National Cathedral to focus on gun violence ahead of Martin Luther King day

(Photo: Retuers/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Working together to address issues of the day with a focus on addressing the gun violence facing America will be the theme of Sunday's sermon at the Washington National Cathedral, ahead of the holiday commemorating the life and work of civil rights movement leader The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean of Cathedral, will preach, calling on people of faith to follow the Rev. King, Jr.'s example of working together on pressing issues, the Cathedral said in a statement. The sermon will be delivered from the historic Canterbury pulpit, the same place where the Rev. King delivered his last Sunday sermon in March 1968.

"Washington National Cathedral will continue to do its part to keep the problem of gun violence-and its solutions-in the public eye," said The Very Rev. Gary Hall in a statement in response to President Obama's proposals this week to pass legislation meant to curb gun violence.

The Sunday sermon also precedes Inaugural activities on Monday and Tuesday for President Barack Obama's second term.

The Presidential Inauguration will include a benediction by Rev. Luis Leon, who leads St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington D.C.

On Tuesday, the National Cathedral will host the 57th Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service, which will included invited guests from various Christian denominations and other faiths who will celebrate the role of people of faith in American Life.

Adam Hamilton, founding pastor of United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, the largest Methodist church in the United States, will deliver the sermon at the prayer service.

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