Show ceol hera V h e re th the e taffs tafts 4 f fend the easter 3 service ervle aw V t X tn n V rt a N 41 t 41 el aa ta hy ra I 1 mot 0 o wa OLD 07 5 y ay CV har w 7 5 A i HE present occupants ot of the white house alike to most of their arede censors have been regu lar attendants at church but as in the case of fhe the average citizen special significance attaches to their participation in divine worship on easter As concerns the president it may be said that khat part of this significance is in a rel alous sense and part is in a spec sense it Is not the special music and the flowers which make tor for the latter so much as the disposition on the part of a large share or of the public to seize the opportunity to get a glimpse at close range ot of the pres dent of 0 the united states As as hs been said the president at tends church service almost every sunday morning in the year but there is no certainty as 0 to o his appearance nor on the ordinary sabbath does the president invariably attend the church of which be he Is a member indeed not infrequently the chief executive ac cents an invitation to worship with some congregation of another denomination if the occasion be a cial one of any kind on easter sun day however the president goes to his own church and only the most exceptional circumstances interfere with hia his attendance a at t the morning service knowing this throngs gather at the church whereas a good sized crowd Is sure to follow the president all the way from the white house gates to the church As was the case during the koose roose velt veit administration the president and hia his wife are adherents of different religious denominations and hold mem barship in different churches in wash ington president taft comes of a unitarian Uni tarlan family his father and mother both being unitarians and his grandmother having joined the tarlan tartan movement with the famous dr channing william H taft like his father before him was a member of the unitarian Uni church in cincinnati after entering official life in washing ton he took a pew in the only gunj tarlan place of worship at the national capital stately all souls church which Is located not more than halt half a mile 11 from the executive mansion the new presidents church Is one of the most historic churches in what might be termed the city of famous churches john C calhoun daniel webster bulfinch Bul firich and the late benator hoar have been among its J members and the late edward everett hale frequently occupied its pulpit president taft will be summoned to worship on easter morning by the far ar reaching tones ol 01 a great bell cast east by the i reous paul revere of revola flonary fame this bell which has place in a lofty belfry has sounded on great public occasions since 1822 tolling successively tor for lincoln gar field and Mc mcfinley Linley the pastor of all souls who preaches president president taft tafts s easter ser mon Is kev rev ulysses grant baker and he appears in the pulpit in a black gown such as Is worn un der similar circumstances by I 1 many nany episcopal clergymen rev pierce Is a native of providence R I 1 and was born in the closing year of the civil war which readily accounts for the choice of the name bestowed upon him he was educated in new eng land and at hillsdale college michi gan and also pursued advanced studies at a harvard the pastor had charges in iowa california and ithaca N Y ere he be assumed his present position in 1891 in which year also he was married rev pierce like the distinguished member of his con grega tion has traveled extensively and lee lec aured considerably upon travel sub ejects I 1 mrs tatt taft uke like mrs roosevelt wor ships at a different church from that 1 attended by her husband and by odd coincidence these two successive first ladies of the land have had the same religious affiliations the easter mee ca of these two well known women Is old st john s episcopal church boca located just across the park from the valte house and often called the church of the presidents from the fact that every president from madi son to lincoln and several since that time have worshiped there the quaint little edifice has also been dubbed the court church from the tact fact that during every administration many leading foreign diplomats and high officials of the nation have regu barly attended its services A pew in the church Is always set aside for the use of the president of the united states and his family and this pew Is now used u sed by mrs taft in place of the pew she formerly rented miss heen helen taft Is also a member of this church and usually accompanies her mother to the services when in wash ington at easter but the president presidents sons are wont as were the roosevelt boys to go to church with their father when at home for the easter holidays or on other like occasions |