Local pastors provide prayer at DeSantis inauguration
The benediction at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ inauguration on Tuesday was delivered by the Sanibel Community Church’s senior pastor, Jeramie Rinne.
SCREENSHOT VIA FACEBOOK
Two local pastors, one from Cape Coral one from Sanibel, provided prayer at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ inauguration on Tuesday.
Grace Baptist Church Senior Pastor Tom Ascol provided the opening prayer.
Members from DeSantis’ team reached out to him at the Cape Coral church and said he was at the top of the list to deliver the prayer for the inauguration, he said.
“It was wonderful,” Ascol said. “The staff was professional, courteous. Everything was done extremely well. The tone of the inauguration was appropriately serious. With the governor’s children there, it was very family oriented also. I was very honored to be a part of it.”
Being among the various dignitaries, officials and Supreme Court justices, reminded him of how blessed we are to live in the free state of Florida and have a man like Gov. DeSantis leading us, Ascol added.
“It was a great opportunity,” he said.
The congregation prays for DeSantis and President Joe Biden during every Sunday service.
“It wasn’t anything different, or new that I had to think about. I told someone there that there was nothing I prayed that the people of the church had not heard in one way or another,” he said. “We are to pray for our civil authorities. We do that because our Lord Jesus tells us to do that.”
There was a private time of prayer for the governor before the inauguration which Ascol also was invited to attend. The governor, First Lady Casey DeSantis and their son, as well as the lieutenant governor, were present, he said.
“It was an intimate time of prayer. The governor had asked for that, just a time of prayer,” Ascol said, adding that DeSantis has a deep faith and knows he needs the help of God.
“I was so impressed by that. It was a privilege to pray with him. I am thankful to God for how kind he has been to our state. He is the beacon for the rest of the nation.”
The benediction was delivered by the Sanibel Community Church’s senior pastor, Jeramie Rinne.
He said the church regularly prays for the leaders in their community and country.
“It was a privilege to be able to do that in person at an inauguration,” Rinne said.
Rinne said he felt a little sense of pressure that he does not normally have when sitting down to write the prayer.
“It took more time to pray about the prayer,” he said. “I think it was a special privilege and honor because it’s such a unique event, regardless of who the governor or leader is.”
Rinne said he was very humbled to be able to pray on behalf of the community and state.
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com