George W. Bush and family worshiping at Camp David church.
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Camp David's current chaplain, Lieutenant Carey Cash, leads the services at Evergreen. If the White House had custom-ordered a pastor to be the polar opposite of Jeremiah Wright, it could not have done better than Cash. (The White House had no hand in selecting Cash. The Navy assigns chaplains to Camp David on three-year tours.) The 39-year-old Memphis, Tenn., native is a graduate of the Citadel and the great-nephew of Johnny Cash. He served as chaplain with a Marine battalion in Iraq (baptizing nearly 60 Marines) and graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. And yes, that means Obama's most frequent preacher is a Southern Baptist.
The White House--wary of disappointing the legion of Washington pastors who have lobbied to score the Obamas as new members--is taking pains to emphasize that the First Family has not made any "formal" decisions about "joining" a church. (Evergreen Chapel isn't a membership congregation, in any case, so it wouldn't be possible for them to formally become members.) Officially, "the President and First Family continue to look for a church home." But in the meantime, Obama has told aides he enjoys the little chapel in the woods, the better to hear what Elijah called "the still, small voice of God."