A Detroit bishop is on tap to speak at the presidential inauguration next month.
He is talking to 7 Action News about his selection and what he plans to say in front of the country.
We spoke with Bishop Wayne T. Jackson over the phone. He says he is already hard at work preparing his remarks.
It was last September when Bishop Jackson sat down with Donald Trump at Great Faith Ministries in Detroit.
Jackson operates Impact Network, one of the largest black Christian TV networks in the country.
Mr. Trump was interviewed on the network as part of the then candidate’s effort to reach out to the African American community.
The two forged a bond, which led to the bishop’s invitation to give the benediction at the president elect’s inauguration next month.
“I received a call that I was chosen to be a part of the swearing in,” Jackson says. “I was surprised and also humbled by it.”
He will be one of a small handful of religious leaders to take part.
He says his role is not necessarily an endorsement of the presidency. Simply, he is a man of faith called upon to pray for his country.
“We teach love at our church, we teach scripture,” he says. “I am putting together a benediction that is going to represent love and unity, togetherness.”
That visit by Donald Trump in the fall to the heavily Democratic inner city of Detroit raised some eyebrows, but the bishop says he looks beyond politics and will pray with people of all backgrounds.
