Easter celebrations in Washington, D.C. were graced by a rare appearance from the Obama family this weekend.

The president, joined by first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia, and his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, attended an Easter service this weekend at Allen Chapel AME Church in Southeast Washington joining nearly 1000 worshippers for the occasion.

"Mr. President, you have no idea how much your presence has meant to us today," said the church's Senior Pastor the Rev. Michael Bell, who also called Obama "the most debonaire, the most suave president of this United States of America."

Bell also said that the presence of the president and his family was helping to bring "healing and hope" into the church's community, which last week had suffered from a shootout that killed at least four people.

The Obamas' visit to Allen Chapel was reportedly the fifth time his family has attended the venue since his election, although the president has yet to distinguish the location as his "home church."

The president's previous ties with the Trinity United Church of Christ (UCC) in Chicago, which he had attended for over 20 years and was the location of his wedding, were severed in 2008 after the comments from the church's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, surfaced showing the preacher making several outrageous claims, including that the AIDS virus was created by the U.S. government as a conspiracy against blacks, and that the 9/11 attacks were a product of the U.S.'s own "terrorism" overseas.

"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye," Rev. Wright said in a sermon on Sept. 16, 2001.

Obama said he was "outraged" and "saddened" by Wright's remarks and called the pastor's notions "ridiculous."

Such views "offend me. They rightly offend all Americans. They should be denounced," Obama said.

Since distancing himself from Wright, Obama's spirituality has remained largely private, with the president receiving daily devotionals from advisors in his cabinet and praying on occasion.

Regarding settling into a home church, Obama said he believes his presence at a local congregation would be "very disruptive to services," according to an interview with NBC.

While low-key, however, the president's spirituality remains influential, according to the Washington Post, which quoted Obama's advisors describing him as a "prayerful guy" who consults religious leaders not only for personal guidance, but for advice on major national policies, including the war in Afghanistan.

In a speech in January honoring Martin Luther King Jr., Obama noted that faith has been a comfort to him in difficult times.

"During those times it's faith that keeps me calm. It's faith that gives me peace," he said.