Minister Chosen for Inaugural Prayer Service

January 11, 2009

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/11/AR2009011101465.html

The Rev. Sharon Watkins, pastor of a Protestant denomination with about 700,000 members in the United States and Canada, will deliver the sermon at the National Prayer Service that caps the inauguration activities of Barack Obama.

Watkins will be the first woman to give the sermon at the traditional event, to be held Jan. 21 at the National Cathedral in Washington.

In a statement from the Presidential Inaugural Committee, Watkins called her selection an honor. "I hope that my message will call us to believe in something bigger than ourselves and remind us to reach out to all of our neighbors to build communities of possibility," she said.