Was Rick Warren's Invocation Less Inclusive Than He Let On?

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

Like so much in the Rev. Rick Warren's career, the way he closed his invocation yesterday attempted to merge two divergent traditions for Christian clergy giving Inauguration Day prayers: 1) Explicitly praying in Jesus's name on behalf of all those present. 2) Acknowledging that the prayer is not offered in Jesus's name for all present—just for the clergyman who's delivering it.

For a long time after the inaugurations started featuring prayers in 1937, praying in Jesus's name wasn't too big a deal because the inaugural dais included representatives from other religious traditions, including rabbis. Even if the lineup fell short of reflecting America's full religious diversity, at least no one could say it was an explicitly Christian event.

That model more or less held until 1989, when Beliefnet's Steven Waldman says the Rev. Billy Graham—giving both the invocation and benediction—introduced an "America's pastor" paradigm at inaugurations that excluded clergy from other faith traditions:

[Graham] pulled it off by using broadly inclusive language. In 1989 he referred just to "God" and in 1993 he declared: "I pray this in the name of the one that's called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace." Note, too, that he used the word "I" rather than "we," which would have assumed all in the audience were Christian.

Graham's invocation of Jesus was personal, not intended on behalf of all those present for the inauguration. It wasn't truly ecumenical, but it wasn't totally exclusive, either.

In 2001, at George W. Bush's first inauguration, Billy Graham's son, the Rev. Franklin Graham, opted for pointedly Jesus-only language in closing his invocation:

Now, O Lord, we dedicate this presidential inaugural ceremony to you. May this be the beginning of a new dawn for America as we humble ourselves before you and acknowledge you alone as our Lord, our Savior and our Redeemer. We pray this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Franklin Graham declined to acknowledge the presence of non-Christians, presuming all present would be OK with praying in "the name of the Father, and of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit."

The benediction speaker that year, the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, also chose to ignore non-Christians. He closed his prayer: "We respectfully submit this humble prayer in the name that's above all other names, Jesus the Christ."

Four years later, as if responding to the exclusively Christian prayers of 2001, the inaugural clergy took pains to give prayers on the behalf of Christians and non-Christians alike. The invocation speaker, the Rev. Luis León, made no mention of Jesus whatsoever. The benediction speaker, again Caldwell, closed on an inclusive note: "Respecting persons of all faiths, I humbly submit this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ."

Held up against this history, Rick Warren's invocation was simultaneously far more Christian and far more inclusive.

On the one hand, Warren recited the full Lord's Prayer, the most recognizable Christian prayer. It apparently marked the first time a speaker at a presidential inauguration invocation said that prayer, which is more commonly heard in church services than at public events.

On the other hand, numerous religions scholars I spoke with yesterday noted that Warren framed the prayer in personal terms that made it clear he wasn't praying to Jesus on behalf of all present: "I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesús [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus who taught us to pray..."

Warren then broke into the Lord's Prayer, which opens, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."

"There's sometimes this presumption that Jesus is everybody's savior, whereas Warren made it quite personal," John Green, senior fellow in religion and American politics at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, told me. "At Bush's inauguration, Franklin Graham used the traditional formulation of 'in Jesus's name we pray,' whereas Warren finessed that. He said it a nonstandard way that recognized that not everyone in the audience would agree."

But it strikes me that Warren tried to have it both ways, to be inclusive of non-Christians while in fact invoking Jesus for Christians and non-Christians alike. While he personalized his plea to Jesus to avoid praying to him for non-Christians—"I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life"—he also universalized the prayer by saying it was offered in the name of "Jesus who taught us to pray" before reciting the Lord's Prayer.

Who's us? It's everyone present at the inauguration or watching it at home, right? So didn't Warren offer the explicitly Christian Lord's Prayer on behalf of all present, even if he said it was just him offering it to the one who changed his life?

• Read more by Dan Gilgoff.
• Read more about religion.