President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden attended the virtual presidential inaugural prayer service from the State Dining Room of the White House. Credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images At The National Prayer Service, A Plea To Avoid 'Simplistic Calls For Unity' By at 3:50 pm NPR Gone were the conservative evangelical leaders who had been invited in the past. No Catholic bishops or priests took part. This year's National Prayer Service, a longstanding inauguration tradition to welcome an incoming presidential administration, instead featured two transgender faith leaders, the president of the Navajo Nation, and a host of speakers with urgent calls for national transformation.