Tulsa World: Obama chooses ex-state minister

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Obama chooses ex-state minister
The Rev. Sharon Watkins is the first woman to deliver the inaugural prayer service sermon.

HONORED
Sharon Watkins: She'll deliver the sermon at the Jan. 21 National Prayer Service.

By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer
Published: 1/13/2009 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 1/13/2009 3:03 AM

President-elect Barack Obama has picked a former Bartlesville pastor to preach the sermon at the National Prayer Service the day after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

The Rev. Sharon Watkins will be the first woman to deliver the message at the inaugural event.

Watkins has strong Tulsa ties. She earned her doctorate from Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, and has taught there.

William Tabbernee, president of the seminary, said he was excited and proud that a graduate and teacher from the seminary will deliver the inaugural sermon Jan. 21 at the National Cathedral.

He called Watkins a person with a "very balanced and sensitive approach to religion, and someone who is open to people of different faiths."

Watkins left her pastorate at Disciples Christian Church in Bartlesville in 2005 to become president and general minister of the national Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a 700,000-member denomination with a liberal-leaning tradition.

She is the first woman to head the mainline Protestant denomination.

Watkins told the Tulsa World on Monday she was surprised and honored by the invitation. She said it seemed to stem from her participation last summer in a meeting of religious leaders with then-candidate Obama on a wide range of concerns.

She was asked to offer the closing prayer at that meeting. One participant said her prayer concluded the meeting in a way that brought everyone together.

Watkins said she is giving a lot of thought to what she will say to the congregation that will include the new president, vice president and many other national leaders.

"The Disciples are a people who care about the unity of the human family," she said.

"I think at this time in our nation, when we are challenged on so many fronts, it's really important for us to remember that there is something bigger than any one of us, or even all of us together.

"These kinds of themes are certainly part of my tradition as a Christian minister and as a Disciples minister, but I also think as Americans we have a sense of something bigger than ourselves, and of joining hands in tough times and creating something new and better."

Watkins is on the National Council of Churches Governing Board and has been a missionary to the Congo.

She is married to the Rev. Rick Lowery, a Phillips Theological Seminary professor now on loan to Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Ky., where he is serving as interim dean and vice president of academic affairs.

Will they return to Oklahoma when her term as president of the national Disciples ends in 2011? "It's open right now. That certainly would be our hope," she said.

National Prayer Service

Jan. 21
Washington National Cathedral
Washington, D.C.

Bill Sherman 581-8398
bill.sherman@tulsaworld.com By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer

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	Report Comment Sanity, Broken Arrow (1/13/2009 7:12:52 AM) Rev. Watkins is words are commendable, except a clarification is needed. She said, “… I also think that as Americans we have a sense of something bigger than ourselves, and of joining hands in tough times and creating something new and better.” Wonderful, unless she meant that joining hands means JOINING RELIGIONS, creating something new and better. That premise is specifically condemned in the Ten Commandments, and repeated throughout the Bible. If Jesus is “a” way instead of “the” way as He claimed, then He is no way at all. True Christianity is a FREE choice, and it lovingly reaches out to all people, while respecting their FREE choice. We do so need to join hands in these tough times and create something better.
	Report Comment Getting Better, (1/13/2009 9:31:08 AM) B'ville blame the media and journalist. Obama has bigger things on his plate, as he stated, than a playoff system.
	Report Comment zzx375, BA (1/13/2009 12:34:07 PM) BYD offers the same tired dismissal as last year.

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