My mom, a Hillary supporter, sent me this on Reverend Wright,

[keith the dem]

She is also a lifelong UCC member (E & R before UCC was formed). It was sent to her by her cousin who is a retired UCC Pastor.

I hope this is not too long, but we need to get this info out....and please watch Bill Moyer tonight.


"Dear friends and family,

Some of you may not know that we are associate members of the United Church of Christ in Naples. It is a wonderful church experience for the months that we are in Florida.

Our senior pastor here shared the following article with us shortly after the sound bytes of Dr. Jeremiah Wright were aired repeatedly on TV. Although the sound bytes depicted a terrible picture of Dr. Wright and we certainly disagree with the statements he made in those sound bytes, his ministry there over the past 36 years gives another view of him and his congregation. However, no doubt it was time for him to retire.

This following article, (written by Rev. Kent Saladi, a Florida Conference minister) points out the many positive things that the Trinity UCC congregation has done in its pursuit of carrying out Christ's teachings with a missionary spirit. It is a rather lengthy article, so we have tried to highlight those positive things toward the latter part of the article. We respect Barack Obama's decision to stay in the congregation that has meant so much to him in spite of the very negative political fall-out that was bound to come. How he handled this issue, including his speech on race, affirmed even more our support of Barack Obama. We think he has the character, intelligence, and vision to lead our nation.

John and Nancy

Friends and Colleagues in Ministry:


Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as well as Senator Barack Obama, a member of Trinity, have been the subject of distressing news reports yesterday on many television channels and now today in print media. Excerpts have been taken from Rev. Wright's sermons of the past seven years and replayed with calls for Senator Obama to repudiate his now-retired pastor and his church. To reduce Rev. Wright’s ministry to a “sound byte” analysis diminishes his faithfulness over a long and transformational ministry. I encourage us all to hold Trinity and all its members and pastors in prayer through these days. I am reprinting below a story from the national UCC webpage with the hope that its perspective will help you spiritually as you prepare for Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

As you might imagine, I, like you, am filled with lamentation about this development. I am pondering the condition of our nation's soul, the judgment of the media, the continuing racism that depletes us all, the nature of political campaigns, freedom of the pulpit, and how on earth we help people understand the Black church experience in America as well as the freedom of individual believers within our covenantal polity. I fervently ask for your prayers for the members of Trinity, who are a blessing to Chicago, to the United Church of Christ and to the ecumenical Church.

Chicago's Trinity UCC is 'great gift to wider church family'

Written by J. Bennett Guess
March 14, 2008

In the wake of misleading attacks on its mission and ministry,Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ is being lauded by United Church of Christ leaders across the nation for the integrity of its worship, the breadth of its community involvement and the depth of its commitment to social justice.

"Trinity United Church of Christ is a great gift to our wider church family and to its own community in Chicago," says UCC General Minister and President John H. Thomas. "At a time when it is being subjected to caricature and attack in the media, it is critical that all of us express our gratitude and support to this remarkable congregation, to Jeremiah A. Wright for his leadership over 36 years, and to Pastor Otis Moss III, as he assumes leadership at Trinity."

Thomas says he has been saddened by news reports that "present such a caricature of a congregation that been such a great blessing."

"These attacks, many of them motivated by their own partisan agenda, cannot go unchallenged," Thomas emphasizes. "It's time for all of us to say 'No' to these attacks and to declare that we will not allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends."

Located in the heart of Chicago's impoverished Southside, Trinity UCC's vast array of ministries include career development and college placement, tutorial and computer services, health care and support groups, domestic violence programs, pastoral care and counseling, bereavement services, drug and alcohol recovery, prison ministry, financial counseling and credit union, housing and economic development, dozens of choral, instrumental and dance groups, and diverse programming for all ages, including youth and senior citizens.

Thomas, a member of Pilgrim Congregational UCC in Cleveland, has attended worship at Trinity UCC on a few occasions -- most recently on March 2 -- and says he is "profoundly impressed" with the 6,000-member congregation.

Among Trinity UCC's crowning achievements, Thomas says, is its work with young people.

"While the worship is always inspiring, the welcome extravagant, and the preaching biblically based and prophetically challenging, I have been especially moved by the way Trinity ministers to its young people, nurturing them to claim their Christian faith, to celebrate their African-American heritage, and to pursue higher education to prepare themselves for leadership in church and society," Thomas says.

'Exceedingly gracious'

The Rev. Steve Gray, the UCC's Indiana-Kentucky Conference Minister, describes Trinity UCC as a "jewel."

"It's everything a Christian community is supposed to be," says Gray, who has been working with Trinity UCC for the past three years to develop a new UCC congregation in Gary, Ind. "Trinity has given well over $100,000 in support of its partnership with us, and in 15 months of regular meetings with Jeremiah Wright, we always found him to be a man of gracious hospitality, humor, generosity, who paid attention to detail but also a man who does not call attention to himself."

Trinity UCC has been involved in planting more than 15 new congregations, according to the UCC's Evangelism Ministry in Cleveland.

Gray, a member of First Congregational UCC in Indianapolis, has worshiped several times at Trinity UCC and is most impressed by the overflowing sense of welcome it extends to visitors.

"When you're Euro-American, the people are so exceedingly gracious, warm and welcoming. They hug you and say, 'Welcome to our church!'"

Many, including Gray, point with appreciation to Trinity UCC's generous support of denominational and ecumenical ministries. From 2003 to 2007, Trinity UCC gave more than $3.7 million to Our Church's Wider Mission, the UCC's shared fund for connectional mission and ministry.

'Extraordinary outreach'

The Rev. Bennie Whiten, retired Massachusetts Conference Minister who prior served for 15 years as associate director of Chicago's Community Renewal Society, says, "Trinity was one church that we could always rely on to respond almost immediately. They have been very, very involved in the community in so many meaningful ways."

Noting the church's work in health care, early childhood education and economic development, Whiten says, "The scope of their concern and outreach is extraordinary. It's really just an outstanding congregation."

Whiten, a member of Pilgrim UCC in Oak Park, Ill., is especially taken with Trinity UCC's commitment to the need and importance of quality theological education. More than 60 members of Trinity UCC are currently enrolled in seminary and pursuing masters-level degrees. Moreover, the congregation pays for students' tuition costs.

"They firmly believe in the UCC's commitment to an educated, seminary-trained clergy," Whiten said, "and they have probably had more people feeling the call to ministry than any other church in the denomination."

The Rev. Susan Thistlethwaite, president and professor of theology at UCC-related Chicago Theological Seminary, says Trinity UCC is a model church in the way it supports its people in discerning and cultivating their gifts for ministry, both lay and ordained.

"Another thing I really appreciate about Trinity is that its ministries are always directed both inward, toward the congregation itself, and also outward in supporting other congregations ecumenically and supporting community organizations that are dedicated to lifting up the wider society," Thistlethwaite says. "We have had so many fine students come through Chicago Theological Seminary who were helped to discern their call to ministry through this church's dedication to serving the wider church."

'Jesus and justice'

The Rev. Kenneth L. Samuel, pastor of Victory UCC in Stone Mountain, Ga., says he is impressed that Trinity UCC "promotes spirituality and piety while also being emphatic about social justice."

While Trinity UCC is the denomination's largest congregation, Samuel's 5,300-member church is the UCC's second largest. Founded in 1987, it joined the UCC in 2004.

"Trinity was really one of the churches that inspired me to want to affiliate with the United Church of Christ," Samuel said. "My church was originally National Baptist and Southern Baptist, but it was the critical-thinking that brought to this work, the justice work, that helped me to want to become a part of the denomination. I have no regrets about that."

Samuel says that, during Wright's 36-year ministry at Trinity, Wright has not been afraid to tackle difficult topics, while staying equally committed to preaching "Jesus and justice."

"There have been two major sins in the Black church that many Black churches will not address – homophobia is one and sexism is another," Samuel says, "and Jeremiah Wright has been one of the articulate, courageous voices that has not been afraid to address these critical issues. If he can do that and still maintain his close connectivity to the Black community, and stay grounded in the Black ethos, that's what has inspired me."

'Speaks well for us'

Carol Brown, national president of United Black Christians and a member of Cleveland's Mt. Zion UCC for more than 50 years, describes Trinity UCC as "the flagship church of the United Church of Christ."

"I think it's very interesting that a minority group within a denomination can have the largest church, support the most ministries and give the largest number of OCWM dollars," Brown says. "That speaks well for us as an accepting, open and affirming denomination. Especially, as a justice-oriented church, sets a standard for all the denomination that all are welcome."

Brown, who worships at Trinity UCC when in Chicago for meetings, says she is most taken by its exuberant spirit.

"It's certainly a very welcoming church, and it's certainly very reaffirming of the faith when people join in such large numbers when there's an altar call," Brown says. "It's something that you don't see in the average church. God is certainly at work there, and it's exciting when you see that many people stand up to witness to their faith and step forward."



Kent J. Siladi

Conference Minister

Florida Conference, United Church of Christ"

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Thank you, and K & R, for sharing the truth.

Perhaps due to being an atheist, I was not at all taken aback by Rev Wright's sermon - or the clips they picked from it - because I know that there are many, many ways to preach and his aptly called Jeremiad is a part of prophetic preaching with a very long tradition - though seldom heard in your typical middle-class suburban churches.

And thanks to your Hillary-supporting mom who is willing to put the truth out there, and reject the calumny upon the Rev Wright and, through him, her candidate's opponant, when through silence she could have allowed it to stand.

There are still some good people out there.

[keith the dem]

2. A little more truth,

She supports Hillary, but still likes Obama. I'm the opposite, I support Obama, yet I still like Hillary.

[JimGinPA]

3. K&R

[Greyskye]

4. K & R

:kick: