First Family Attends Easter Service At St. John's Episcopal Church In Washington, DC

Celebrating with locals at the Festival Holy Eucharist, the Obamas make a second visit to the historic St. John's in less than a month...
On a glorious and sunny Easter morning, the First Family walked from the White House and across Lafayette Square to attend the Festival Holy Eucharist at St. John's Episcopal Church, located at 16th and K Streets. Led by President Obama, they arrived at 11:03 AM for the 11:00 AM service, and there was a big crowd of fellow worshippers gathered at the front of the historic yellow and white church, waiting to get through Secret Service screening at a side entrance. (Above: The First Family walking to the church)

"Happy Easter, everybody," the President told his press pool as he strolled past.

Holding hands with daughter Malia during the short walk from the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama's Easter dress was a bright magenta shift with a black print of cherubs and flowers, designed by Thakoon (Thai-American designer Thakoon Panichgul), topped with a black bolero sweater. Mrs. Obama has worn the dress before, including during her first trip to France with the President in 2009. He was clad in a dark suit and a blue tie, and held daughter Sasha's hand as she walked.

The First Family entered on the opposite side of the church from the waiting congregants, on the H Street side that faces the White House. They have previously worshiped at St. John's, which is known as "The Church of the Presidents" because every Chief Executive has visited since 1816. The First Family attended a service at St. John's for their first Easter in the White House in 2009, and last attended a service on March 18th, 2012. The Obamas have infrequently attended services at Washington, DC's many churches, and have not joined one congregation, preferring to worship in private. St. John's Rector is Rev. Luis Leon.

The Festival Holy Eucharist the First Family attended featured a choral performance that included a Brass and Timpani section. After a sermon on the Resurrection--which included comments on the Yankees and Somalia from the Rector--they took communion with the rest of the congregation. As the First Couple returned to their seats, they smiled and greeted other worshipers around their pew. St. John's reserves Pew 54 as the President's Pew for the use of the Chief Executive when attending services; it has red velvet prayer stools embroidered with presidents' names in gold thread. (Above: The St. John's Easter program; click on the photo to enlarge)

On Good Friday, the President and Mrs. Obama hosted the fourth White House Passover Seder of his Administration. Earlier this week issued his first-ever video message for Passover. On Saturday, the President issued a joint Easter and Passover Greeting for his Weekly Address. On Monday, the President and Mrs. Obama will welcome about 35,000 guests for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

The pool report from inside the service:

The Rector, Rev. Dr. Luis Leon, began his sermon by ribbing people about why they turned up for church today: to maintain good political relations with members of their family, to mollify a spouse, and so on.

"This is a very broad church," he said. "We even have people who cheer for the New York Yankees in here."

Rev. Leon noted that at a service last year, he was quoted by a reporter as saying he hated the Yankees. The report made it into New York newspapers, and got him into hot water.

So he tried to be (marginally) more diplomatic this year, noting that the Red Sox were off to a 2-0 start this season, while the Yankees are 0-2.***

"Today, I won't say I hate the Yankees," he said. "But I hope they never win another pennant."

The congregation, inexplicably, laughed.

Rev. Leon went on to dwell on the mystery of Easter and the resurrection, likening it to the global economy, which he also said he did not understand.

"You ruin it if you try to explain it," he said. "It can't be explained."

Other highlights:

Referring to the messy state of the world, he said, "Sometimes I wish I didn't read the newspapers or watch the television news."

But Rev. Leon cited an article in the NY Times, which talked about the renaissance of Mogadishu in Somalia. He said he viewed it as a metaphor for the rebirth of Easter.

"Now you may say, 'they're all Muslim," he said, his voice rising a bit. "But so what? That is evidence of the resurrection."

During the Prayers of the People, as is customary, the congregation offered a prayer for "Barack, our President, the leaders of Congress, and the Supreme Court, and all who are in positions of authority."

POTUS was glimpsed briefly, in a pew on the right side of the center aisle, about six rows back, turning around to shake the hands of other worshipers during the offering of peace.

The President lined up for communion, ahead of First Lady Michelle Obama and daughter Malia. As the first couple returned to their seats, they smiled and greeted other worshipers.

According to a person waiting on the sidewalk outside St. John's, a crowd of about 80 people were stranded outside, unable to get in, despite lining up 45 minutes before the service and waiting another 40 minutes after it began.

As the choir sang the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah, the First Family left by a side door. At 12:33, they walked back to the WH -- POTUS holding hands with Malia, FLOTUS with Sasha.
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Background from the White House:

This morning, the First Family was honored to celebrate Easter Sunday with the congregation of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. The pastor of St. John’s is Rev. Luis Leon.

The President and First Family have enjoyed worshipping with a number of D.C.-area congregations. They have attended services at 19th Street Baptist Church, the Washington National Cathedral, Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, Shiloh Baptist Church, Zion Baptist Church, and multiple services at St. John's Episcopal Church and Evergreen Chapel at Camp David. They most recently attended St. John’s on March 18th, 2012.
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***Pool was Mark Landler of the New York Times, who by 4:00 PM provided a correction to both the play record and the team the Rector was discussing: It was the Orioles, and the record was 0-2.

*Top photo by AP/Pool; program photo by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama