New members round out prez’s faith/neighborhood council
Former Oklahoma pastor the Rev. Sharon Watkins (pictured below right) is one of the new appointees to Pres. Barack Obama’s President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
The names of the new appointees were released today by White House Media Affairs. The group is comprised of religious and secular leaders from different backgrounds. Each member of the council is appointed to a one-year term.
Some appointments to the council had already been made. However, Watkins’ name was released today, along with several other people. The Rev. Frank Page, who many Oklahoma Southern Baptists will be familiar with, has already been appointed to the council. Page is a former Southern Baptist Convention president.
Here are the council members names. Asterisks denote those individuals whose appointments were made public today:
*Dr. Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President, Disciples of Christ (Christian Church), Indianapolis, Ind.
Diane Baillargeon, President & CEO, Seedco, New York , NY.
*Anju Bhargava, Founder, Asian Indian Women of America, New Jersey.
*Bishop Charles Blake, Presiding Bishop, Church of God in Christ, Los Angeles, Calif.
Noel Castellanos, CEO, Christian Community Development Association, Chicago, Ill.
*The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, President-Elect, National Council of Churches USA, Minneapolis, Minn.
Dr. Arturo Chavez, President & CEO, Mexican American Catholic College, San Antonio, Texas.
Fred Davie, Senior Adviser, Public/Private Ventures, New York , NY.
*Nathan Diament, Director of Public Policy, Orthodox Jewish Union, Washington, D.C.
Pastor Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed, Longwood, Fla.
*Harry Knox, Director, Religion and Faith Program, Human Rights Campaign, Washington, D.C.
Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Knoxville, Tenn.
*Dalia Mogahed, Executive Director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, Washington, D.C..
Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio.
The Rev. Frank S. Page, (pictured at right) President emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention, Taylors, S. C.
Eboo S. Patel, Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Core, Chicago, Ill.
*Anthony Picarello, General Counsel , United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C.
*Nancy Ratzan, Board Chair, National Council of Jewish Women, Miami, Fla.
Melissa Rogers, Director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs, Winston-Salem , N.C.
Rabbi David N. Saperstein, Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Washington, D.C.
The Rev. William J. Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention, USA, Philadelphia , Pa.
Father Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA, Alexandria , Va.
Richard Stearns, President, World Vision, Bellevue , Wash.
Judith N. Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers / Big Sisters of America, Philadelphia , Pa.
Rev. Jim Wallis, President & Executive Director, Sojourners, Washington , D.C.
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
We knew her first
Many Oklahomans, particulary Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) members, are proud that former Bartlesville pastor Sharon Watkins is poised to become the first woman to preach at the National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral come Jan. 21.
The service will be attended by the new president, vice president and a host of other clergy, dignitaries and lay people.
I interviewed Watkins in July 2005, right after she was elected to lead the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. She was the first woman to lead that 700,000-member group.
Watkins, 54, was still pastor of Disciples Christian Church in Bartlesville when I talked to her.
I learned that she has diverse background.
She is an Indianapolis native (which is where the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) headquarters are located) and daughter of an ordained Disciples pastor. She graduated from college with a degree in French and a degree in economics.
After college she took a volunteer position as a Disciples adult literacy missionary to Zaire (now Congo).
She was ordained as a Disciples pastor in 1984.
Here’s what she had to say about being the first woman to lead her denomination:
“In a church process like this, you want it to be a process of discernment about who God is calling. At each step along the way, I had to reflect harder and pray harder to be sure within myself that I would be ready and willing to move forward.
“At this particular time, given my background, this is who God is calling. It’s a very exciting time for our church. The fact that I’m a woman is just part of the timing.”
(STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID MCDANIEL The Rev. Sharon Watkins, then pastor of Disciples Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), stands in the Bartlesville church’s sanctuary in July 2005.)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
