Church-Less Obamas Join Episcopal Easter Service
President Obama and his family attended the "Church of the Presidents" on Easter Sunday - a move which suggests that the Obamas have not yet decided on a home church.
St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington's Lafayette Square, which got its nickname from drawing every president since James Madison as an occasional attendee, opened its door to Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, who took communion there Sunday morning.
There has been no indication from White House officials, however, that Obama was seeking membership at St. John's, whose pastor referred to the president as simply "Barack" when he included him in his prayer Sunday.
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For more than a year now, Obama has been sparingly attending church, partly because of his presidential campaign and also because he and his family have yet to settle on a new home church since an uproar over "divisive" comments made by their longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, prompted Obama to resign his membership at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
Although a number of churches in the nation's capital have been extending invitations to Obama and his family since the president's victory in November, the Obamas are still trying to "figure out a congregation in the area that they can worship at," reported White House press secretary Robert Gibbs in February.
Before his inauguration, Obama said it would be "tougher" to make time to visit churches and "seeing what's comfortable" after he becomes president. He also said it has been difficult being without a worship community.
The Obamas had attended 19th Street Baptist Church in northwest Washington the Sunday before his inauguration and later at St. John's Episcopal Church on Obama's inauguration day - a tradition for those about to become president.
According to reports, United Church of Christ, Methodist, nondenominational, and historic black congregations have all extended invitations to the Obamas to attend their services.
