The Candidates & Their Churches

The Roosevelts. Last Sunday the whereabouts of President Roosevelt was undisclosed, but the chances were that he was not at church. When he is home in Hyde Park the President usually attends service at St. James's Episcopal* Church, of which he has been senior warden since 1928. But the special ramp and awning (put up at Presidential expense) at a side door of St. Thomas' in Washington has not been used since Easter 1941. This is not entirely a matter of Presidential choice. The Secret Service sensibly holds that the President's life might be endangered if, during war, he were to appear regularly at a set time in any public place.

Mrs. Roosevelt goes to St. Thomas' occasionally when she is in town. Elliott used to accompany her oftener than any other family member. Now Anna usually goes along. Mrs. Roosevelt belongs to the Woman's Auxiliary, addresses it about twice a year. Son James normally signs the checks for the Roosevelts' regular contributions to St. Thomas', but last month Mrs. Roosevelt sent an unsolicited check for "extra summer expenses."

The Deweys. A chorister in youth, Candidate Dewey once sang professionally in Manhattan churches and synagogues. During recent years in Manhattan he and Mrs. Dewey attended Fifth Avenue's rich Church of the Heavenly Rest (Episcopal). Now they are members of Albany's St. Peter's Church, occupy pew 56, second row on the right-center aisle. During the winter they go regularly, receive Holy Communion once a month. Entering and leaving church the Deweys find time for considerable friendly handshaking. Says a fellow vestryman: "The Governor is the only lawyer on the vestry, and he is a real help to us." Before meals Governor Dewey says a grace his father taught him.

During summer weekends on their farm the Deweys are regular attendants at Pawling's small interdenominational church, where the two Dewey sons go to Sunday school. Tired after a 24-hour train trip from St. Louis (see U.S. AT WAR), Governor Dewey slept late last Sunday, did not show up at church. In the afternoon he played nine holes of golf.

The Trumans. A member of the Grandview (Mo.) Baptist Church since his youth, Candidate Truman was once interested enough in Buchmanism to speak twice at Oxford Group meetings. He now disclaims any interest in the Oxford Group, has never met Founder Frank Buchman. Truman jokes that he always seems to get back in the old parish "about the time they are raising money." But Pastor E. W. Bowman says the Senator is a generous contributor. Although last week's Christian Century called Truman "a religious man," the Senator confesses that he has "never been a very active churchgoer." Last Sunday he was fishing in Chesapeake Bay with Speaker Sam Rayburn. But his view of churches is catholic: "I think they are all headed the right place."

Mrs. Truman and Daughter Mary Margaret are Episcopalians, attend St. Margaret's Church in Washington. Margaret, 20, is president of the Canterbury Club (for Episcopalian students) at George Washington University.

The Brickers. Candidate Bricker was brought up as a Congregationalist, his wife as an Episcopalian. For the past twelve years they have been active members of the First Community Church (with members representing 27 sects) in Grandview Heights, a Columbus suburb. They attend services faithfully, have refused a regular pew, sometimes perch on chairs in the adjoining gymnasium when the church auditorium is crowded. The Governor has been a member of the Board of Deacons and the Board of Trustees, and an usher. Mrs. Bricker is active in the Women's Guild, has also been chairman of the Weekday School of Religion.

Last Sunday, bound home from St. Louis, the No. 2 Republican nominee stopped off at Lakeside, Ohio to make his third address to the 2 5-year-old Lakeside Bible Class (Methodist). Three thousand people (normal attendance: 700 to 800) heard him declare: "We think a lot today about when our boys are coming back, but are we ready to receive them? Are they going to find the spiritual values that will be needed in the postwar world? We pray for our boys, but perhaps it would be better for us to pray for ourselves that we might have the courage to keep America the kind of a place to which they will wish to return."

*There have been nine Episcopalian Presidents: Washington, Madison, Monroe, William Henry Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, Pierce, Arthur and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The other 22 Presidents have included five Presbyterians, four Methodists, four Unitarians, two Reformed Dutch, one Quaker, Baptist, Congregationalist, Disciple of Christ. Jefferson, Lincoln and Hayes were not church members.

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