He attended church in Chicago with his wife, Jackie, and family. The black civil rights leader and Baptist minister broke his short-lived purdah by telling the congregation at the Salem Baptist Church: "Life is not a straight line. There are curves in the road."

 Since the disclosure of his affair and child, Mr Jackson has received the backing of President Clinton, who relied heavily on him for support during his own sex scandal involving Monica Lewinsky. In his address to the congregation, Mr Jackson said: "I want to thank my family and my wife, a virtuous woman." After 38 years and five children, he said looking at his wife, "you're still here".

 On Saturday, inauguration day, Mr Jackson had been due to lead a rally in Florida protesting at the presidential election result, which he said ignored the wishes of black voters. He cancelled that appearance to spend time with his family. But yesterday, he said he would soon return to attacking the new Bush administration.

 It emerged over the weekend, that Mr Jackson's Rainbow/Push Coalition, a Washington-based organisation which promotes civil rights, paid Karin Stanford nearly £25,000 when she left its Washington office to move to California while pregnant with Mr Jackson's child. 

The organisation claims that the money constituted severance pay and a relocation allowance rather than a pay-off. Miss Stanford gave birth 20 months ago and Jackson, 59, has been paying £2,000 a month in child support from his own savings. 

Once news of the child broke on Thursday, Jackson immediately admitted and apologised for his affair. He is due in New York tomorrow to promote his Wall Street Project for minorities.