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When Focus on the Family leader James Dobson questioned whether Fred Thompson was a Christian, a Thompson spokesman responded that Thompson had been baptized in the Church of Christ. That seemed to settle it for most people, but not for The Christian Chronicle, a newspaper published for the small Christian denomination of around 1 million members. The paper produced a story, "Future president? Fred Thompson's church roots draw interest."

A reader emailed me the text...

The 106th Congressional Record listed Thompson's religious affiliation as Church of Christ. In an interview with the U.S. News and World Report this week, Thompson spokesman Mark Corallo said: "Thompson is indeed a Christian. He was baptized into the Church of Christ."

Corallo did not immediately return calls from the Chronicle seeking additional information about the politician and Law and Order actor's religious background.

David Pinckley, treasurer of the Pulaski Street Church of Christ in Thompson's hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., said the two grew up together. "We went to school together, played football, went to church for many years here in Lawrenceburg," Pinckley told the Chronicle on Friday.

"I don't know his religious status right now, but we were both baptized around 1951 - 1952 maybe," Pinckley added. "We were either 10 or 11 years old then. He was baptized at the First Street church in Lawrenceburg."

The paper goes on to report that Thompson spoke in 1997 at a fund-raising event at Freed-Hardeman University, a Henderson, Tenn., college associated with Churches of Christ.

Thompson used his speaking fee to create an endowed scholarship at Freed-Hardeman for history and political science students, said Stephen Morris, assistant professor of political science and university counsel. The Robert and Ruth Thompson academic scholarship - named after Thompson's parents - offers freshman scholarships worth between $2,500 and $5,000. His father is deceased, but Ruth Thompson lives in Franklin, Tenn., and remains a member of the Church of Christ, Pinckley said.

The story doesn't have any info about Thompson's church attendance habits currently. But it does also mention Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination:

Meanwhile, a few readers have contacted the Chronicle asking if Democratic president candidate Barack Obama, an Illinois senator, is a Church of Christ member.

The answer on that question is a bit clearer: Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ, a liberal denomination that ordains women and gays and supports same-gender marriage equality. The mainline Protestant denomination was formed in 1957 when the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reform Church merged.

I'm guesing Dobson isn't thrilled by that.