And the United Church of Christ guy takes it!

Obama will be either the second or third president from the Congregationalist tradition.

Second or third?

Calvin Coolidge was definitely a Congregationalist. John Adams was raised a Congregationalist but became a Unitarian. So there you go.

The United Church of Christ is perhaps the most liberal of the mainline Protestant denominations. Following the Congregationalist tradition, which dates back to England in the late 16th century, the UCC believes in the autonomy of each individual congregation.

Some initial reactions to the election:

Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference (in a letter to the winner):

Dear President-elect Obama,

I write to you, in my capacity as President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, to express our congratulations on your historic election as President of the United States. The people of our country have entrusted you with a great responsibility. As Catholic Bishops, we offer our prayers that God give you strength and wisdom to meet the coming challenges.

Our country is confronting many uncertainties. We pray that you will use the powers of your office to meet them with a special concern to defend the most vulnerable among us and heal the divisions in our country and our world. We stand ready to work with you in defense and support of the life and dignity of every human person.

May God bless you and Vice President-elect Biden as you prepare to assume your duties in service to our country and its citizens.

Blessings on you, and congratulations. Now that the electorate has made its decision, we at the National Council of Churches urge all Americans to come together to uphold you with our hands, our hearts and our prayers.

Only rarely in our history has a president-elect faced immediate challenges of such fierce magnitude. The leaders of this Council pledge to you our unstinting support in the difficult days to come. All of us are dependent on God’s loving mercy, and we will regularly pray for you and others elected to high leadership. May your wisdom and discernment serve you well, and may your health never wane.

Mr. President-Elect, the 45-million Christians represented by the member communions of the National Council of Churches stand ready to work with you to respond to the realities that a loving God places before us each day. In doing so, we are guided by several basic principles:

That those living in poverty are deeply loved of God; that all God’s people are entitled to equal opportunities for justice, shelter, education, and health care; And that war, even when it is necessary to defend ourselves or the weak or the oppressed, is never the will of God.

CAIR, America’s largest Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, offers its congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama on his historic election to our nation’s highest office. President-elect Obama’s victory sends the unmistakable message that America is a nation that offers equal opportunity to people of all backgrounds.

“While congratulating President-elect Obama on his win, we also recognize the heavy burden placed on those in a leadership role. To be effective, any person in a position of authority needs the support and sound advice of those he or she leads.

“We look forward to having the opportunity to work with the Obama administration in protecting the civil rights of all Americans, projecting an accurate image of America in the Muslim world and playing a positive role in securing our nation.

Americans have made a grave mistake in electing Barack Obama to the presidency. Yet America herself remains great and is not a mistake, which is why so many of her citizens will continue, with even greater energy and determination, to defend her founding principles.

The man elected to the Presidency said during the campaign that he does not know when a human being starts to have human rights. How can one govern from that starting point of ignorance? Governing is about protecting human rights; to do it successfully, you have to know where they come from, and when they begin.