Joshua DuBois, second from left, heads the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Also pictured, from left, Senate leader Harry Reid, Thomas Monson, President Obama and Dallin Oaks. (Pete Souza, White House / July 19, 2010)
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The young minister's alarm goes off at 6 a.m., time for his own devotional and the one he will send to the president of the United States.
This particular morning, Joshua DuBois meditates on the disciple Peter's first letter to the early church. The text he prays over and e-mails to Barack Obama half an hour later is about something else.
It's a private start to the day for the president and the pastor, a spiritual BlackBerry session they guard carefully.
Hours later, they meet in a public setting, when the president arrives to give a speech at a community center.
DuBois is wearing an ear bud and carrying a clipboard, standard equipment for a mid-level White House staffer. Obama climbs from his car and greets DuBois and another aide with a casual, "Hey, guys."
A sheen of perspiration glistens at DuBois' hairline as the group heads toward the stage area. He keeps a deferential step behind Obama.
Colleagues say DuBois is entitled to a spot on the platform, as director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
But DuBois has arranged for others from the White House to sit there.
"Preaching, I don't think it comes naturally to me," he says, a smile materializing within the circle of his goatee. "But working with people, the one on one, that's the best part of being a minister."
As it happens, his particular gift is in need at the White House.
Obama hasn't had a pastor for two years, since he had to answer for a controversial speech by his last one, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.
Now, instead of aligning himself with a church or spiritual leader, the president seeks the guidance of many different people. Some are scholars; some pray in tongues. Some share his progressive views; others say they didn't even vote for him.
They have one thing in common: DuBois.
In his official job, the 27-year-old Princeton-educated minister is the front door of the White House for religious and community leaders.
In his spare time, he arranges group phone prayer for the president and sets up one-on-one sessions. He solicits written devotionals from others and mixes them in with the ones he personally prepares. And he zealously guards the words that pass between him and the president.
"With Joshua, it's never about Joshua," says White House aide and DuBois' mentor, Michael Strautmanis. "It's always about the other person -- regardless of who that might be."
As the community center event begins, the young minister takes his place in the wings to watch.
SOURCE: LA Times - Christi Parsons
