Faith in Action

Hat Tip: Baltimore Sun

Black preachers agree to disagree
Area pastors react differently to the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. scandal

By Kelly Brewington
Sun reporter
May 1, 2008

The Rev. Alvin C. Hathaway Sr. considers the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. to be a tremendous pastor and a brilliant theologian. But sitting in the audience of the National Press Club in Washington this week, Hathaway found himself wincing at some of the remarks by Sen. Barack Obama’s embattled former pastor.

“When Jeremiah Wright says an attack on him is ‘an attack on the black church,’ that’s kind of stretching things,” said Hathaway, pastor of Baltimore’s Union Baptist Church. “I think it’s potentially dangerous.”

He is not the only one who thought so.

On Tuesday, Obama condemned Wright’s remarks, characterizing them as disrespectful, offensive and not accurately portraying the perspective of black churches.

Wright’s plunge back into the national spotlight - in which he has defended his fiery remarks, praised the Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan and accused the media of distorting his words - has sparked an intense reaction in Baltimore’s black faith community. Some pastors assert that Wright is not the spokesman of the black religious tradition - one as diverse as the black community itself.

Others have defended Wright’s remarks as rooted in a rich history of black ministers using the pulpit to challenge injustices. They fear that the Wright backlash has overshadowed the black churches’ history, value and good deeds.

“Many of us pastors are pained,” said the Rev. Johnny Golden, pastor of New Unity Church Ministries in Baltimore and president-elect of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. “We see a lot of what he is saying and we understand it, but his comments have wounded the opportunity of Mr. Obama to make gains and opportunity for America to embrace its ideals.”

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Tuesday I watched youtube videos of Dr. Jeremiah Wright’s presentation at the National Press Club kicking off the Legislative Days of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Pastor’s Conference. After watching them and Wright’s presentation live on CNN Sunday night at the Detroit NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet, I must say that he did a fantastic job of carefully explaining the particulars of Black Liberation Theology and the prophetic tradition in America. I especially appreciated his NAACP presentation Sunday night where he spoke masterfully about differences being just that - differences, not deficiencies. For the past few days, White America has been exposed to a fabric of Black Religious Life that it rarely, if ever, sees. As Dr. Wright said, the Black Church is much like Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man - mainstream culture is trained not to see it and when glimpses of it appear, the conclusion is that it is something backward, loud, and uncouth.

While I’m sure that White America brought its own biases to Wright’s presentation (mainly because of corporate-controlled fascist media’s mission to control and shape the thoughts of the masses), those who came with an open mind saw a different (not deficient) line of thought, life, and belief that all too often flows in the undercurrent of mainstream America.

While I agree with others who have expressed appreciation of Wright’s words, it’s interesting to see how, White America aside, some African Americans are expressing radically different sentiments about the Reverend’s presentation.

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Hat Tip: Baltimore Politics Examiner/Adam Meister

Separation of Church and State does not exist in Baltimore
By Adam Meister

Drive around Baltimore and you will notice that there are a lot of churches. Some are in large magnificent buildings while others are in run down storefronts or rowhouses. Most of them are tax exempt in one way or another. Many are considered 501(c)(3) organizations. 501(c)(3) organizations are not allowed to give political endorsements or aid to specific candidates. This law is ignored in Baltimore. Most of the so-called “serious candidates” for local office attend services every Sunday during campaign season. It is an unofficial rule of Baltimore campaigning to befriend as many local pastors (who usually live outside of Baltimore) as possible. They give you the support of their followers and you eventually reward them once you are in power.

I have no problem with churches collecting money to support prayer services and activities that pertain to goodwill, charity, and worship. I do have problems with churches that become huge tax exempt businesses that suck money away from parishioners. I have a problem with religion taking control of government and the elimination of the separation of church and state inside of Baltimore.

Do you find it troubling that supposedly neutral religious institutions yield so much power in a city so desperate for tax revenue?

Here are some interesting links about the power and powerful members of one particular church:

Church Power

Three new members nominated to the Board by O’Malley

Faith-based Community in Baltimore wants a new role in real estate

I just received word that Dr. Jeremiah Wright will be delivering the 11AM morning message this Sunday, April 13, 2008 at the Historic Bank Street Memorial Baptist Church (Norfolk, VA) where the pastor is Rev. William Dixon.

I’m sure that Wright’s phone is blowing up these days so I wondered how Bank Street confirmed him for this Sunday. According to this article, Bank Street has the hookup. Someone from the church is related to Dr. Wright and the church will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Booster’s Ministry.

Kudos to my seminary brother, William Dixon for bringing Dr. Wright to the Norfolk area.

Unfortunately, however not everyone considers Dr. Wright’s presence in Norfolk a blessing. Of course you expect certain folks to frown upon his coming, but another African American pastor?!? Oh come on.

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It was for male ex-offenders who were there to receive information that could potentially help their situation. Here’s part 1 of my sharing. You can check out the rest on my youtube page.

On that same day I conducted a Social Justice Bible Study session for the United Worker’s Association. They have an Organizer’s Training Program that they’ve just started with some of their low-wage workers. The day before I was in Annapolis meeting with members of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland meeting about Governor Martin O’Malley’s absurd DNA bill and from Annapolis did 95 on 95 to get to the studio of WEAA 88.9FM to be a guest on Front Page hosted by my good brother, Craig Thompson. We were talking about Dr. Jeremiah Wright, the Black Church, and Black Liberation Theology.

Once I got home Tuesday night from this long 48 hours of giving and sharing I went straight to bed and slept for 12 hours. (I never do that)

I’m tired ya’ll. My body, mind, and spirit needs a break. I’ve been going full throttle for months now. Vacation please!?

Hat Tip: God’s Politics

The media frenzy over the remarks of Barack Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, raise critical challenge to the prophetic role and voice of the black church. These “incendiary” remarks have set off a firestorm in the media, exposing the deep divide that exists on Sundays - America’s most segregated hour of the week. This controversy serves as a stark reminder that the problem of the color line that still divides the U.S. and its churches. This often misguided debate obscures the rich and necessary prophetic role of the black church. Most coverage fails to capture the competing narratives and self-definitions of the U.S. that coexist depending on one’s race and social location. While I’m uncomfortable with some of Dr. Wright’s overly provocative rhetoric, and disagree with some of his claims (like his suggestion that AIDS was a creation of the U.S. government), I still vehemently defend the prophetic tradition that Rev. Wright has advanced over the course of 36 years of ministry. I agree with the Rev. Otis Moss III, the new Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, that we do a grave disservice by boiling down over 207,000 minutes of Dr. Wright’s preaching into a handful of 30-second sound bites, most taken out of context.

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A “hustler for justice” - that’s what a good sister-friend of mine called me not too long ago. And if that is the case then today I got my hustle on big time.

Faith in Action the radio program aired on Spirit 1400AM at 1PM and we talked about whether Faith or Race should hold ultimate authority as Believers engage matters of politics, public policy, etc. Pamela Wilson, author of Finding Soul Brothers: Dismantling Black Christian Racialism and Dr. Jonathan Walton, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Riverside were our guests. The conversation was pretty interesting. Wilson contends that our cultural identification should be minimized when we “come to Christ” while Walton took the position that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be narrowly defined by the “either-or” lenses of Faith or Race. You know where I stood with my Red, Black, and Green, Pan-Afrikanist, Daishiki-wearing, Revolution starting, White Power Structure critiquing self. (Have you donated to the Faith in Action show yet? If not, why not? I haven’t proved myself yet?)

We were joined in the conversation by Tracy Ward, reporter and writer with The Baltimore Afro American Newspaper. Sis. Ward is a powerful orator, poet, community activist, etc. who has given new life to the Faith in Action page of The Afro. That page has been a place where one could read about everything BUT people of Faith putting into practice what they believe. Ward’s writing is a breath of fresh air as she is on the grind telling the stories of Believers who are in the trenches living out Luke 4:18,19. Sis. Tracy was in the studio today working on a piece about me and the work that I’m doing in the Baltimore Metro area. The piece may be out this Friday, March 21, 2008 - “Good Friday.” I pray that the piece encourages those who are out there “hustling for justice” and that it convicts those who choose to neglect their duty as laborers in the vineyard. (I believe that at this stage if you’re a preacher and you’re not active in some substantive way in the community then it’s because you don’t want to be. Ignorance is not an excuse.)

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Hat Tip: UCC News

By J. Bennett Guess
2/26/2008

The Internal Revenue Service has notified the United Church of Christ’s national offices in Cleveland, Ohio, that the IRS has opened an investigation into U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s address at the UCC’s 2007 General Synod as the church engaging in “political activities.”

In the IRS letter dated Feb. 20, the IRS said it was initiating a church tax inquiry “because reasonable belief exists that the United Church of Christ has engaged in political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status.”

The Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC’s general minister and president, called the investigation “disturbing” but said the investigation would reveal that the church did nothing improper or illegal.

Obama, an active member of the United Church of Christ for more than 20 years, addressed the UCC’s 50th anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Conn., on June 23, 2007, as one of 60 diverse speakers representing the arts, media, academia, science, technology, business and government. Each was asked to reflect on the intersection of their faith and their respective vocations or fields of expertise. The invitation to Obama was extended a year before he became a Democratic presidential candidate.

“The United Church of Christ took great care to ensure that Senator Obama’s appearance before the 50th anniversary General Synod met appropriate legal and moral standards,” Thomas told United Church News. “We are confident that the IRS investigation will confirm that no laws were violated.”

[READ ON TO SEE IRS LETTER & "THE OBAMA SPEECH" THAT PROMPTED THE INVESTIGAGION]

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Today, Rev. Scott Adams and Pastor Reginald Thomas (Greater Gethsemane Church) will be holding it down in my absence on Faith in Action. I have some business to take care of today, but the show will be left in very capable hands.

They’ll be talking about Gay Marriage in Maryland. This has been a perennial issue in Maryland for the past few year’s in our state’s General Assembly and some say that the “pro-gay marriage” activists have built the necessary support needed to push this over the top.

There are a plethora of bills that the Legislature is considering. The State Senate had its first round of hearings on these bills on Feb. 14th. The House will be hearing its bills in committee this Thursday, February 28, 2008. (Click here to see the full rundown of bills being considered.) Some say the issue is whether or not same-sex partners should be afforded the same rights that heterosexual partners are afforded under the law. Others say the issue is the normalizing and legislating of deviant behavior that goes against natural order and God’s design.

How should the state of Maryland come down on this issue?

That’s the question we’ll be asking Sen. C. Anthony Muse who is a member of one of the committees considering this issue and Chair of the Prince George’s County Legislative Delegation. Muse is also the pastor of The Ark of Safety Christian Church in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. He is the lone democrat who has joined five republican senators in pushing legislation that would authorize a man and woman to enter into a “covenant marriage” - a move intended to strengthen heterosexual marriages, but does not address same-sex marriages.

Find out what he, Pastor Reggie Thomas, and our spirited callers have to say about this issue today at 1PM on Faith in Action on Spirit 1400AM (Baltimore). For those outside of the Baltimore area, the audio will be posted to the blog later this week, but in the meantime feel free to post your comments/questions here and we’ll possibly address them on air.