The Sunday after the election of President-elect Barack Obama as the first African-American U.S. president was a time of jubilation at some churches, especially churches with significant African-American attendance. Stories covering the day included one by The Washington Post focusing Second Baptist Church, the second oldest African-American church in Washington, D.C., and another by the Plain Dealer about Cleveland’s prominent Olivet Institutional Baptist Church.
But sometimes, the signs outside the edifices gave a sense of the sentiments inside, even before the services began. For example, on Saturday, the sign for Faith United Baptist Church in Baltimore, read: “We can do all things through Christ. Yes we can.” The second sentence, in contrast with the typical black lettering, was written in red letters.