Guests Attend a Worship Service in the East Room

This photograph, taken by National Geographic photographer Joseph J. Scherschel on December 21, 1969, shows attendees watching a worship service in the East Room. The religious service included performances by the Boys Choir of the Washington National Cathedral as well as the teenage daughters of five White House staffers and one cabinet member. Approximately 325 guests attended the Sunday morning service, including astronauts Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, and Richard F. Gordon, Jr., who took part the previous month in the Apollo 12 lunar exploration mission. Prominently featured in the background is an 18th-century crèche, or nativity scene. The crèche was gifted to the White House in 1967 by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Engelhard of Fall Hills, New Jersey. During the holiday season at the White House, the crèche is traditionally displayed in the East Room.