Religion: Senior Warden of St. James1

One day in 1882, Mrs. Sara Delano Roosevelt wrote in her diary: “At 11 we took darling Baby to the chapel in his prettiest clothes and best behavior. Dr. Cady christened him ‘Franklin Delano.’ . . . Baby was quite good and lovely so we were proud of him.” The chapel was ivy-covered St. James’ Episcopal Church (capacity: 200) in Hyde Park, N.Y.

As the baby grew up, the church became an integral part of his home-town life. Man & boy, he attended services more regularly than most. His devotion was rewarded when he was elected to the vestry. Later (1928) he became senior warden.

Even after he was President, Franklin Roosevelt took his wardenship seriously. St. James’ vestry meetings were usually held on nights when he could be there and preside. He always kept the meetings going late, encouraging full discussion of such details as church finances (as troublesome to St. James’ as to most small town parishes). An unusual duty came when King George and Queen Elizabeth sent the church a morocco-bound copy of the King James Version of the Bible as a memento of their 1939 visit. Senior Warden Roosevelt and Vestryman Gerald Morgan were appointed a committee of two to draft a suitable note of thanks.

After the war started, the President missed vestry meetings more & more often. But whenever he was at Hyde Park, he tried to get to Sunday services, where he lustily joined in the hymn-singing (among his favorites: 0 God, Our Help in Ages Past; Faith of Our Fathers; 0 Master, Let Me Walk with Thee}. His favorite text was the 13th chapter of I Corinthians, which ends: “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

Franklin Roosevelt was not what most people would think of as a deeply religious man. Yet few of his predecessors in the White House could invoke God’s help for the nation with more natural sincerity. Unofficially the far-off Vatican noted the passing of the Senior Warden of St. James’ with a rare tribute: “The most Christian among statesmen.”