Gay Bishop Kicks off Celebrity-filled Event

WASHINGTON – Gene Robinson, the divisive figure who was the first openly Episcopal gay bishop, led the invocation at today’s inaugural kickoff.

Robinson prayed for God to “bless this nation with anger ? anger at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.” He also prayed that God would bless us with “the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.”

Overall, his prayer was not especially surprising, since Robinson had told the Concord Monitor that it wouldn’t be “especially Christian” and wouldn’t use a Bible. Below is the video I took on my camera of Robinson’s prayer.

The event was mostly focused on the celebrities, including Bono, Tiger Woods, Beyonce, and Bruce Springsteen. Several journalists clearly need a brush-up on People, In Style, and US magazines because people had to call out each celebrity for those of us who were clueless. My favorite moment was when it looked like Samuel L. Jackson peeked around the corner to take a picture on his phone. Even Malia Obama pulled out a small digital camera.

Click below for the full text of the prayer and more pictures.

During the event, I stood close to the front and heard the prayer just fine, but my friend who stood closer to the Washington Monument said the sound of the prayer didn’t reach the crowd until halfway finished. In any case, here’s the full text of the prayer:

“O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will bless us with tears ? tears for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women in many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless this nation with anger ? anger at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort at the easy, simplistic answers we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth about ourselves and our world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be fixed anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility, open to understanding that our own needs as a nation must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance, replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences.

Bless us with compassion and generosity, remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable.

And God, we give you thanks for your child, Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, inspire him with President Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for all people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our ship of state needs a steady, calm captain.

Give him stirring words; We will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him 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.

Give him strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking far too much of this one. 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. Amen.”

This week on The Bulletin, hosts Mike Cosper, Nicole Martin, and editor in chief Russell Moore investigate the American crisis of authority and the alluring temptation of power. The three engage in lively conversation about International House of Prayer’s newest abuse allegations, and filmmaker Robert Abbott stops by to reflect on IU basketball coach Bobby Knight’s brash style and violent behavior. Finally, the trio wraps up the episode with a discussion of the GOP’s options now that Mike Pence has left the presidential race.

Joining us this week:
Robert Abbott is a six-time Emmy Award-winning producer and director with 30+ years of experience in the sports and entertainment industry. He just completed a short film, Destiny’s Democracy, on former president Lyndon Johnson for the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. Abbott’s film Port of Destiny: Peace, on Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, can be found on Amazon Prime. Abbott has also produced and directed two films in ESPN’s critically acclaimed 30 for 30 series, The Last Days of Knight and Catholics vs Convicts. Abbott is a graduate of Florida State University and lives in Avon, Connecticut, with his wife Jennifer and their three sons.

Resources Referenced:
The Last Days of Knight – ESPN
Season on the Brink
Legendary college basketball coach Bob Knight dies at 83 – The Athletic

Read More from Christianity Today about Today’s Topics:
International House of Prayer Founder Mike Bickle Accused of Sexual Abuse
Seers in the Heartland
On a Wing and a Prayer: Mike Pence Hitches Presidential Hopes on Fellow Evangelicals
Most Evangelical Trump Voters Didn’t Turn on Mike Pence
The Bobby Knight Problem
Trashy Talk

“The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producer: Erik Petrik
Producers: Clarissa Moll and Matt Stevens
Associate Producer: McKenzie Hill
Editing and Mix: TJ Hester
Music: Dan Phelps
Show Design: Bryan Todd
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
Social Media: Kate Lucky

This is the view from the Lincoln Memorial of an estimated 750,000 people on the mall.

This week on Be Afraid, we consider both our fear of and fascination with the world of the demonic, asking what it means to be delivered from the supernatural evil that afflicts us all in one way or another. As always, please keep in mind that the theological views and opinions expressed in this program are those of our guests and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities producing this podcast.

Joining us this week:
Fr. Carlos Martins is a priest with the Companions of the Cross, and is the director of Treasures of the Church. Season 2 of The Exorcist Files, a podcast featuring his case files, releases in 2024.

Sr. Rose Pacatte is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul, a religious order focused on communications media. She is the founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles. In addition, she is an award-winning film journalist and author or coauthor of 15 titles on film, film and Scripture, and media literacy education.

Daniel Silliman is Christianity Today’s news editor and author of the book Reading Evangelicals.

Resources Referenced:
“This is Not Morgan Freeman” AI Deep Fake video
NPR article on the young nursing student who falsely reported her abduction

More from Kutter Callaway on theology and culture: https://www.kuttercallaway.com/
More from Uncommon Voices Collective: https://www.uncommonvoices.faith/
More from Qoheleth: https://qohelethnoise.bandcamp.com

“Be Afraid” is a production of Christianity Today, Fuller Seminary, and Uncommon Voices Collective
Executive Producer: Erik Petrik
Producer, Writer, and Editor: Kutter Callaway
Producer, Editor, Graphic Design: Stephen Scheidler
Producer: TJ Hester
Music: Jeremy Hunt and Qoheleth

Denzel Washington was one of the celebrities who spoke at the event.

Illustration by Stephen Scheidler

Before Bono sang “In the Name of Love,” he said the song was also an “Irish dream, European dream, African dream, Israeli dream,” and, after a pause, “also a Palestinian dream.”