WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and his family celebrated Easter at St. John’s Church, the first public worship services for the president since he took office.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and his family celebrated Easter at St. John’s Church, the first public worship services for the president since he took office.
Parishioners passed through metal detectors on 16th Street prior to the Episcopal service at 11 a.m. EDT. People gathered across the street in Lafayette Park in anticipation of the president’s visit.
Inside, the service began with organ, brass and percussion fanfare. Obama and other worshippers heard readings from the book of Exodus, the gospel of Mark and other traditional Easter selections.
Located across from the White House, St. John’s is popular with presidents. President George W. Bush often attended services there, and church history contends that every president since James Madison, the nation’s fourth chief executive, has visited.
There was no indication from White House officials that Obama was seeking membership at St. John’s. The president and his family attended a private service there on Inauguration Day, a tradition for those about to become president.
Where a president worships — and whether he goes to church at all — tends to draw political as well as social significance. For Obama, his place of worship has been of keen interest because of the role his religion played in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Obama attended a Christian church in Chicago until controversial remarks about race and other issues by its pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, led Obama to leave the church. Throughout the campaign Obama dismissed rumors that he was not a Christian but actually a Muslim.
St. John’s is convenient as well as traditional for presidents seeking church services. A pew nine rows back from the altar carries a small brass plaque designating it as "The President’s Pew."
Both the Secret Service and parish officials are used to the demands for security when a president visits.
The first service at St. John’s took place in October 1816. Abraham Lincoln walked to St. John’s during the Civil War in search of a private moment to pray. The day after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the new president, Lyndon Johnson, prayed there.
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In photo: In this Jan. 20, 2009, file photo, then President-elect Barack Obama says goodbye to Rev. Luis Leon as he walks out of St. John’s Episcopal Church across from the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama has told his advisers he needs a church. Obama and his family attended a private service at St. John’s Church on Inauguration Day, a tradition for those about to become president. The Rev. Luis Leon welcomed the Obamas to the Episcopalian church and noted every president since James Madison has worshipped at the church at least once, "some of them kicking and screaming." (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
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