How (Not "If") We Pray for the President

My two cents on the "how (not if) we pray for our President" issue.

Our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and and my Rector Mike Kinman are both urging prayers for our president, our leaders and our nation at this important time in our history. That is what Episcopalians do.

The other thing Episcopalians do is provide options for how to offer those prayers. Choosing to use a form for the Prayers of the People in the Book of Common Prayer which does not use the given name of elected officials is one of those options. It is arguably a classically Anglican "both/and" option -- making room for fervent prayers for our president while pastorally making room for those subject to trauma triggers to worship safely.

And -- it is worth noting -- none (repeat "none") of the six forms of the Prayers of the People in the Book of Common Prayer make explicit provision for praying for elected officials by name. Rather, choosing to do so is rubricly a permissive exception that falls within the parameters of Anglican comprehensiveness. As is choosing to stick with the language in the Prayer Book.

For Pete's sake people: we started out as a church holding in tension being both catholic and protestant. Surely we can hold in tension landing in different places on how (not if) we pray for our President. It's part of our DNA. Let's live up to it.