WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama and the first family attended Easter services at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington Sunday, the White House said.
"It probably has not been lost on you that we have some very special visitors this morning ... so we welcome President Barack Obama, Michelle, Malia and Sasha," Wallace Charles Smith, senior minister of the Shiloh Baptist Church, said during the service.
The first family entered the main church to cheering and applause before taking seats in a second aisle pew.
One reverend reportedly had to ask the audience to stop taking photos.
"We are here first and foremost to worship God," he said.
When visitors were asked to stand, the first family stood to applause from the congregation.
The first family departed 30 minutes before the end of the service, immediately before the altar call, to prevent a disruption. They returned to the White House, where the south lawn was decorated for Monday's annual Easter Egg Roll.
