The one thing the president and his family did not do — something they have rarely done since he entered the White House — was attend Christmas church services.
It is very unusual for a president not to attend Christmas services.
Historically, watching the nation’s first family head to church dressed in their Sunday best, especially around the holiday season, was something of a ritual.
Yet Obama’s faith is a more complicated, more private, and perhaps — religious and presidential historians say — a more inclusive affair.
Obama has gone to church 18 times during his nearly five years in the White House, according to Mark Knoller of CBS News, an unofficial White House historian, while his predecessor, Mr. Bush, attended 120 times during his eight years in office.
Obama’s religion first garnered national headlines during the 2008 campaign; after sermons by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. — Obama’s spiritual mentor — included inflammatory remarks, Obama was ultimately forced to renounce the minister and sever ties with the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
People close to the president say that Obama’s spiritual beliefs are profoundly held. In addition to the daily devotional he receives lines of Scripture and quotations from people as wide-ranging as Nina Simone and Johnny Cash.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/us/as-the-obamas-celebrate-christmas-rituals-of-faith-stay-on-the-sidelines.html?hpw&rref=politics
