Obamas Search for New Church to Call Spiritual Home

The incoming first family is finding that settling quietly into a new church is easier said than done.

Barack Obama and his family have been on the lookout for a church ever since the president-elect left Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago in May, in the wake of the controversy sparked by his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.

Obama said at the time his presence at the church had created a hardship for other members of the congregation. So those considerations are no doubt on the Obamas' minds as they continue their search.

On Sunday, Obama and his family attended service at the historic and predominantly black Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. -- one of several the Obamas are considering as they search for a new place of worship.

Sunday's service was the first Obama had attended in five months. The president-elect plans to attend service on Inauguration Day at St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House.

The Rev. Derrick Harkins, senior pastor at the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, said he understands church membership is a weighty decision for the first family, or any family, to undertake.

"That is a very personal and yet also prayerful decision for any family, and certainly for this family, so we'll entrust that to them as they continue to move forth and we'll let God do the rest," he said.

But church members said they're ready to welcome the Obamas on a more permanent basis if they settle on the Nineteenth Street church, despite the security demands.

Cameras were not allowed in Sunday's service but church members afterward said the presence of the Obama family made for an unforgettable and remarkable Sunday service.

When Obama last attended church during a ministry tour in Ohio five months ago, he acknowledged that his faith was developing after undergoing a long search for spiritual identity.

"Now, I didn't grow up in a particularly religious household. But my experience in Chicago showed me how faith and values could be an anchor in my life," he said. "And in time, I came to see my faith as being both a personal commitment to Christ and a commitment to my community -- that while I could sit in church and pray all I want, I wouldn't be fulfilling God's will unless I went out and did the Lord's work."

During the campaign, Obama's faith became a lightning rod when some of Wright's sermons in which he portrayed America as fundamentally racist and unjust became public. Obama at first tried to censure Wright without renouncing him as a spiritual adviser. But as Wright repeated his anti-American rhetoric, Obama eventually had to issue an outright repudiation and sever his 20-year ties with the predominantly black church.

Some critics said the incoming first family should choose a more diverse church next time. But Harkins said it's a truly personal decision.

"Even though we are historically an African-American church, our hearts and our arms and our doors are open to any and everyone, and we certainly hope that message is clear to anybody who comes to worship with us," he said.

Obama is attempting to demonstrate his embrace of spiritual diversity at his inauguration ceremony Tuesday, when white, conservative evangelical Rev. Rick Warren will deliver the invocation and black, liberal Rev. Joseph Lowery will deliver the benediction.

FOX News' Kelly Wright contributed to this report.