From Washington DC-
The Rev. Thomas Reid Ward Jr. never forgot growing up in Meridian, Miss., how his father was not deterred from pushing for civil rights for African Americans even though their family received a threatening letter from the Ku Klux Klan.
On Sunday, Ward, 66, delivered a guest sermon at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square on a slave trader who repented and wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace.”
Five minutes before he began, President Obama walked into the sanctuary with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter Sasha. Ward handled the moment with aplomb, despite his excitement.
“John Newton started off as a slave trader, and he ended up being a force to abolish the slave trade. The message is go and do likewise,” Ward said after the service. “Part of what got me in this vocation is seeing Episcopal priests doing the right thing in the civil rights movement in Mississippi.”
More here-
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/st-johns-guest-preacher-gets-presidential-surprise/2012/03/18/gIQAPsu7KS_blog.html?tid=pm_local_pop
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