A Day of Prayer, Music for the Presidents Bush

WASHINGTON —  After a slow start, President Bush and his family found their groove at a predominantly black church where a band belted out hymns, worshipers danced, sang and clapped, and the minister preached himself hoarse during a thunderous sermon.

Bush, his wife, Laura, former President Bush and his wife, Barbara, attended Lincoln Park United Methodist Church on Capitol Hill. It was the second church the president has visited since his inauguration Jan. 20.

Bush--a self-described “terrible dancer”--bobbed his head only slightly during the first song, “This Is the Day,” as congregants around him stood up and swayed.

By the end of the nearly two-hour service, Bush and his family were up and moving for a song with a refrain that went: “I’ve got a feeling everything’s going to be all right.”

Behind them, the entire church moved to the beat. Only Secret Service agents and reporters stood still.

Bush sat front and center as pastor Harold D. Lewis Sr. cautioned his listeners not to forget the true purpose of the church.

There is more to a house of worship than a Sunday service, singing and bake sales, he said. His voice booming, Lewis stabbed the air with a finger as he stood just two paces in front of Bush.

“The church is not only an organization, it is an organism,” he said. “The first purpose of the church is to magnify the Lord.”

As he preached, members of the congregation shouted back, “Teach us!” and “Amen!”

Bush attended services at the Washington National Cathedral the weekend of his Jan. 20 swearing-in, but he has not settled on a church where he will worship regularly, spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

When asked Sunday why he chose Lincoln Park, Bush said simply, “It’s a good one.”

Bush’s visit came after a week of quiet lobbying by area churches seeking the presidential parishioner.

Nationwide, blacks voted for Bush’s opponent, former Vice President Al Gore, by a 9-1 margin in the Nov. 7 election, and Bush has since sought to reach out to the community. Johndroe said that was not one of the considerations for selecting Lincoln Park.