Shawnee pastor’s ‘Children’s White House’ highlights Christianity’s role in U.S. history – Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

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Culture & the Family
Ray Carter | September 4, 2025
Ed Moore, who has pastored a Shawnee-area church for more than two decades, has dreamed for more than a decade about educating the next generation on how the Christian faith was intertwined and foundational in the founding of the United States.
That dream has now materialized, in part, with a small-scale replica of the White House itself, sitting not in Washington, D.C., but near the shore of Shawnee Twin Lakes in front of Moore’s home.
“We want to reestablish the spiritual foundations of our country,” Moore said. “They’ve really been undermined, so badly that people who think they understand what this is all about, they don’t understand. Sure, it was about liberty. It was about freedom. But it was more about God.”
Dubbed the “U.S. Children’s White House,” the facility is “a Christian initiative that seeks to honor the founding faith of our forefathers.”
The interior of the building includes, among other things, portraits of 14 U.S. presidents and associated quotes in which those men explicitly noted that the moral foundations of the U.S. are grounded in Christianity.
“The foundations of our society and our government rest so much in the teachings of the Bible, that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.” —President Calvin Coolidge
“We’re going to try to remind people all across the country,” Moore said.
One of Moore’s favorite presidential quotes comes from Thomas Jefferson: “God who gave us life gave us liberty; and can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis—a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that his justice cannot sleep forever.”
The building includes similar quotes from other U.S. presidents from various political parties across many decades.
President John Quincy Adams: “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: That it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of self-government with the principles of Christianity.”
President Calvin Coolidge: “The foundations of our society and our government rest so much in the teachings of the Bible, that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country. If American democracy is to remain the greatest hope of humanity, it must continue abundantly in the faith of the Bible.”
President Harry Truman: “Our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a government that does not believe in rights for anybody but the state.”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Without God, there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic expression of Americanism.”
“It’s incredible,” Moore said. “When you look at all these quotes individually, and put them together, you realize what a tremendous foundation we have.”
Moore views the White House replica and associated efforts as part of a national classroom.
“Our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days.” —President Harry Truman
He is currently working on a 12-week curriculum, “The Faith that Built America,” that explores those themes in U.S. history at greater length. Moore hopes many churches will use the curriculum, as well as Christian private schools, homeschoolers, and civic groups.
“There’s nothing out there, that I’m aware of, that teaches what we’re going to be teaching, reconnecting our past and our Biblical foundations with today,” Moore said.
The curriculum will be made available online.
“You can’t get everybody here,” Moore said, motioning to the U.S. Children’s White House, “but you can export this there.”
With the nation’s 250th anniversary approaching, Moore expects increased interest in the United States’ founding.
The process of building the replica White House took two years of labor and was finished only recently. While completion of the building was a huge task, Moore believes his work has only begun. The effort of promoting the nation’s history, including the influence of Christian faith in its founding, is likely to require just as much effort for a far longer period of time.
He is still hammering out a plan to make his vision a reality. While the future cannot be predicted, Moore said he is confident that mission will also be completed.
“I have a dream, and I have faith,” Moore said. “And faith can move mountains.”
Director, Center for Independent Journalism
Ray Carter is the director of OCPA’s Center for Independent Journalism. He has two decades of experience in journalism and communications. He previously served as senior Capitol reporter for The Journal Record, media director for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and chief editorial writer at The Oklahoman. As a reporter for The Journal Record, Carter received 12 Carl Rogan Awards in four years—including awards for investigative reporting, general news reporting, feature writing, spot news reporting, business reporting, and sports reporting. While at The Oklahoman, he was the recipient of several awards, including first place in the editorial writing category of the Associated Press/Oklahoma News Executives Carl Rogan Memorial News Excellence Competition for an editorial on the history of racism in the Oklahoma legislature.
Ray Carter is the director of OCPA’s Center for Independent Journalism. He has two decades of experience in journalism and communications. He previously served as senior Capitol reporter for The Journal Record, media director for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and chief editorial writer at The Oklahoman. As a reporter for The Journal Record, Carter received 12 Carl Rogan Awards in four years—including awards for investigative reporting, general news reporting, feature writing, spot news reporting, business reporting, and sports reporting. While at The Oklahoman, he was the recipient of several awards, including first place in the editorial writing category of the Associated Press/Oklahoma News Executives Carl Rogan Memorial News Excellence Competition for an editorial on the history of racism in the Oklahoma legislature.
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