At Obama's old church, pastor declares 2008 controversy closed

A young man, maybe 22 or 23 years old, had driven from Texas to the church on Chicago's South Side that President Barack Obama attended before his first White House run.

He told the Rev. Otis Moss III, Trinity United Church of Christ's senior pastor, that talk radio had led him to believe that the church's teachings were evil. He showed up to make a scene and disrupt the service, Moss said.

But he didn't. Instead, Moss said, the teary-eyed white man approached the pastor of the almost exclusively black congregation and said, "I came here to hate you, but while I've been here, I've experienced the love of God." Then, Moss said, the Texan slipped out of the sanctuary before the pastor could continue the conversation.

Moss told that anecdote to worshippers Sunday as he encouraged them to move past the brouhaha that ensued years ago when a video surfaced of the church's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., screaming "God damn America!" from the pulpit.

Wright's comment, jarring in any context, was part of a sternly worded sermon about the need for America to right a series of wrongs against minority groups. When the clip was played ? and replayed and replayed again ? on the news, it sparked a controversy that eventually led then-Sen. Obama to disavow Wright's comments and leave the church where he was married.

On Sunday, Moss delivered a message that was equal parts a pat on the back and a call to action. Seeking to place the 2008 episode in a historical context of black Americans rising above injustice, Moss said Trinity members handled the controversy with grace but had to continue asserting themselves and sticking up for what was right.

The sermon was intentionally timed for election week, Moss said. The pastor implored worshippers to vote, but he was careful to avoid using candidates' names.

When Tuesday's votes are counted, Moss said there is no immediate plan to reach out to Obama except for congratulating him if he wins a second term. Wright will be recognized at Trinity later this month at an honorary event put on by the Black Religious Scholars Group. Moss said it is coincidental that the recognition will be just after Obama's last election.

But the event comes at a time when the church is vocally putting the controversy in its past. Sunday's bulletin said Trinity "was attacked by powerful corporate and independent entities looking to sully the name of our church ? and derail" Obama's campaign. But the church triumphed, the bulletin added, and Sunday was time to "shut the door on hate and cast the memories of the election of 2008 into the cellar of botched attempts by the enemy to silence ? God's people."

Back in 2008, as the video of Wright spread across the Web, controversy descended on the 95th Street congregation that would much rather be known for its outreach to young adults and vibrant prison ministry than a years-old sound bite. As that election raged on, Trinity became international news and, unwittingly, an emotional flash point as America engaged in a larger conversation about race. Journalists crowded outside the church most weekends. Death threats started to come in. The church made emergency evacuation plans.

Trinity could have gone one of two ways, Moss told his congregation Sunday. Instead of falling apart, he said the church has grown and thrived.

"We had such a challenging moment in our community," the pastor said in an interview, "and God embraced us. We wanted to close the chapter on a very unique and painful moment in our history."

The church never fractured, said Dwight N. Hopkins, a longtime Trinity member and a theology professor at the University of Chicago.

"There was a period when I think the church was under attack," Hopkins said. "The church became tighter, closer in that period."

Moss agreed, and credited God with helping Trinity emerge from the controversy and show its true colors and mission to the broader public. He said the image of his church that splashed across the Internet and cable news is far from representative of the place where old ladies line up to hug visitors and members hold hands in prayer.

"When (people) come to Trinity, just like the young man from Texas, they'll recognize that the love of God is so thick in this place," Moss said. "The residue of that kind of spirit rubs off on people."

mitsmith@tribune.com

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-trinity-church-before-election-20121105,0,4863491.story?track=rss

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