WASHINGTON-The Rev. Sharon E. Watkins, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), was as surprised as anyone to be chosen as the preacher for the National Prayer Service on Wednesday (Jan. 21) at the National Cathedral.

The cathedral prayer services are traditionally held every four years after each presidential inauguration, but Watkins was the first woman asked to preach.

Her selection got her into a range of activities, from the Congressional Black Caucus’ Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration to a coveted seat inside St. John’s Episcopal Church for the inauguration-morning prayer service.

Watkins talked shortly after her sermon. Some comments were edited for length and clarity.

Q: What was your first thought when you learned you would preach at the National Prayer Service as part of the inauguration?

A: Well, I was speechless. I don’t think I had a thought. I think I stopped breathing for a minute.

Q: Did you feel that you had extra pressure because you were the first woman to do this?

A: A bit, but I think the biggest pressure was the pressure of who was in the audience. I wanted to say the right words. I wanted to convey a good spirit. And I really didn’t want to embarrass my church. It was more on just being kind of plucked up out of nowhere to do this rather amazing (task).

Q: `Plucked out of nowhere’-you mean because you’re from a smaller, lesser-known denomination?

A: Yes, and just as a person. I’m not a big actor on the national stage. But I do think that was sort of the point, just to represent the people.

Q: When you speak of the pressure of the audience, you mean the audience including the president?

A: Yeah, and the Congress. I saw (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi. I picked her right out.

Q: Is there a particular part of your message that you hope the president will take to heart or consider as a matter of public policy?

A: I wasn’t trying to speak to a particular public policy. I was really trying to speak to the ground from which any public policy might be drawn and that would be … love of God, but speaking to all of us as Americans, love of neighbor.

If there was a specific word to the president, I hope that when things get tough and he’s really drawn in so many different directions that he’ll remember to breathe and to center and to get back to the ethical center which he has already articulated so well.

Q: Did you have any thought about either the invocation by Rick Warren or the benediction by Joseph Lowery, or both?

A: I just appreciated how each one created his own voice. I think that was so much the point-there would be many voices heard. And to go with the metaphor that I picked up in my sermon, that it would be harmonies, different notes hopefully, ultimately, in some kind of way a harmony of hope and faith.

Q: You’re involved with the World Council of Churches, which sent a letter to the president about its hopes for his administration. What would you say is your greatest concern?

A: For many, many people of faith the real concern is that going forward, particularly in such hard financial times, that we will remember those who are most in need.

Q: You were greeted and congratulated by a lot of people after your sermon. How did that feel?

A: The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has as our particular gift the goal to represent unity of the human family, starting with Christian unity. Christian unity is our polestar. So to feel that the message struck a note, was a blessing to people of many faiths, for that I’m grateful. I think God intends for us all to find our way together back to God, and when we can find some common ground to stand on, even for a moment, then that is good.

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