President-elect Barack Obama will attend a private prayer service on the morning of his inauguration at the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church on Lafayette Square, according to the Presidential Inauguration Committee.
Kevin Griffis, spokesman for the inauguration committee, said yesterday that the prayer service will not be open to the public.
St. John’s, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, is known as the “Church of the Presidents.” Since James Madison, every president has worshiped there at some point during his tenure in the Oval Office. The church has kneelers embroidered in tribute to each president, and Pew 54 is traditionally assigned to the chief executives when they visit.
Note that Obama will evidently get a dose of a real preacher, not a TEC priest:
Bishop T.D. Jakes will give the sermon Tuesday at St. John’s Episcopal Church