Obama's Pastor-in-Chief on President's Faith

Joshua DuBois has known President Obama for a long time. He's been advising the president on matters of faith since he was a state senator in Illinois. For the past four years DuBois served as Obama's pastor-in-chief as head of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

At the National Prayer Breakfast President, Obama announced that DuBois was leaving the post. He's moving on to write, teach, and helping run a new private organization designed to help faith organizations partner with the public and private sectors to affect change.

Oh, he's also getting married this fall.

Beltway Buzz asked DuBois to share his observations about how President Obama's Christian faith has grown or changed over the time he's been associated with him. Full transcription is below.

BELTWAY BUZZ: Can you give us any insights about how you have seen the President's faith grow or change in the time that you've been with him?

DUBOIS: Sure, you know, this is a president who takes his Christian walk very seriously. He has spent many hours with pastors in the oval office just in times of prayer and reflection. He's the type of president who lives out his faith in service to others and he also lives it out in his role as a father and as a husband.

In this Lenten season I'm kind of reminded of Jesus' admonishment to us to not be the type of believers that pray aloud in the city square or do our fasting for everyone to see but instead to try to do those things, to practice our faith in ways that we can cherish and that kind of reminds me of the way that President Obama considers his faith. It's not something he wears on his sleeve, but his walk with Christ is something that has led him every single day.