Decatur reverend to open DNC session

The Rev. Cynthia Hale of Decatur will pray to open a session of the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Tuesday.

Hale was contacted 18 months ago by the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate, and has served on a committee advising him on faith issues.

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Special to the AJC

Rev. Cynthia Hale

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Hale is the founding pastor of Ray of Hope Christian Church.

“I was elated,” Hale said of her invitation.

Hale said she will pray about the coming administration meeting the needs of Americans, from education to establishing justice. She expects to be on the podium between 3 and 3:30 p.m., she said by phone Monday from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

She is among a number of American faith leaders taking part in the convention and in a corresponding series of meetings by religious leaders on moral issues. Others opening convention sessions with prayer come from across the theological spectrum, from evangelical to Orthodox and Jewish.

The faith leaders will also have a series of caucus meetings, discussing the common good, putting faith into action and the issues that sometimes divide and sometimes bring Americans together. Panelists at the sessions include John Dilulio, the first man to head up President George Bush’s Faith Based Initiatives office, and Mercer University’s David Gushee.

Gushee is organizing an Atlanta conference for faith leaders in September, tol focus on the issue of a Christian response to the government’s use of torture in the war on terror. He is a founder of Evangelicals for Human Rights.