Former U.S. president Gerald R. Ford was remembered as a Christian whose life reflected the Beatitudes’ themes of steadfast service and mercy during a traditional Episcopal service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
Rev. Robert Certain, the Fords’ minister at their home church at St. Margaret’s Church in Palm Springs, Calif., told dignitaries gathered that President Ford, a life-long Episcopalian, worried over the possible split of the U.S. church over issues of human sexuality and the role of women in the church. “He said he did not think these issues should be divisive for anyone who loved the great commandment and the great commission,” Mr. Certain said during the Jan. 2 funeral service.
