A pastor from Wilmington, Delaware has announced that he will deliver the benediction at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration on Wednesday, Jan. 20, The Christian Post reports.
In a statement published to Facebook last Thursday, the Rev. Silvester Beaman of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church expressed gratitude for the opportunity to speak at Biden’s inauguration and asserted that Biden will “seek after the heart of God” in leading the nation as its 46th president.
“It is an extreme honor and seminal moment to have been asked by President Elect Joseph R. Biden to pronounce the benediction during the 59th Inaugural Celebration in our Nation’s Capital, January 20, 2021”, Beaman began.
He noted that the benediction at the event, “is GOD’s opportunity to cover the nation in grace as we launch the Biden-Harris Administration.”
“I personally know that President Biden will seek after the heart of GOD, it has been his lifestyle over the years,” Beaman asserted. “In his toughest moments it has been the light of GOD’s love that has guided and sustained him.”
“There is nothing more strenuous or crucial than being the leader of the free world. Therefore, he will be seeking GOD’s grace daily. Grace & Peace”, he concluded.
Beaman has personally known Biden and his family for almost 30 years, as he included pictures of him and the president-elect together in the Facebook post.
Last summer, Biden met with Black community leaders and parishioners at the AME Church following the death of George Floyd.
Delivering the invocation on Wednesday will be Fr. Leo J. O’Donovan, an American Jesuit Catholic priest and theologian who served as the 44th President of Georgetown University.
O’Donovan, who’s also longtime friends with Biden, told the National Catholic Reporter that Biden personally invited him to pray at the inauguration.
In 2015, O’Donovan presided over the funeral mass of Biden’s firstborn son, Beau, who passed away from brain cancer at 46 years old.
Meanwhile, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is expected to use two Bibles for her swearing-in ceremony. According to Premier Christian News, one of the Bibles belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court justice.
At her own request, Harris will be sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. For Sotomayor, it will be her second time partaking in an inauguration as she previously swore in then Vice President Biden in 2013.
Other special guests at the inauguration include Lady Gaga, who will sing the National Anthem, while Jennifer Lopez will offer a musical performance.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Scott Olson/Staff
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer. Visit his blog Blessed Are The Forgiven.
