Blogging about Presidential Churches, Part I

Washington, DC is full of presidential history, including churches attended by presidents. Thomas Jefferson attended worship services in the early U.S. Capitol when there were few churches yet built. Eventually early Washington was full of churches from all denominations. Most presidents were Episcopalians or Presbyterians, with a few Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, and Quakers, plus one Catholic. Many of their churches, or their successor congregations, still exist.

I walk by many of these churches all the time, often wondering about their histories and current status. This week I will start blogging about Washington’s presidential churches, sharing what I already know and hopefully learning more. I don’t yet know how many churches attended by presidents still stand, but I hope to find out!

IRD has a history of proximity to presidential churches. When I first joined the staff in 1994 the IRD was across the street from Abraham Lincoln’s New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Soon we moved next to Foundry United Methodist Church, then attended by President Bill Clinton and Hillary, earlier attended by Rutherford Hayes, and sometimes attended by FDR. Afterwards we moved close to National City Christian Church, attended by LBJ and James Garfield. We’re still close-by.

While near Foundry Methodist, I wrote an an analysis of then Pastor Phil Wogaman’s political and theological liberalism. My report was disseminated by columnist Cal Thomas, resulting in the publicized departure of long time attenders Bob and Elizabeth Dole, then preparing for the 1996 presidential campaign.

In early 2001, I wrote a letter to President-elect George W. Bush, accompanied by a Wall Street Journal column, suggesting he attend Lincoln Park United Methodist, a dynamic black congregation. He wrote back, and attended the church on his first Sunday in office, accompanied by his parents, so that two presidents were present. The visit went well, with George H. W. Bush pronouncing it “beautiful,” but George W. Bush never returned. Services were 2 and 3 hours long, probably too long for any president.

In early 2009 I similarly wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal listing several churches President Barack Obama might attend. My predictions were mostly wrong! Like his predecessor, the current President seems mostly to attend the chapel at Camp David.

I won’t be able to visit there! But in the coming weeks I’ll visit anywhere else I can find in the nation’s capital where presidents have worshipped. Stay tuned for my reports! My first blog will start with a very obvious presidential church.