Twenty clergy members participated in the service, including representatives from the Islamic Society of North America, the Hindu Temple Society of North America, and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Prayers were based on the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer but had been retouched to draw on George Washington’s 1789 prayer service and Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 inaugural address.
In her sermon, Watkins drew on words from an array of thinkers, including Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., the Cherokee Indians, and even the president himself. She particularly emphasized the need to draw on American values, like loving one’s neighbor, in the face of crises.
“Our individual well-being depends on a world in which liberty and justice prevail,” Watkins said. “This is the biblical way. It is also the American way.”