Pool Report #2 from Obama's Church Stop in Lima, Ohio

POOL REPORT PART TWO: Obama attends services at St. Luke's LutheranChurch in Lima, Ohio

10:02 a.m. Sen. Obama entered just as services were beginning in the light-filled church. Sen. Biden did not accompany him. The pews were packed and members of the congregation later told us there were many in the pews who don't belong to this church or who rarely attend. The pool was held until after Obama came in so your pooler could not observe his entrance.

Pastor Lars Olson did not introduce Obama or mention him by name in the roughly 90-minute service and Obama did not address the congregation. Some churchgoers approached him during Christ's Peace to shake his hand. Obama took communion with his row, left of the altar (third row, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said; your pooler could not see exactly.)

As the service ended, Olson said it was “a bit more crowded than normal” and “a zoo” compared to typical turnout. That drew a laugh. Olson asked churchgoers not to crowd “our special guest” and said he would stay to shake hands.

During the service, Olson said of God, “You alone establish the leaders of nations” including the United States and asked that the Lord bless leaders with “integrity and honesty, avoiding hypocrisy.”

There was a reading by another (unidentified) church member/official from Romans: “Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

Susan Cornell, a member of the church who brought her daughter and son, 10 and 11, with her, hadn't known Obama was coming. “There's a lot of new faces today” she observed. Anne Elstro admitted this isn't her church and that she had come only because she'd gotten a call from fellow local Democratic Party activists letting her know Obama might be coming. “I'm a Unitarian for Obama,” she laughed.

The service ended about 11:30 a.m. Outside, perhaps 200 people waited behind a yellow-tape line and when Obama emerged, he shook hands and posed for photos along the line before making his statement to us on Gustav and taking a few questions.

No OTRs expected before Toledo event.