ELCA NEWS SERVICE
January 16, 2009
Lutherans Join in Presidential Inaugural Activities
09-019-SH
CHICAGO (ELCA) - When Barack Obama is sworn into the
nation's highest office Jan. 20, Carolyn Cosmos will be among an
estimated 18,000 volunteers enlisted by the Presidential
Inaugural Committee to help with the crush of spectators.
Cosmos joins a long list of members from the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) involved in inaugural
activities.
"One of the reasons I volunteer is that I want to be able to
make a contribution," said Cosmos, a member of First Trinity
Lutheran Church, Washington, D.C. She cited Obama's pledge to
help society's most vulnerable -- people in need of food, shelter
and health care.
"That's always been a part of my faith," she said.
First Trinity is near the U.S. Capitol, the site of the noon
swearing-in ceremony. In a show of hospitality, church members
plan to offer free coffee to the public near a security
checkpoint.
"Usually the weather is bitterly cold and this is a good
outreach," said Trinity's pastor, the Rev. Wendy A. Moen. "We do
this to show how we can love one another."
City officials predict as many as 2 million people may turn
out for inaugural events. Some out-of-towners are lodging in area
Lutheran churches.
Fifty high school students from Missouri plan to sleep on
mattresses in Moen's church. A group of Minnesota students is
staying four miles north of the White House at St. Paul's
Lutheran Church.
"They're sleeping on the floors," said the Rev. Meredith D.
Lovell, St. Paul's associate pastor. "We host groups throughout
the year and see this as part of our hospitality. A church
building isn't of much use if it sits empty throughout the week."
St. Paul's overnight homeless shelter is remaining open all
day for the inauguration because many other social services are
closing.
Valerie Minerovic, a 29-year-old member of St. Paul's, is
helping coordinate a five-day inaugural educational conference
for 15,000 students organized by the D.C.-based Congressional
Youth Leadership Council.
"It's nice to be part of this because of the youth focus of
Barack Obama," Minerovic said. During the swearing-in of the
44th U.S. president, she'll be at the National Mall watching
history as captured on big screens.
"How I deal with the unknowns that crop up during the day
can be the biggest expression of my faith," she said.
Deborah Lundahl is volunteering at a different kind of
shelter -- one of the federal disaster response sites where
people will be ushered in the event of a mass emergency.
Lundahl, 47, is a member of Redeemer Lutheran Church in
Damascus, Md.
"I really look at my role as one of extending the hand of
friendship to people who might be displaced very far from home,"
Lundahl said.
The Rev. Sherman G. Hicks, who faced housing discrimination
while living in D.C. in the 1960s, is flying from Chicago to
witness the shattering of racial barriers to the White House.
Obama is biracial, identifies as an African American and is
hailed as the nation's first black president.
"I always knew it could happen, but now I know," said Hicks,
who oversees the ELCA's multicultural ministries. On the
inaugural eve, he'll be at the unveiling of an Obama figure at
the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Baltimore.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the 4.7 million
member ELCA, plans to attend the inaugural ceremony as well as a
Jan. 21 prayer service for the new president, vice president and
their spouses at Washington National Cathedral.
The Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, ELCA executive for
administration, is attending two inaugural events as Hanson's
representative -- an interfaith prayer service to commemorate
Martin Luther King Jr., and the African American Church Inaugural
Ball.
Lutherans of various traditions also are making a point to
pray for the nation on the weekend before the inauguration.
They're gathering Jan. 17 at Faith Lutheran Church in Arlington,
Va.
"It's a time where the country is facing several crises,"
said the Rev. James B. Vigen, director of the gathering's
sponsor -- Luther Institute, Washington, D.C.
"We figured the president could use a lot of prayer,"
he said.
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The inaugural schedule is at
http://www.pic2009.org/pages/schedule on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
