Family Life

01.20.09 | Sarah Harnisch

We started off the morning by calling FLN reporter Elizabeth Weaver to get a feel for the sights and sounds of the National Mall in Washington D.C. What would it be like if you were there? We also had Michael Kitner calling from D.C. He is a Family Life listener who won tickets to attend the Inauguration. Every 30 minutes, FLN News was giving updates on the hundreds of thousands of people who were flocking to the nation's capitol.

At 11:30am, we began our full coverage of the Inauguration. Sarah Harnisch and Ed Thomas co-anchored the live broadcast with political analyst Dr. Steven Coleman at their side. Coleman took a look at some of the spiritual issues surrounding the event, including the Rick Warren prayer, Obama's hand-picked use of "so help me God" at his swearing in, and a dissection of Obama's acceptance speech from a Christian vantage point.

Coleman also talked about some of the key hot-button issues Obama will face the first week in office, like the Freedom of Choice Act, which would protect abortion rights in the event that Roe v. Wade was appealed. The 44th president will also have the opportunity to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which would allow members of our military to be openly gay.

Interview with Dr. Coleman

While Sarah and Ed dialogued with Dr. Coleman, they also turned to D.C. several times interviewing Elizabeth Weaver on the National Mall and offering full, unedited coverage of Obama's and Joe Biden's swearing in ceremony, Rick Warren's invocation, and Obama's acceptance speech.

At the end of the coverage, Ed Thomas interviewed Pastor Dan Richter of Beartown Road Alliance Church to remind us that even though we may not agree with all of Obama's views, we must still lift him and his family up to the Lord in prayer.

Interview with Pastor Richter

At the height of the coverage, WETM-TV sent a camera crew to videotape FLN's live radio broadcast. Also Ed gave post-Inaugural coverage every hour throughout the afternoon. Sprinkled throughout were interviews of a dozen Family Life Network children and their thoughts on how to be the next president of the United States.