Black Baptist leaders attend Obama’s Easter breakfast

WASHINGTON — Black Baptist leaders were among 90 clergy and other Christian leaders who gathered at the White House on April 6 for an Easter prayer breakfast at which President Obama extolled the redemptive nature of Christ’s death and resurrection.

“We are awed by the grace He showed even to those who would have killed Him. We are thankful for the sacrifice He gave for the sins of humanity. And we glory in the promise of redemption in the resurrection,” Obama said in remarks before the event in the White House’s East Room.

The Easter lunch followed a meeting with a smaller group of black Christian leaders, including Julius Scruggs, pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church, Huntsville, and president of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc.; and Progressive National Baptist Convention President T. DeWitt Smith Jr.