President Barack Obama on Monday
surprised Gene Robinson in asking him to lead the closing prayer at
the White House's annual Easter Prayer Breakfast.
Robinson, the first openly gay bishop
of the Episcopal Church, tweeted
a photo of Obama speaking at the gathering along with the
caption, “POTUS 'preaches' at the Easter prayer breakfast. Then,
out of the blue, asks ME to close with prayer. OMG! #privilege.”
The opening prayer was given by Joel
Hunter, the senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed.
The 66-year-old Robinson retired last
year from the Diocese of New Hampshire after serving 9 years as
bishop.
In his latest book, God Believes In
Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage, Robinson dismantles the
religious objections to marriage equality.