All eyes are on Obama's pick for worship

President-elect Barack Obama says the historically Black church moved him from a skeptic to a believer. He has spoken appreciatively of its vibrant worship and written about how the Black church experience has moved him to tears. He has credited Black congregations for their work in helping the powerless and in speaking truth to power.But when he officially takes up residence in the White House, will the nation's first Black president attend a Black church? And, in a larger sense, does it matter if he does or doesn't?

It'll be a great thing for Black communities to see Obama choose a Black church,ý said William E. Kelly, pastor at Trinity AME Zion Church, 3505 16th St, NW. 3Any Black church in this city would welcome the Obamas. I think it enhances the visibility of the Black church.ý

The District has many Black churches from which to choose, including Shiloh Baptist Church, Covenant Baptist Church, and Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, the historic, predominantly Black congregation six blocks from the White House.

Michelle and her mother have roots in the AME Church and Metropolitan AME member Larry Drayton is positive Obama will choose a Black church, not only for his experience but for that of his children.

He doesn1t have to assimilate in a White church just because he is the president, said Drayton. 3His family, particularly his children, should be exposed to the Black Christian experience.

Metropolitan AME has not extended an invitation to the President-elect, but Pastor Ronald E. Braxton said the council of bishops offered a list of churches to invite Obama to attend. Metropolitan AME was at the top of the list.

Cornelius Wheeler, pastor at Vermont Ave. Baptist Church, 1630 Vermont Ave., NW, says Obama1s church selection should be a personal decision. It's akin to marriage of the individual to the kingdom of God and nobody should second guess what works for him.

Reba Cleveland, also a member of Metropolitan AME, agrees. As long as he worships and believes in God, it shouldn't matter, she said. I hope he will be guided by the Holy Spirit in all his decisions.

William E. Kelly, pastor at Trinity AME Zion Church at 3505 16th St, NW, thinks it's important for Obama, his family and the community that he embraces the churches in the Black community.

For Obama to choose a Black church, it makes a real statement about his faith, tradition and his understanding and belief in the struggle that the Black church has been a part of, Rev. Kelly said. I think doing that would be a continuation of his message that the Black church represents struggle, hope, and liberation.

Noel Erskine, associate professor at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, suspects Obama is considering another Black congregation, after his mainly positive experience at Trinity.

"I would be surprised if he wouldn't be looking for one in the Washington, D.C., area," said Erskine, whose school is part of Emory University.

Erskine expects Black congregations to be part of the Obama family's search "as a continuation of the family's experience of church,'' including his wife's and his mother-in-law's roots.

"I feel they will give as careful a search for church as they gave for the school of the girls,'' he said. "Perhaps the compromise will be that since they chose a White school for the girls, they will choose a Black church, Sunday school, for them.''

After the controversy surrounding Rev. Jeremiah Wright, however, University of Chicago Divinity School professor Dwight Hopkins thinks Obama might choose a Black congregation that is in milder than Trinity.

"There are various forms of preaching and, of course, African-American preaching has various styles," said Hopkins, a theology professor and a member of Trinity. "I could see him and the first family settling in a church in the D.C. area that would have the same liberal and progressive theological bent but the emotive and bodily expression of that element might be more toned down, mild in that sense."

But Hopkins said whatever church Obama picks is not likely to be conservative. "I don't think he's going to give up the liberal and progressive theology," he said. "That's who he was before he came to Trinity in Chicago, when he joined Trinity and after he left Trinity."

But Hopkins cautioned against making too much about Obama, or his feelings about race, based solely on where he chooses to worship on Sunday mornings.

"It's clear that he enjoys the Black church, he enjoys Black worship," said the professor who knows both Obama and his wife, Michelle, professionally. "It doesn't say that he's reneging or not reneging.