Peg Chemberlin at White House prayer breakfast

The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, who went from heading the Minnesota Council of Churches to the National Council of Churches late last years, was among the religious leaders who attended the Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House Tuesday morning. President Obama told the leaders, from a wide array of Christian denominations, about how he draws personal inspiration from the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, recalling the scorn and derision heaped upon Jesus en route to his crucifixion, the "torture" of his death by the Roman Empire and the "agony of his crucifixion." The National Council of Churches is an umbrella group that represents more than 100,000 Christian churches nationwide. Chemberlin was installed as president last Nov. 12 at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis.

Chemberlin's previous public appearance at the White House occurred last June, when she and other religious leaders knelt on the grass outside the fence to call for Obama to convene a commission of inquiry to investigate torture policies of the Bush administration.