Being a reporter in the President-elect’s press pool (that is, the small group of journalists who travels with Obama each day and shares reporting with other media outlets that don’t have a representative that day) is a strange experience. It involves a heck of a lot of waiting around in vans for Obama to do something we can report. Then when he does venture out, life becomes about running really fast to catch him, fumbling with notebooks and recorders, a lingering fear of the motorcade leaving without you, and, if you are me, getting shoved out of the way by burly cameramen desperate to get the perfect shot.
For the most part, pool duty is a privilege, especially when you find yourself with a front row view of U2 serenading the President-elect with “City of Blinding Lights.” And every now and then you have the rare honor of seeing the President-elect in a moment that is as close to personal as one can be in public. That’s what happened yesterday when I had the opportunity to follow Obama to church.
The Obama family worshipped at 19th Street Baptist Church on Sunday morning, a 170-year-old congregation in Northwest DC, attended by a largely African-American population. It’s a progressive church—the current pastor, Dr. Derrick Harkins, is a vocal advocate for HIV-AIDS issues. The entire Obama family, including First Mother-in-Law Marian Robinson, sat in the second row. At times Obama and his wife whispered to each other, occasionally sharing a warm moment with a quick chuckle and a flash of their expansive grins. Obama sang, clapped and swayed along with the rousing choir. Mrs. Obama helped her youngest daughter Sasha follow along in the hymnal, every now and then rubbing her back supportively. If they hadn’t received a standing ovation the moment they walked in, they could have been a regular young family at Sunday services.
From my perch on the balcony, the support and goodwill Obama has engendered within this community felt palpable. Church-goers seemed like they bursting for an opportunity to vocally acclaim this storied figure in their midst. When 10 year old Nigel Sanders, a member of the church’s Kandelite Children’s Choir, tentatively stepped up to the microphone to say “Martin Luther King walked so Barack Obama could run,” the congregation erupted in such fierce cheers and applause that the rest of Sanders’ speech was nearly drowned out. “Just another typical Sunday at 19th Street Baptist Church,” quipped Pastor Harkins.
Being raised Catholic, I’m used to fairly staid church services and a healthy dose of guilt, so it felt very wrong to be taking notes on my lap, nosily peering over the balcony at congregants, BlackBerry buzzing in one hand. It felt uncomfortable to act as a dispassionate, unmoved reporter amongst people engaged in private but energetic worship. (I’m sure my mother would be horrified to learn that I didn’t stand at the appropriate times during the service). But the moment I felt most deeply voyeuristic was when Pastor Harkins spoke directly to Obama in his sermon.
Harkins’ sermon, entitled “For a Time Such as This”, drew from the Biblical story of Esther. Harkins told his flock that, like Esther, God prepares and locates people for moments in their lives when they will be called up on to do important, and sometimes difficult, work. Although he had already referenced Obama several times during the service, Harkins seemed intent on delivering a personal message in the sermon. After ruminating over the achievements of Rosa Parks, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Harkins asked “How could it be that the first black president of the Harvard Law Review would do anything other than dwell in the lofty heights of the best corporate law firms?” Soon he addressed Obama directly. “Perhaps, just perhaps, you are where you are for a time such as this,” Harkins intoned. Later he stressed the importance of Obama’s family: “Perhaps a family has been shaped and fashioned for such a time as this.” Harkins said that in times of harsh criticism Obama could turn to his family and “know the foundation upon which you stand” or to look at his wife and be encouraged by her. “God prepared you. God placed you. God will not forsake you,” he said.
Obama sat characteristically calm throughout the sermon. But I can't imagine there's too many people that deliver such personal messages to the directly President-elect these days and, as the President-elect presumably pondered and prayed, I couldn’t help feeling that I was intruding on a private moment.
