Warren praises King as pastor, hero

Conservative pastor Rick Warren spoke to a packed house for the annual King Day service at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Monday, as the upcoming inauguration of the nation’s first African-American president lent special significance to the event.

Warren, who will also speak at President-elect Barack Obama’s swearing-in on Tuesday, took the podium more than 2 1/2 hours into the service, saying, “This means more to me” than giving the inauguration prayer.

He praised Martin Luther King Jr. as both a model pastor and a heroic civil rights leader.

But Warren’s appearance also drew protesters who were angered that event planners invited an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage.

Several dozen gay activists gathered outside Ebenezer before the service. Two protestors made their way inside and rose to shout at Warren when he began speaking; they were escorted out to applause from many in the crowd.

Earlier, the protesters outside hoisted signs declaring: “We still have a dream. Equality.” They chanted: “Gay, straight, black or white, we demand our civil rights.”

“Rick Warren is not a voice of unity or equality,” said Jeff Schade, director of GLBTATL, which stands for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Atlanta.

Warren, pastor of the Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” helped rally support in California to outlaw same-sex marriage.

The King Center invited Warren in May, long before controversy erupted over his selection to speak at Barack Obama’s inauguration, center director Isaac Farris said last month. He said one reason was Warren’s efforts to get evangelicals working to solve social problems such as poverty.

Introducing Warren on Monday, Farris said, “Some feel because of his conservative views on some issues that Pastor Warren should not be a speaker at this service.

“They don’t understand Martin Luther King’s idea of the beloved community,” he said, adding that the community included conservative and liberal, black and white, Christians and others.

Warren, known for preaching in Hawaiian shirts, wore a yellow tie and blue shirt beneath a dark suit.

He leaned on the message that has brought him to the forefront of evangelical Christianity in America, telling the crowd they needed to be open to be used by God, just as King was in his way and in his time.

He spoke off-the-cuff in a sermon that would have been welcomed in any Southern Baptist church.

God’s love, he said, “is unconditional, it is everlasting … when you know that love, it takes the hurt right out of you. It takes the anger out of you.”

“How did Dr. Martin Luther King manage to not shout back at the segregationists that called him every name in the book? It was the love of God,” Warren said.

He did not directly address the same-sex marriage issue.

Aside from the two protesters, Warren got a warm welcome.

Christine Bryant, 41, of Decatur, got her three children up about 5 a.m. to make sure they got seats. She was eager to see and hear Warren.

“We are trying to vicariously experience the inauguration,” said Bryant. “He’s going to be here today and there (at the inauguration) tomorrow.”

Mary McKinney brought two children and two of their friends, all aged 14 to 16, from Gwinnett County for their first trip to Ebenezer.

“They were excited. They woke up before me,” she said.

Obama’s inauguration Tuesday made the day extra special, she said.

“Since we didn’t get to go to Washington, it’s the next best thing,” she said.

Warren followed a parade of speakers ranging from Georgia U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin to Julie Gerberding, outgoing chief of the Centers for Disease Control.

The Ebenezer service was the centerpiece of King Day events in metro Atlanta, but more than a dozen other observances unfolded across the area.

Early events included a morning 5k and 10k Freedom Run road race at Clayton State University and an MLK Soccer Tournament in Clarkston, while afternoon parades were set for downtown Atlanta and several other metro counties including Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Henry.

On Tuesday, Warren will give the opening prayer at the inauguration, while the Rev. Joseph Lowery of Atlanta, a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King, will give the benediction.

Also praying during one of the ceremonies is Right Rev. Gene Robinson, an openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal Church.