We walk up and down every aisle , touch the seat and pray , '' said Ms. Nash , who labored alongside the 100 or so other members of the church 's Levite Ministry to anoint the seats beginning at 6 a.m. She pointed to Levites who were still hard at work , pacing the stage in pairs murmuring prayers over the area where dignitaries -- like Mayor Shirley Franklin of Atlanta , Gov . Sonny Perdue of Georgia , and the singer Patti LaBelle -- in several hours would wait their turn at the podium . ''