Six people have been chosen to pray at Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony on Friday, only one of them female. Saying that each of them is a political rather than a spiritual pick isn't to denigrate them, it's just a statement of fact: it's what incoming presidents do.
Franklin Graham is no admirer of Trump's lifestyle, but he reserved his real venom for Hilary Clinton and undertook his Decision America tour to promote values associated with Trump's evangelical supporters. Paula White is a long-time fan. Rabbi Marvin Hier symbolises Trump's outspoken support for Israel, Samuel Rodriguez his outreach to Hispanic Americans and Cardinal Timothy Dolan his gratitude to Catholics who voted for him because of his claimed pro-life position. Bishop Wayne T Jackson will be on the podium for his help in mobilising black Christians to vote Trump.
Not all of these people are out-and-out Trumpists – Dolan, for instance, has had hard things to say about Trump's attitude to immigrants and immigration. But when they take to the platform on Friday they will face an extraordinary challenge. They will pray – that is, they will talk to God – but they will also speak to the nation. Their words will say something about what their hopes are for Trump, for America and for the world, and every one of them will be analysed for bias, error and hubris. So here's some unsolicited advice about what they should and shouldn't say.
1. Don't use this opportunity to settle scores. If you thank God, however guardedly, for the glorious new dawn that's breaking over America, you're implicitly rubbishing the previous eight years and everyone will know it.
2. Don't use it to lay out your own manifesto. You may feel passionately about pro-life issues, for instance, but this prayer is not your time to plug them, no matter how coded your words might be.
3. Don't oversell the opportunities for the future. Trump might be able to do some good things, but this is a change of government, not the New Jerusalem.
4. Do pray for Trump: for wisdom, integrity, patience and all the other virtues he'll need. There are huge question marks over whether he has any of these qualities, so all the more need for prayer.
5. Do pray for America, and for the world. Pray for peace, reconciliation and justice.
6. Do pray that people will listen to each other rather than lobbing verbal hand grenades from opposing trenches. Liberals, you have something to learn from people who feel it's not their America any more. Conservatives, for God's sake listen to scientists about climate change.
7. Remember: you are talking to the nation, but first and foremost you are talking to God, and each of us will give an account of ourselves to him (Romans 14:12). Pray after prayer, with deep humility and a sense of great responsibility: "For we will all stand before God's judgment seat" (14:10).
Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
