While on the campaign trail in September, Martin O?Malley visited the Community of Hope Church for Sunday service in a Prince George?s County nightclub.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church has since moved into a new home in the Iverson Mall, but O?Malley?s visit sent a message, said the Rev. Tony Lee.
“They wanted to hear from everyone,” Lee said. “It?s that kind of inclusion that speaks to how it?s a new day in Maryland.”
Lee was among the hundreds of people who joined Gov. O?Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown for a prayer breakfast Wednesday morning in Greenbelt before their inauguration in Annapolis later in the day.
The breakfast began at 8 a.m. and included members from the Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Hindu communities. A number of politicians, from Prince George?s County Executive Jack Johnson to Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., attended the breakfast, which lasted just more than an hour.
O?Malley told the crowd he believes he and Brown can “infuse public discourse with values that unite.”
The governor asked for help from the community “in these days ahead, in these years ahead.”
Brown also addressed the crowd, seated at dozens of round tables, decorated with yellow tablecloths, red and white flowers and Maryland flags.
“I think the greatest calling of all is the calling to serve,” Brown said.
