WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and his family are looking for a church, but his decision represents more than merely settling on a pew. The Obamas planned to attend Easter services today, marking the president’s first visit to a Washington church since taking office in January.
Aides have been secretive about which church the first family will attend, citing security and the desire not to disrupt services for other worshipers. They also caution that the church Obama visits might not signal that the president has decided on a permanent place of worship.
Obama’s choice of a permanent pastor is sure to draw scrutiny, given his history with a pastor in Chicago, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose sermons almost destroyed Obama’s presidential bid.
Obama could join a historically African-American church in the nation’s capital, where 55 percent of the population is black. It would be a nod to his family’s roots on the South Side of Chicago. Aides say he could just as easily select a cross-cultural church.
