Bush’s last day in Maine spent praying, fishing President back to Washington after brief vacation

KENNEBUNKPORT – On the misty last day of a brief vacation, President Bush attended church Sunday at an oceanside chapel and went fishing in the Atlantic with his father.

Gray waves curled in white froth over the black rocks off the shore when Bush’s motorcade pulled through the gates of St. Ann’s Episcopal Church as a light rain abated.

The president, first lady Laura Bush, and his parents, former President Bush and his wife, Barbara, and other family members sat in a front-row pew after being greeted at the door by the Right Rev. Chilton R. Knudsen, the Episcopal bishop of Maine.

The church, used mostly by summer visitors to this vacation coast, was built in 1887 in Old English style of cemented rocks and boulders. The Bush compound at Walker’s Point is a short ride away up Ocean Avenue.

Bush, who was to return to the White House on Sunday afternoon, heard a prayer “for all who govern and hold authority in the nations of the world.”

“Let us pray for all our needs and those of others and those of the president of the United States,” a member of the congregation said.

But vacation relaxation appeared to be a shared thought. It was reflected in a bit of repartee between the bishop and the Rev. M.L. Agnew, the chapel’s summer minister.

“You may think the bishop is here to worship, but she’s really here to play golf,” the minister joked.

“Pray that the rain stops,” the bishop replied.

Earlier, Agnew, who is dean of the Episcopal cathedral at Shreveport, La., was asked if he played golf as quickly as the president. Bush, like his father, is something of a speed golfer.

“He has assistance,” Agnew replied, referring to the president’s aides and the Secret Service agents who clear his way. “And I have to look out for my own golf balls.”

Bush, the 43rd president, and his father, the 41st, have played two fast-paced rounds of golf since the presidential party arrived at the family compound on Thursday afternoon. They have continued the family horseshoe rivalry. They also have fished offshore for striped bass.

That is clearly what was on the president’s mind as he left St. Ann’s.

“See you fishing,” he said.