An Inaugural Prayer Service and the Gospel

On January 21, 2025, the Episcopal Church’s Bishop of Washington delivered a homily at the Inaugural Prayer Service. The president, vice president, and many members of the United States government were in attendance. There is a long history of Anglican bishops and priests preaching sermons to kings who held their very lives in their hands, and in those times of real danger, the best refused to let fear of death dull the sharp sword of Scriptural truth. Following in the footsteps of St. John the Baptizer, who was jailed and executed for declaring Herod Antipas a sinner, the power of God has been revealed through men who knew their deaths would be a witness to the truth no earthly ruler has the power to destroy.

Preachers in these moments get into trouble in two ways: first, when they pretend to possess expertise in a field in which they have no earned knowledge. If a priest were to give a sermon in which he waxed philosophically about Supply-Side Economics vs. Keynesianism one might very well ask, “What qualifications does this pastor have in articulating these ideas?” And even if he does, is that what the Scriptural text presented in the service is seeking to illuminate? At the end of the day, if the preacher is attempting to get us to ask Art Laffer or Phil Gramm, Harvey Milk or Alfred Kinsey into our hearts, then he has massively failed in his task. The preacher, terrifyingly, stands in a pulpit and speaks for God, and so his only hope of being spared from the terrible punishment promised to false prophets is to anchor everything he says in God’s Word. He must tie himself to that mast as the storm rages around him, or he will inevitably fall overboard into the maelstrom.

Secondly, my biggest critique of the sermon is my critique of so many sermons one hears in both progressive and conservative churches. Where was the Gospel? I listened to the entire sermon, and its ending should have been the space in which it was revealed that “unity” (a word which kept being used over and over again) was only possible under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Either His sacrifice was necessary to cure us of the disease which makes unity impossible, or there is absolutely no reason to be in that grand cathedral, no reason to be a bishop for that matter.

It is Christ’s death and resurrection for the sins of the whole world which changes the very nature of power, as was read in the second Morning Prayer lesson appointed for January 22nd: “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:” (Matthew 20:25-27). The entire idea of “serving” in government comes from this revolutionary concept taught by Jesus and promulgated in Paul’s epistles. The only reason it matters what Jesus taught is because He is the One who walked out of the empty tomb and showed us death is a defeated foe.

Imagine how powerful that message would have been before an international audience before a president preparing to lead a nation. Alas, we were given the safe moralism of something a guest on NPR might say instead, and for that, I am saddened but unsurprised.

Let us then remember where our strength lies, not in the self-assured truisms of our political tribes, but in the unchanging glory of the God we are privileged to share with the whole world.


The Rev. Richard Tarsitano

The Rev. R. R. Tarsitano is the vicar of Trinity Anglican Church: a mission of the Reformed Episcopal Church. He is a former Navy Chief and holds a B.A. in English from the University of North Florida and an M.Div from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.


'An Inaugural Prayer Service and the Gospel' have 2 comments

  1. January 24, 2025 @ 7:52 pm Edward Vincent Olsen

    Thank you for such a succinct example of the folly of priests speaking outside their purview of knowledge. I especially appreciate your pointing out the ridiculousness of a priest speaking out about economics without an education in economics. I was in religious life with one who routinely did so and gained some notoriety. The Gospel of Our Lord must always come first.

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  2. January 26, 2025 @ 7:16 am FELIX HOWARD BEAN, III

    Rev. Tarsitano’s statement concerning the Presidential Prayer service makes much sense to me. Wife (crippled) and I are Episcopalian but are not happy with the way of our denomination.

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