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NEWS:
Spirituality of President Bush
January 19, 2001    Episode no. 421
Read This Week's November 7, 2008
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BOB ABERNETHY (anchor): In this special report, Kim Lawton examines the religious influences in George W. Bush's life and the places where he may seek spiritual guidance in his new office.

George W. Bush at Republic presidential primary debate:
Debate Moderator: Governor Bush, a philosopher-thinker and why?
George W. Bush: Christ, because he changed my heart.

George W. Bush at Houston church:
George W. Bush: My relationship with God, through Christ, has given me meaning and direction. My faith has made a big difference in my personal life and in my public life as well.

Laura and George W. Bush.KIM LAWTON: From the bully pulpit to the church pulpit, George W. Bush speaks openly about his Christian beliefs. His spiritual journey appears to be a complex mix of Protestant influences.

Bush was raised in mainline Presbyterian and Episcopal churches. He began attending United Methodist churches after his marriage to Laura, a life-long Methodist. He officially became a member at 35 when his twin daughters were baptized. But he says as he approached 40, he realized something was missing.

George W. Bush: I got to spend a weekend with the great Billy Graham. And as a result of our conversations and his inspiration, I searched my heart and recommitted my life to Jesus Christ.

PROFESSOR SHAUN CASEY (Wesley Theological Seminary): The most dramatic manifestations were in his own personal life. He stopped drinking, he stopped smoking, and, by all accounts, became much more serious about his role as a husband and as a father. I think also it had some impact on his politics, although it's less clear exactly to what extent it actually influenced his politics.

LAWTON: Billy Graham remains a key, although not a regular, spiritual advisor for Bush. They prayed together just before the election.

George W. Bush: It's comforting to be with a close friend and to have coffee and prayer.

The Bushes with ministers. LAWTON: Bush avoids labels such as "born-again" or "Evangelical," calling his experience a "reconfirmation" of his faith. He stayed active in the United Methodist Church and is particularly close to these three Methodist pastors in Texas, who led a prayer service for him last month.

Jim Mayfield pastors the Bushes' church in Austin. Kirbyjon Caldwell is pastor of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston. Bush chose Caldwell to give the inaugural benediction prayer.

REVEREND KIRBYJON CALDWELL (Windsor Village United Methodist Church): I would describe President Bush as a person who is a firm believer in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he reads [the] Bible on a daily basis.

LAWTON: Mark Craig is pastor of the Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, where Bush is a member. In his book, A CHARGE TO KEEP, Bush writes that one of Craig's sermons about rising to every challenge helped him make the decision to run for president. Craig, who declined to be interviewed, says Bush shattered his skepticism about politicians.

Reverend Mark Craig (Pastor, Highland Park United Methodist Church): I think what you did for me, you have done for others. I think you have brought healing and brought hope to the young, to the elderly, to the marginalized, to the dispossessed. And that's what Moses did. That's what Moses did. He was chosen by God, as you have been chosen by God, to lead the people.

LAWTON: Bush has also cultivated relationships with other Texas pastors, such as Pentecostal minister T.D. Jakes. Bush says he is often "spellbound" by Jakes' preaching.

BISHOP T.D. JAKES (The Potter's House): He did seem very responsive to my ministry in the times when he was physically there to hear me minister, and when I met him, he seemed familiar with my ministry and seemed to have his hand on the pulse-beat of what was going on in Texas spiritually, with the spiritual leadership.

LAWTON: The two have also met together for prayer.

BISHOP JAKES: My advice to the president is the same advice I would give to anyone: to maintain a spiritual component in his life; to maintain that prayer life and [to] lean strongly on the invincible wisdom of God.

LAWTON: Some wonder what spiritual resources Bush will be leaning on as he moves to Washington.

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REVEREND BOB EDGAR (National Council of Churches): This is a heavy responsibility and one in which he will need his religious roots to wade through all the obstacles he will face. My prayer is that his spiritual roots are deep enough to sustain him in a very difficult task.

LAWTON: Certainly, the Methodist tradition may be one of those resources.

Charles Wesley.John Wesley and his brother Charles began the Methodist movement in the mid-18th century. They stressed personal renewal, methodical intellectual study, and social justice.

It started as a revival movement within the Church of England, the Anglican Church. John Wesley emphasized the importance of a personal relationship with God. Wesley said his own heart had been quote "strangely warmed" by the Holy Spirit. He began open-air revival meetings and Sunday school classes, and began Methodism's historic ministry to the poor and other social outcasts. Many of the revival meetings featured songs by his brother Charles, who wrote hundreds of hymns, among them some of Protestantism's best-loved music.

George W. Bush will be America's third Methodist president. Observers aren't sure how much of the tradition he has adopted ... or how much of it affects his politics.

Some see one connection in Bush's calls for government and faith-based charities to partner in providing social services.

REVEREND CALDWELL: Theology and practice for John Wesley came together, and frankly, I think that may be one of the components that enables President Bush to be so comfortable with his faith-based initiatives program, where the concept is arguably to take the sanctuary to the streets.

PROFESSOR SHAUN CASEY (Wesley Theological Seminary): Clearly, he uses the language of the heart. That's part of his vocabulary in most any political setting. What remains to be seen is whether he draws upon the actual social principles that have been written by his church, which talk about how to engage that piety in the world. He has a reservoir to draw upon there, it's not clear to what extent he will.

LAWTON: The United Methodist Church is America's second largest Protestant denomination, with 8.4 million members. Those members span a very wide political and theological spectrum, which could pose a dilemma as Bush considers attending a Methodist church in Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Memorial Methodist is one of the most prominent churches in the city.

George W. Bush.MARK TOOLEY (The Institute on Religion and Democracy). The churches that Bush has gone to in both Dallas and Austin have been moderate theologically, but that's by Texas standards. Here in Washington, D.C., they would be seen as conservative Methodist churches. Certainly more conservative than the Metropolitan Church.

LAWTON: The Clintons attended Foundry United Methodist, which is considered quite liberal, both politically and socially. Rev. Phil Wogaman, a spiritual advisor to Bill Clinton, has already extended an invitation to the Bushes as well.

Conservative Methodist activist Mark Tooley has written to Bush urging him to attend a predominantly African-American church, Lincoln Park United Methodist.

TOOLEY: It has a pastor and a theology that is very traditional, even conservative. It's focused on personal transformation and changing lives and not on making political statements. And I think that would appeal to George W. Bush who has talked very openly and very freely about his own personal transformation because of his personal faith.

LAWTON: During the previous Bush administration, George and Barbara Bush attended church here, at St. John's Episcopal, across from the White House. George W. Bush chose St. John's for his pre-inaugural prayer service.

Bush has already signaled his willingness to meet with religious leaders to discuss policy initiatives. Many around the country will be watching to see where he seeks personal spiritual guidance, and how his faith will affect his presidency.

I'm Kim Lawton in Washington.

Did you like this story? How can we improve our program or Web site?
Resources

Related Links:

United Methodist Church
The site includes an online version of the Church's BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, which contains its social principles.

United Methodist Reporter

Highland Park United Methodist Church

Windsor Village United Methodist Church

T.D. Jakes Ministries

ChristianityToday.com: Christian History
See the forthcoming issue (No. 69) on "The Wesleys" in this quarterly publication of CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

billygraham.org: News & Events: Inaugural Prayer








Read comments by Methodist religious leaders on the significance of Methodist social teaching for President George W. Bush and his public policies

Read extended excerpts of Kim Lawton's interview with Shaun Casey


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