Obamas, Bidens attend Cathedral prayer service

Washington National Cathedral: President Barack Obama attends the Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral with first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden. IMAGE

AP Photo: Carolyn Kaster. Washington National Cathedral: President Barack Obama attends the Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral with first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden. IMAGE

1/22/13 By Jennifer C. Kerr

The Washington National Cathedral has hosted many inaugural services during its 106-year history.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is beginning the first full workday of his second term with prayer and song at the Washington National Cathedral.

The president and Vice President Joe Biden are taking part in the traditional post-inaugural national prayer service, a tradition that dates back to George Washington.

Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan., will give Tuesday's sermon. Children from the Washington Performing Arts Society's Children of the Gospel Choir will sing.

The interfaith service will include prayers and readings from leaders of Christian denominations as well as Islam, Judaism, and the Sikh Coalition

The 106-year-old Episcopal church has long hosted presidential inaugural services. It was also the site of funerals for former presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his last sermon there in 1968.

Earlier this month, the cathedral said it would begin hosting same-sex weddings.

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