Prayers at United States presidential inaugurations

List of clergy at main ceremony

• Invocation by Chaplain ZeBarney Thorne Phillips - Episcopalian, Chaplain of the United States Senate
• Benediction by Father John A. Ryan - Catholic, professor, Catholic University of America

• Invocation by Chaplain ZeBarney Phillips
• Benediction by Father Michael J. Ready, Catholic, general secretary of the National Catholic Welfare Conference

• Invocation by Bishop Angus Dun - Episcopalian, Bishop of Washington
• Benediction by Monsignor John A. Ryan - Catholic

• Invocation by Rev. Edward Hughes Pruden, Baptist, First Baptist Church, Washington, D.C.
• Prayer by Rabbi Samuel Thurman, Jewish, United Hebrew Congregation, St. Louis, Missouri
• Benediction by Archbishop Patrick A. O’Boyle, Catholic, Archbishop of Washington

• Invocation by Archbishop Patrick A. O’Boyle, Catholic, Archbishop of Washington
• Prayer by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, Jewish
• Prayer by President Eisenhower
• Benediction by Rev. Henry Knox Sherrill, Episcopalian, Presiding Bishop

• Invocation by Rev. Edward L. R. Elson - Presbyterian, Chaplain of the United States Senate
• Prayer by Archbishop Michael - Orthodox, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
• Prayer by Rabbi Louis Finkelstein, Jewish
• Benediction by Cardinal Edward Mooney - Catholic, Archbishop of Detroit

• Invocation by Cardinal Richard Cushing - Catholic, Archbishop of Boston
• Prayer by Archbishop Iakovos - Orthodox, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
• Prayer by Rev. Dr. John Barclay, pastor of the Central Christian Church of Austin, Texas
• Benediction by Rabbi Nelson Glueck - Jewish

• Invocation by Archbishop Robert E. Lucey - Catholic, Archbishop of San Antonio
• Prayer by Rabbi Hyman Judah Schachtel - Jewish, Congregation Beth Israel of Houston
• Prayer by Rev. Dr. George R. Davis - Disciples of Christ
• Benediction by Archbishop Iakovos - Orthodox, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

• Invocation by Rev. Charles Ewbank Tucker - African Methodist Episcopal Zion, bishop
• Prayer by Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin - Jewish, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles
• Prayer by Archbishop Iakovos - Orthodox, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
• Prayer by Rev. Billy Graham - Southern Baptist,
• Benediction by Archbishop Terence J. Cooke - Catholic, Archbishop of New York

• Invocation by Rev. E. V. Hill, National Baptist Convention, pastor of the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles
• Prayer by Rabbi Seymour Siegel - Jewish, professor, Jewish Theological Seminary
• Prayer by Archbishop Iakovos - Orthodox, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
• Benediction by Archbishop Terence J. Cooke - Catholic, Archbishop of New York

• Invocation by Bishop William Cannon - United Methodist
• Benediction by Archbishop John R. Roach - Catholic

• Invocation by Rev. Donn Moomaw - Presbyterian, pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles
• Benediction by Rev. Donn Moomaw

• Invocation by Rev. Timothy S. Healy - Catholic, president of Georgetown University
• Prayer by Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk - Jewish, president, Hebrew Union College
• Prayer by Rev. Donn Moomaw - Presbyterian
• Benediction by Rev. Peter Gomes, chaplain, Harvard University

• Invocation by Rev. Billy Graham - Southern Baptist,
• Benediction by Rev. Billy Graham - Southern Baptist

• Invocation by Rev. Billy Graham - Southern Baptist,
• Benediction by Rev. Billy Graham - Southern Baptist

• Invocation by Rev. Billy Graham - Southern Baptist,
• Benediction by Rev. Gardner C. Taylor - Baptist

• Invocation by Rev. Franklin Graham - Southern Baptist,
• Benediction by Pastor Kirbyjon H. Caldwell - United Methodist

• Invocation by Rev. Luis León - Episcopalian, rector St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square
• Benediction by Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell - Senior Pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas

• Invocation by Rev. Dr. Rick Warren - Baptist, Pastor of the Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, California
• Benediction by Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery - United Methodist

• Invocation by Myrlie Evers-Williams, the first woman and non-clergy to deliver an inaugural prayer.
• Benediction by Rev. Dr. Luis León, fourteenth rector of St. John's Church. Pastor Louie Giglio had originally been tapped by the inaugural committee but withdrew amid controversy regarding a sermon perceived by some as anti-gay he had delivered in the 1990s.

• Invocation by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York
• Invocation by Rev. Dr. Samuel Rodriguez, President, National Hispanic Leadership Conference
• Invocation by Pastor Paula White, Senior Pastor, New Destiny Christian Center
• Benediction by Rabbi Marvin Hier, Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center
• Benediction by Rev. Franklin Graham, Samaritan's Purse and The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
• Benediction by Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, Great Faith Ministries International

  Associated morning prayer service

• 1933 - Franklin Roosevelt attend a service at St. John's Episcopal Church in the morning before being sworn in.
• 1937 - Franklin Roosevelt attended a service at St. John's Episcopal Church in the morning before being sworn in.
• 1941 - Franklin Roosevelt attended a service at St. John's Episcopal Church in the morning before being sworn in.
• 1945 - Franklin Roosevelt had a private service in the White House.
• 1949 - Harry Truman attended a service at St. John's Episcopal Church in the morning before being sworn in.
• 1953 - Dwight Eisenhower attended a service at National Presbyterian Church in the morning before being sworn in.
• 1957 - Dwight Eisenhower attended a service at National Presbyterian Church before being sworn in privately. He was publicly sworn in the next day.
• 1961 - John F. Kennedy attended the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at Holy Trinity Church.
• 1965 - Lyndon Johnson attended a private service at National City Christian Church in the morning before being sworn in. Billy Graham gave a .
• 1969 - Richard Nixon had a prayer breakfast in the State Department
• 1973 - Richard Nixon had no prayer service. He did attend church the next day, a Sunday. There was also a White House Prayer Service with Billy Graham, Archbishop Joseph Bernardin, and Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin as speakers.
• 1977 - Jimmy Carter attended a private service at First Baptist Church
• 1981 - Ronald Reagan attended a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church. Speakers included Billy Graham.
• 1985 - Ronald Reagan attended a private service a morning prayer service at Washington National Cathedral before taking the presidential oath at the White House on Sunday, January 20. Speakers included Billy Graham. He attended a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church before his public swearing in at the Capitol on Monday, January 21.
• 1989 - George H. W. Bush attended a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church.
• 1993 - Bill Clinton attended a private service at Metropolitan AME Church
• 1997 - Bill Clinton attended a private service at Metropolitan AME Church
• 2001 - George W. Bush attended a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church on January 20
• 2009 - Barack Obama attended a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church
• 2013 - Barack Obama attended a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church on the morning of Monday, January 21, immediately before his public inaugural ceremony.
• 2017 - Donald Trump attended a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church

  Public prayer service

• Martin Luther King Sr., father of Martin Luther King Jr.
• Rev. Bruce Edwards, Plains, Georgia
• Ruth Carter Stapleton
• Leontyne Price and Sherrill Milnes sang

• Billy Graham gave a

• John T. Walker, Episcopal Bishop of Washington presided
• Charles A. Perry, Cathedral Provost, officiated

• Peter Gomes, Harvard Chaplain
• John Ashcroft, governor of Missouri
• Edmond Lee Browning, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church

• Rabbi Matthew H. Simon from the B’nai Israel Congregation in Rockville, Maryland, read from the Torah
• Vilma Guerrero Smith read reading part of the Forty-seventh Psalm
• Rev. Canon Carole Crumley read part of the fifth chapter of Matthew
• Cardinal James Hickey, Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, read from the New Testament
• Iakovos, archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, read from the New Testament
• George Walker Bush read a prayer
• Mrs. James A. Baker, III, honorary chairman for the National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving, read a prayer
• Rev. Stephen E. Smallman from McLean, Virginia, read from the Old Testament

• Nathan D. Baxter, dean of the Cathedral
• Jane Holmes Dixon, bishop of Washington pro tempore
• Franklin Graham gave the sermon
• Rabbi Samuel Karff from Congregation Beth Israel of Houston read Jeremiah 29:11–13 and gave one of the prayers
• Beulah “Bubba” Dailey of Austin Street Center in Dallas, read Proverbs 3:1–8
• Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America led the people responsively in the Twenty-Third Psalm. He also gave one of the prayers.
• Mark Craig of Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, read 1 John 4:7–8
• Theodore E. McCarrick, Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, read Matthew 6:25–33 and gave one of the prayers
• Kirbyjon Caldwell of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, read the Prayer for the Nation.
• Rev. Peter Grandell, Cathedral staff
• Rev. Luis León, rector of St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.
• Rev. Suzanne Love Harris, of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
• Dr. Jack Hayford, pastor of the Church on the Way, Van Nuys, California

• John Bryson Chane, Bishop of Washington, Episcopalian
• A. Theodore Eastman, Vicar of Washington National Cathedral, Episcopalian
• Mark Craig, Dallas, Texas, United Methodist, gave the sermon
• Billy Graham, Charlotte, North Carolina, Southern Baptist
• Rabbi Morton Yolkut, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Bishop G. E. Patterson, Memphis, Tennessee, Church of God in Christ
• Luis Cortes, Jr., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Baptist
• The Metropolitan Herman Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of all America and Canada Orthodox Church of America, Syosset, New York
• Cardinal William Keeler, Baltimore, Maryland, Catholic
• Imam Yahya Hendi Muslim Chaplain, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
• Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, Washington, DC, Catholic
• Archbishop Demetrios Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, New York, New York
• Kirbyjon Caldwell, Houston, Texas, United Methodist
• Canon Mary Sulerud, Washington, DC, Episcopalian

• Episcopal Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, Dean of the Washington National Cathedral - welcome
• Episcopal Diocese of Washington Bishop John Bryson Chane - invocation
• Rev. Otis Moss Jr., senior pastor emeritus at Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio - opening prayer
• Rev. Sharon E. Watkins, general minister and president of the Christian Church - sermon
• Rev. Andy Stanley, senior pastor, North Point Community Church, Alpharetta, Georgia - prayer for civil leaders

• Dr. Cynthia Hale, senior pastor, Ray of Hope Christian Church, Atlanta, Georgia
• Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, New York City
• Rev. Francisco González, S.F., auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Washington
• Rabbi David Saperstein, executive director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Washington, D.C.

• Dr. Ingrid Mattson, president, Islamic Society of North America, Hartford, Connecticut
• Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook, senior pastor, Bronx Christian Fellowship, New York City
• Rabbi Jerome Epstein, director, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, New York City
• Rev. Carol Wade, canon precentor of the Washington National Cathedral
• Dr. Uma Mysorekar, president, Hindu Temple Society of North America, New York City
• Rev. Jim Wallis, president, Sojourners, Washington, D.C.
• Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurunm, New York City
• Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, senior pastor, Windsor Village United Methodist Church, Houston, Texas
• Archbishop Donald Wuerl, Roman Catholic Diocese of Washington - a prayer for the nation
• Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori - closing prayer
• Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the Reformed Church in America - Benediction

• Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and Rev. Gary Hall, dean of the Washington National Cathedral gave the welcome.
• Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins, president and General Minister of the Christian Church gave the opening acclamation.
• Rev. Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, co-chair of the National African American Clergy Network gave the prayer for the day.
• Rev. Elder Nancy L. Wilson, moderator of the Metropolitan Community Church gave the first reading.
• Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly led the reading of the psalm.
• Cantor Mikhail Manevich of the Washington Hebrew Congregation gave the invitation to prayer.
• Rev. Dr. Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Kathryn Lohre, president of the National Council of Churches, and Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America together gave the prayer for those who govern.
• Cardinal Donald Wuerl of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington led the second reading.
• Abdullah M. Khouj, president and imam of the Islamic Center of Washington, gave a traditional Islamic call to prayer.
• Sapreet Kaur, national executive director of the Sikh Coalition, Rev. Charles Jenkins II, senior pastor of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, and Dr. Stephen F. Schneck, of the Catholic University of America led the prayer for those who serve.
• Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition led the third reading.
• Allison Mondel, cantor of Washington National Cathedral, gave an invitation to prayer.
• Rabbi Sharon Brous of IKAR Jewish Community, Rev. Dr. Serene Jones of Union Theological Seminary, and Archbishop Demetrios of America, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America gave the prayers for the people.
• Dr. Wintley Phipps of the Dream Academy gave the anthem.
• Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church gave the prayer for the nation.
• Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of Windsor Village United Methodist Church led the Lord's Prayer.
• Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church gave the benediction.