On the Sunday before the presidential inauguration, thousands of people celebrated the upcoming presidency of Barack Obama at the “We Are One” concert, featuring performances and speeches from a wide range of celebrities. The festivities, held in front of the Lincoln Memorial, were launched with a powerful opening prayer by Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop.
Bishop Robinson’s invocation unfortunately was not aired during HBO’s live broadcast of the event.
You can watch the entire “We Are One” concert, with the invocation included at the beginning, at HBO’s website. Below is a video of the invocation by itself and the text of the invocation:
Good afternoon. Before this celebration begins, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.