January 19, 2021

Dear St. John’s Community,

In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt asked St. John’s to host a private prayer service on the morning of his inauguration. This began an 88-year-long tradition as every president since, with the exception of President Nixon, has had a pre-inaugural prayer service. The majority of these services have been held at St. John’s, but sometimes the incoming president has opted to have the service at a different church. For example, President Kennedy, the first Catholic president, held his service at Holy Trinity in Georgetown.

This year the tradition continues. It has just been announced that President-elect Biden, who will be only the second Catholic president, will have his service tomorrow morning at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in downtown Washington, which is the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.

The traditional National Prayer Service held after the inauguration at the National Cathedral will take place on Thursday, January 21 at 10:00 a.m. I am honored to represent St. John’s in this service with a prayer that I will give. The service will be livestreamed at https://bideninaugural.org/watch and https://cathedral.org.

I also invite you to consider joining us in prayer offerings tonight, January 19, at 8:00 p.m. for a special service of Compline and on Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. for Centering Prayer when we will pray together for our nation on Inauguration Day. Click here for the Zoom links to these prayer services.

President Roosevelt was correct in calling on God with humility, and asking God to endow us with grace, courage and wisdom as we work together across differences to help our nation live up to its potential.

God’s peace,

The Rev. Robert W. Fisher

Rector