Joseph Lowery's Inaugural Benediction

Eighty-seven year old United Methodist clergy person and Civil Rights activist Joseph Lowery provided the benediction at President Obama's inauguration on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. Updating scripture, providing advice, and infusing the event with humor, Lowery struck a homerun (IMHO), vastly outpacing Rick Warren's long, rambling, and slightly offputting invocation.

Let me say that Rick Warren surprised and impressed me with his invocation. It was relevant and - for the most part - appropriate. Where he ran aground was in his inability to refrain from "speechifying" and in the use of the Lord's Prayer. While Rev. Warren and President Obama are both Christian and, thus, the prayer may in many ways be pertinent, the invocation serves as a call for the whole nation and not just for Pres. Obama (or all Christians gathered). He erred on the side of exclusion using a prayer exclusive to our community, even though some can and will argue its use as both appropriate and meaningful.

I found Rev. Joseph Lowery's benediction more meaningful. Was it because I watched in an interfaith setting? Because I'm United Methodist? Because I'm just simply not a big Rick Warren fan? I don't know. In the end, even though some might accuse me of doing so, I don't need to take anything away from Rick Warren in order to praise Joseph Lowery. While others may have found Lowery's benediction "interesting," I thought it was absolutely delightful. He spoke out of his faith, but in a way that appeared to be more inclusive and invitational - but, that is just my opinion.

Here is video of Joseph Lowery's benediction:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

VIDEO: Bishop Gene Robinson's Prayer

If you watched the HBO special of the inaugural events at the Lincoln Memorial, you will know that Bishop Gene Robinson's prayer was omitted from the broadcast. For a full story on this, head over to the Huffington Post, which also has the missing video.

National Prayer Service with President Obama Webcast

On Sunday HBO broadcast the events at the Lincoln Memorial - and they did so for free. CNN has been using Facebook to create a virtual viewing party of the inaugurgation on Tuesday. And, unknown to most people, the Washington National Cathedral is webcasting the National Prayer Service on Wednesday.

Webcasting will begin at 9:30 AM with the service scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM. The newly sworn in president will be joined by religious leaders of many faiths for this by invitation only worship service. The National Prayer Service has been a part of the inaugural events since the election of George Washington as our first president.

A list of religious leaders participating in the event has been released by the Presidential Inaugural Committee. They are:

-Reverend Samuel T. Lloyd III, Dean of the Washington National Cathedral (Welcome)
-Reverend John Bryon Chane, Episcopal Bishop of Washington (Invocation)
-Reverend Otis Moss Jr., Senior Pastor Emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio (Opening Prayer)
-Reverend Andy Stanley, Senior Pastor, North Point Community Church, Alpharetta, Georgia (Prayer for Civil Leaders)
-Dr. Cynthia Hale, Senior Pastor, Ray of Hope Christian Church, Atlanta, Georgia(Scripture Reading)
-Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, New York City (Scripture Reading)
-The Most Reverend Francisco Gonzalez, S.F., Auxiliary Bishop of Washington (Scripture Reading)
-Rabbi David Saperstein, Executive Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Washington, D.C. (Psalm)

Responsive prayers given by six leaders will symbolize America’s traditions of religious tolerance and freedom:

—Dr. Ingrid Mattson, President, Islamic Society of North America, Hartford, CT
—Rev. Suzan Johnson-Cook, Senior Pastor, Bronx Christian Fellowship, New York City
—Rabbi Jerome Epstein, Director, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, New York City
—Rev. Carol Wade of the Washington National Cathedral
—Dr. Uma Mysorekar, President, Hindu Temple Society of North America, New York City
—Rev. Jim Wallis, President, Sojourners, Washington, D.C.
—Rabbi Haskal Lookstein, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurunm, New York City
—Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, Senior Pastor, Windsor Village United Methodist Church, Houston, TX

-Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President, Disciples of Christ (Christian Church) (Sermon)

-Donald W. Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C. (Prayer for the Nation)
-Bishop Katherine Jefferts-Schori, Presiding Bishop, Episcopal Church USA (Closing Prayer)
Reverend Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary of the Reformed Church in America (Benediction)

This is an opportunity for us to come together not only in celebration (as on Sunday) or in the transfer of power (as on Tuesday), but in a spirit of unity. In this interfaith worship we are called to remember the commonality of our faiths, each of which teaches us about a power that transcends the frailty of humankind. I will be there on Wednesday (virtually, of course) and I hope that you and I will be joined in an attitude of prayer, hopeful for our nation's future, hopeful about our planet's future.

Bishop Gene Robinson's Inaugural Prayer

Today The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire opened the inaugural events at the Lincoln Memorial with these words and this prayer:

"A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama

Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with 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 the 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 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, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

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, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for 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 the 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 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.

AMEN."

For more about Bishop Robinson, head over to Diocese of New Hampshire website.