by President Barack Obama paid a rare visit to a Washington church service with his wife Michelle and two daughters this past Sunday. The Obamas’ visit to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church was in honor of a special service celebrating the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.First lady Michelle Obama’s arrival was greeted the most enthusiastically; with hearty applause and calls of ‘Happy Birthday’ (She turned 47 today). Reverend Marie Braxton spoke, and assured Mrs. Obama that if she were to join the congregation with her family, there would be “more than a spiritual force in her corner.” She added that “it would be something if you joined our church, and I got to be your pastor and you got to be my girlfriend. And Mr. President, we would find something for you to do,” she joked.This visit was quite unusual; the Obamas rarely attend church in Washington, and have not yet joined a congregation since their arrival in Washington. Instead, the president and his family attend services at a chapel at Camp David at the presidential retreat in Maryland. Before 2008, Obama was a devoted member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
