OBAMA TO CHURCH : KEEP FAITH IN HARD TIMES

President Obama on Sunday recalled the work of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as he urged those packing a Baptist church to take heart in hard times and celebrate progress, however small.
On the eve of the federal holiday marking King's birth, the first black president said he learned -- as did the civil rights leader -- to rely on his faith even as he felt the "sting of criticism" during his first year as president.
Mr. Obama pointed specifically to his attempts to move the country out of the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression while pressing for an overhaul of the health care system.
Speaking at the Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, founded in 1866 by former slaves, Mr. Obama called King and those who fought with him for civil rights the "Moses generation." He exhorted parishioners -- those he termed the "Joshua generation" -- to "get back to basics" as Americans faced the challenges of a "new age."
The president was headed to Boston in support of the Senate candidacy of state Attorney General Martha Coakley, who is in a tight race for the seat of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Her defeat would upend the Democrat's 60-vote majority in the Senate, making it impossible to overcome a filibuster that could kill hard-fought health care legislation.
In his remarks at the Washington church, Mr. Obama reflected on the difficulties he has faced in pushing key elements of his legislative agenda through Congress and the periodic distractions that have arisen from remarks about his race.
Referring to the "post-racial" and "post-partisan" shift in the country that many observers predicted would flow from his inauguration a year ago, he said, "That didn't work out so well."
Mr. Obama was accompanied to the church by first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia.
King himself spoke in 1956 at Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, located just over a mile north of the White House.
Then a 27-year-old preacher who was emerging as a prominent voice in the civil rights movement, King visited Washington shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with a ruling that led to the end of racial segregation aboard city buses in Montgomery, Ala. King was one of the leaders of a bus boycott that lasted more than a year.
Monday is the first King holiday since Mr. Obama became president.

AFRICA BISHOPS TALKS OF OBAMA IN RELIGIOUS TERMS

VATICAN CITY- African bishops attending a Vatican meeting are speaking about the election of Barack Obama in divine terms—putting them very much at odds with many of their U.S. counterparts.
Archbishop Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle of Accra, Ghana said Wednesday that there was "a divine plan behind" Obama's election.
"It's like the biblical story repeating itself," he told reporters, citing the Old Testament figure Joseph, who after being sold into slavery in Egypt ends up becoming a top official.
"We believe God has his own plans. God directs history," he said of the U.S. election. "We pray that it (Obama's presidency) brings blessings for Africa and the whole world."
He acknowledged that Obama has earned the wrath of many conservative American bishops because of his support for abortion rights. Earlier this year, dozens of U.S. bishops denounced the leading U.S. Catholic university, Notre Dame, for giving Obama an honorary degree.
"We are definitely aware of it," Palmer-Buckle said. "But we feel it our duty to meet him and find out what are the things that unite us more than divide us."
Earlier this week, the Ghanian prelate leading the three-week meeting on the Church in Africa, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Cape Coast, Ghana, cited Obama's election in saying he didn't see any reason why there couldn't now be a black pope.
And the archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo, Monsignor Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, told the formal synod itself that it would be wise to not ignore what he called a "primordial event" in recent times.
"If the election of a black as head of the United States of America was a divine sign and a sign from the Holy Spirit for the reconciliation of races and ethnic groups for peaceful relations ... this synod and the universal church would gain from not ignoring this primordial event of contemporary history which is far from being a banal game of political alliances," he said in his speech.
Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria gave more tangible reasons for praise in meeting with reporters.
"Obama has the authority to talk straight to our bad leaders and tell them they are messing up our countries," he said. Besides, he added, "In Africa we are always happy when our brother is big."

MINISTER IN SPOTLIGHT AFTER OBAMA DEATH PRAYERS IN ARIZONA

A controversial Arizona minister who prays for the death of President Obama has attracted attention from the Secret Service to a small group of protesters who hold regular demonstrations outside his church.
The Rev. Steven Anderson quoted passages from the Old Testament to the congregation of his Faithful Word Baptist Church about the kinds of people God hates in Tempe Aug. 16. Anderson then told worshippers he interprets those passages to include Mr. Obama and that he prays for the president's death.
While Anderson didn't say he wanted his parishioners to attack the president, he did say the country would benefit from Mr. Obama dying.
"If you want to know how I'd like to see Obama die, I'd like him to die of natural causes," Anderson told KNXV-TV. "I don't want him to be a martyr. We don't need another holiday. I'd like to see him die, like Ted Kennedy, of brain cancer."
Anderson told the station the Secret Service contacted him after his comments became public and that his attorney advised him to deny giving the agency an interview.
Anderson's sermon inspired the creation of a group called People Against Clergy Who Preach Hate to protest against the pastor.
"I'm just disgusted with this man who claims to be a minister of the Lord preaching hate toward the president," protester Larry Crane told KNXV-TV.
"It's hard to believe we could have someone of a religious nature wishing our president was dead," protester William Crumb told the station.
Some parishioners — whether they didn't provide their names or the station just didn't report them is unclear — supported their minister.
"I hate people that hate God," one Faithful Word parishioner said.
"As far as I know we live in America, we have freedom of religion, freedom to assemble and the freedom of speech," another parishioner said.
Protesters will continue to demonstrate outside Anderson's church until he stops preaching what they consider hate speech.
"I just think it's sad," Crane told the station. "We can have discourse without preaching hate. That's what this minister is doing."