Jewish law), I … decided to do it because I felt it was a civic duty to honor the new president of the United States.”
“Had I pulled out, it would have been something of an insult from the Orthodox community,” Lookstein said.
Herring told the RNS that the criticism of Lookstein was not politically motivated, and noted that the RCA praised Obama’s “qualities of mind and leadership” and called his election a “cause for joy.”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Obama inauguration: Non-believers part of U.S. “patchwork heritage”
American Atheists Inc. is pleased with President Barack Obama’s reference to “non-believers” in his inauguration speech on Tuesday.
“For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers,” Obama said in his speech.
In a news release, Ed Buckner, president of American Atheists Inc., said atheists and others who could be labeled as “non-believers” should routinely be acknowledged by elected leaders as “the good, patriotic, taxpaying and contributing citizens we have always been.”
However, before Obama’s speech that acknowledgement has rarely been offered, the atheists organization said.
Buckner said Obama’s forthright acknowledgement is appreciated.
“President Barack Obama finally did what many before him should have done, rightly citing the great diversity of Americans as part of the nation’s great strength — and including ‘non-believers’ in that mix,” Buckner said in his statement.
Buckner also alluded to Obama’s mother, who was an atheist.
“His mother would have been proud, and so are we. Congratulations and best wishes on your presidency, Mr. Obama. And thanks for including us all, right from the start.”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Obama inauguration: Diverse voices at the table
There still is, however, the National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral, where another of President Obama’s choices, the Rev. Sharon Watkins, has made headlines in recent days.
That service is set for Wednesday, with former Oklahoman Sharon Watkins, general minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma and Canada, to deliver the sermon. She became the topic of conversation because she is the first woman to deliver the sermon at the National Prayer Service.
Here are some more details, gleaned from The Associated Press. They suggest that President Obama is keeping his promise of bring diverse voices to the table, so to speak.
In addition to Watkins, there will be Ingrid Mattson (pictured at left), the first woman president of the Islamic Society of North America, who will offer a prayer. The society is the nation’s largest Muslim group.
Also according to The Associated Press, three rabbis, representing the three major 
branches of American Judaism, will say prayers at the service. They are reform rabbi David Saperstein (pictured at right), conservative rabbi Jerome Epstein and orthodox rabbi Haskel Lookstein.
And traditionally the Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington — in this case the Most Rev. Donald Wuerl – leads a prayer, the AP said.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Obama inauguration: Virtual inaugural prayer meeting
The Oklahomans behind the Prayer Force One ministry, the Rev. Ed Moore and his wife, are inviting people to a virtual prayer inaugural prayer meeting.
To participate in the meeting, which is to occur all day today, click here: Virtual Inaugural Prayer Meeting.
After logging in you will be transported to one of the rooms in the White House. Rev. Moore asks that participants use this time for prayer for America.
Prayer Force One, a bus ministry but also an Internet ministry, also has a prayer guide for folks who can’t participate in the united virtual prayer effort, but who want to be involved in some way.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Obama inauguration: Pope sends telegram
A congratulatory telegram was sent to President Barack Obama from Pope Benedict.
The Religion News Service reports that the pople sent the telegram urging Obama to “promote understanding, cooperation and peace among the nations.”
The pope said he hoped that Obama’s leadership would foster the “building of a truly just and free society, marked by respect for the dignity, equality and rights of each of its members, especially the poor, the outcast and those who have no voice.”
“I pray that you will be confirmed in your resolve to promote understanding, cooperation and peace among the nations, so that all may share in the banquet of life which God wills to set for the whole human family,” Benedict wrote.
The RNS reports that according to Vatican protocol, the pope sends greetings to all new heads of state when they take office.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Obama inauguration: Speech contained godly references
Barack Obama’s first speech as the nation’s new president contained several references to God and Holy Scripture.
Stephen Mansfield, author of the book “The Faith of Barack Obama,” predicted as much.
Here are some examples from Obama’s inauguration speech:
1. “We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
There are several allusions to Scripture in this passage of Obama’s text. One that stands out is a specific reference to 1 Corinthians 13:11: When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Also: Obama’s text indicates a belief that there is a “God-given promise” of equality and freedom for everyone.
2. “For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every End of this Earth; …”
Obama acknowledges that America is a country that includes both people of faith and those who do not ascribe to faith beliefs.
3. “This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.”
A reference to a sense of God-given purpose for America.
4. “America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardships, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that wehen we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
“Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.”
Obama concluded with clear references to God’s grace and blessings.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Obama inauguration: Warren invokes Jesus’ name
In the midst of all the hoopla about megachurch pastor Rick Warrren doing the invocation at today’s presidential inauguration was this question: Will he invoke the name of Jesus?
Well for the curious, Rev. Rick did just that.
Some people may remember that evangelist Franklin Graham ignited a firestorm when he invoked the name of Jesus in his invocation at the 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush.
Franklin G., son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, was filling in for his father who was ill at the time.
Franklin Graham refused to retract his words after criticism became public. He later wrote a book about the reasons why Jesus’ name incites and draws ire.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
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Obama inauguration: What do Wright and Robinson have to do with it?
Yesterday, the Rev. Kathy McCallie, pastor of Church of the Open Arms, joined me in the OPUBCO video studio to discuss prayer at the inauguration with another local pastor, the Rev. Paul Blair, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond.
I promised McCallie that I would try to find some information about the prayer offered by V. Gene Robinson (pictured at right), the Episcopal Church USA’s first openly gay bishop, who was asked to offer a prayer at the inauguration kick-off concert on Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial.
The Religion News Service sent out excerpts of his prayer, which I share here:
Robinson prayed that Americans may be “blessed” with anger at discrimination and with “freedom from mere tolerance.” Robinson also prayed that God would help Obama “to remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.”
“Please, God, keep him safe,” Robinson prayed for Obama. “We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking far too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe.
“Hold him in the palm of your hand — that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.“’
Meanwhile, who doesn’t remember the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former preacher at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ? Obama ended up denouncing some of Wright’s imflammatory comments and ultimately severed ties with Wright during his candidacy for president.
Well Wright was in Washington D.C. where he preached at a chapel service at the historically black college Howard University.
According to the Religion News Service, Wright told those gathered at the service that he sees Obama’s inauguration as a sign of God’s providence and the fruit of “the faith of Rosa Parks and the blood of Martin Luther King Jr.”
“The Lord stepped into a scrawny black kid’s ability,” Wright, who is now pastor emeritus of Trinity, said in his sermon. “The Lord stepped into his story and gave him a new attitude. The scrawny kid with the big ears said. `Yes we can. I got a new attitude.“’
Both Robinson and Wright have been controversial for various reasons and yet they have had their say in D.C.
Stay tuned for commentary on Rick Warren and his invocation prayer …
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
