The Salt Lake Men's Choir, a group of mostly gay Utah men, sang a signature Mormon hymn during the choral prelude. The daughter of a Ute Indian tribal elder read a passage from the New Testament. And the bishop of the Utah Episcopal Diocese celebrated communion with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and his wife, Mary Kaye, both members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After delivering a thunderous sermon, the Rev. France Davis of the predominantly black Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City marveled at the diversity of Utah beliefs represented for 800 worshippers in attendance.

"As we came together, it's what we expect heaven will be like," said Davis. "It allows us to realize we have more in common than we have differences."

Known as the nation's "House of Prayer for All People," the cathedral is open to all faiths and hosts a special service honoring each state in the union once every four years, usually featuring celebrants and worshippers with ties to the featured state.

On Sunday, the Utah state flag was displayed on the chancel steps next to the ornate pulpit in the nave, dwarfed beneath soaring limestone pillars that meet in arcs more than 102 feet overhead, the centerpiece of the Gothic architectural showpiece that took more than 80 years to build.

"To stand before this congregation in such awe-inspiring surroundings was an extraordinary experience and I was honored to participate," Huntsman said after the 90-minute service. "It was a celebration of our interfaith strengths in the state, which sometimes are unrecognized but are significant at the end of the day."

Added Utah's first lady: "It represents what we are trying to do in Utah, to strengthen the interfaith community, which is something we both feel very strongly about."

The governor read an opening scripture recounting the Old Testament miracle of God saving the Israelites wandering in the desert by telling Moses to strike a rock, producing a gusher of fresh water. Another reading by Lena Duncan, director of the National American Indian Housing Council and the daughter of Ute tribal elder Clifford Duncan, also dealt with the spiritual meaning of water, a theme relevant to commemorating the second most arid state in the union.

"Utah is a desert land, and we are constantly praying and hoping that enough snow will fall in the mountain that it will melt and then the runoff will fill the rivers so everybody has enough to drink," Davis told the congregation. In a reference to the Mormon pioneers who fled religious persecution in the 19th century to settle in what would become Utah, Davis said the "state was discovered . . . by those in search for a drink of spiritual waters."

As a former staff member of the National Cathedral, the Right Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish, bishop of the Utah Episcopal Diocese, said the service was special not just because of the surroundings.

"It doesn't matter if I'm in a church in small-town Utah or here in the national cathedral, it's a privilege always to break bread with the people of Utah," said Irish.

For Lane Cheney, director of the 36-member Salt Lake Men's Choir, the cathedral represented neutral ground in battles among faiths over social and moral issues. Some of the participants and "the members of our choir, most of whom are gay, have quite different views regarding homosexuality," said Cheney, who directed the group in African-American spirituals, Protestant hymns and the LDS standard "Come, Come Ye Saints" prior to the service.

"But the point of a national house of prayer is that all of God's children are welcome to come through the door," he said.

"It's a place where we can overlook our differences and celebrate the fact we are all God's children."