Racism, Experiences of the African-American Church, and Trinity UCC Resources
A collection of resources related to issues of race, racism, liberation theology, and the mission and identity of the United Church of Christ, offered to help local congregations understand the spring 2008 controversies surrounding Trinity UCC of Chicago and retiring Senior Minister the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.
- A Hartford Take On Obama's Former Pastor, by Susan Campbell
- (Hartford Courant, Apr. 16, 2008) Campbell quotes retired the Rev. James L. Kidd and the Rev. Gary Miller, retired and current senior pastors at Asylum Hill Congregational Church UCC in Hartford, who both affirm the ministry of Jeremiah Wright.
- Praying Through Pain with Members of Obama's Church, by Grace Housholder
- (Fort Wayne Daily News, Apr. 15, 2008) A local news columnist describes a visit to worship at Trinity UCC with the words, "wonderful Christian fellowship."
- The Other Side of the Mountaintop: 40 years after his death, MLK's rough edges re-examined, by Kevin Merida
- (The Washington Post, echoed on MSNBC, Apr. 4, 2008) Considers Martin Luther King, Jr. more broadly than the contemporary icon, including his passion, anger, and harsh critiques.
- Race and Politics: Black in America, from Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
- (CNN, Apr. 3, 2008) UCC General Minister and President John Thomas is among those interviewed.
- Hard Words, by John M. Buchanan
- (The Christian Century, Apr. 22, 2008) The Century's editor on Jeremiah Wright: "I wish Jeremiah Wright had made his point about America's failings without saying 'God damn America.' But not for a moment do I wish he had been less prophetic. The great biblical prophets did and said outrageous, controversial things, which consistently got them in trouble and occasionally landed them in jail."
- Project Trinity: the perilous mission of Obama's church, by Kelefah Sanneh
- (The New Yorker, Apr. 7, 2008) "Jeremiah Wright situates his ministry in a lineage of black liberation and deliverance."
- Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama, and the Unacceptability of Truth: Of National Lies and Racial America, by Tim Wise
- (Counterpunch, Mar. 18, 2008) "But our collective indignation, no matter how loudly we announce it, cannot drown out the truth. And as much as white America may not be able to hear it (and as much as politics may require Obama to condemn it) let us be clear, Jeremiah Wright fundamentally told the truth."
- Rev. Wright in a different light, by William A. Von Hoene, Jr.
- (Chicago Tribune, Mar. 26, 2008) A white member of Trinity UCC tells a compelling story about a welcoming church and a pastor seeking to heal racial divisions.
- Rev. Jeremiah Wright's words: Sound bite vs. sermon excerpt
- (Chicago Tribune, Mar. 29, 2008) A transcript of longer portions of the post-September 11 sermon and the "damn America" sermon, setting the oft-played clips into the context of Wright's points for those days.
- The Rest of the Story, by David Moyer
- (News and Notes, March 18) Wisconsin Conference Minister David Moyer wrote the clergy in his conference as the negative coverage of Rev. Wright in newspapers and television were at their height.
- Prophet and Pastor: To his former professor, congregant, and friend, Jeremiah Wright has been both, by Martin E. Marty
- (The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 11, 2008) Church history scholar and Christian Century contributor Martin Marty describes his over thirty-year friendship with Jeremiah Wright.
- Truth About Trinity blog
- "The purpose of this blog is to give the world a perspective from the inside out. From a member! I'm neither ignorant, fanatical, or racist!"
- Trinity United Church of Christ
- The church's own web site.
- Martin Marty on Jeremiah Wright, by Andrew Sullivan
- (The Atlantic Monthly, Mar. 26, 2008) Sullivan emphasizes the importance of Marty's article.
- Talking Points: Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. and Trinity UCC
- From the Proclamation, Identity and Communication ministry of the United Church of Christ
- Talking Points: The Black Church Prophetic Tradition
- From Trinity United Church of Christ
- IRS Investigation: A Test of Church's Faith? by Davida Foy Crabtree
- The Connecticut Conference Minister speaks about the IRS investigation into the UCC's invitation to US Senator Barack Obama to speak at the 2007 General Synod in Hartford.
- Jeremiah Wright and the War of the Worlds, by Eric Anderson
- (ctucc.org, Mar. 27, 2008) Including links to other resources, Anderson tries to understand how Wright's ministry has been so dramatically misunderstood and misrepresented.
- King's Last March, by Kate Ellis and Stephen Smith (American RadioWorks, March, 2008)
- A one-hour audio documentary about the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the last year of his life, when his stand against the war in Vietnam and his renewed efforts against poverty set him against the Johnson Administration and much of American popular sentiment.
- Fresh Air from WHYY: Interviews with James Cone and Dwight Hopkins on Black Liberation Theology (National Public Radio, Mar. 31, 2008)
- Fresh Air host Terry Gross interviews the intellectual founder of black liberation theology and a distinguished theologian at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
- Lies of Omission: Rev. Wright in Context (Daily Kos, Mar. 20, 2008)
- Expanded clips from the two most controversial sermons; the source for the Tribune transcripts above.
- The Language You Cry In: Story of a Mende Song (1 hour documentary)
- This is a documentary from the late 90s illustrating some of the African cultural influences retained among modern African-Americans. The video is available through inter-library loan in Connecticut.
- The Color of Fear (90 minute film)
- A film about the pain and anguish that racism has caused in the lives of eight North American men of Asian, European, Latino, and African descent.
- Fulfilling the Dream: Confronting the Challenge of Racism, by Ronice Branding (St. Louis, Chalice Press), 1998.
- Never Say Nigger Again!: An Antiracism Guide for White Liberals, by M. Garlinda Burton (Winston-Derek Publishers), 1994.
- Black Womanist Ethics, by Katie Cannon (Atlanta, Scholars Press), 1988.
- A Black Theology of Liberation, by James H. Cone (Maryknoll, NY, Orbis Books), 1986
- Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery, by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang, and Jenifer Frank (New York, Ballantine Books), 2005.
- Disrupting White Supremacy From Within: White People on What We Need to Do, edited by Jennifer Harvey, Karin A. Case and Robin Hawley Gorsline (Cleveland, Pilgrim Press), 2004.
- Dismantling Privilege: An Ethics of Accountability, by Mary Elizabeth Hobgood (Cleveland, Pilgrim Press), 2000.
- Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope, by bell hooks (New York, Routledge), 2003.
- Where We Stand: Class Matters, by bell hooks (New York, Routledge), 2000.
- The Black Church in the African American Experience, by C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya (Durham, Duke University Press), 1990.
- Come Sunday: The Liturgy of Zion, by William B. McClain (Nashville, Abingdon Press), 1990.
- Black Preaching: The Recovery of a Powerful Art, by Henry H. Mitchell (Nashville, Abingdon Press), 1990.
- Hearing and Knowing: Theological Reflections on Christianity in Africa, by Mercy Amba Oduyoye (Maryknoll, NY, Orbis Books), 1986.
- Preaching Justice: Ethnic and Cultural Perspectives, edited by Christine Marie Smith (Cleveland, United Church Press), 1998.
Let's talk about race.
On Sunday, May 18, many pastors across our church, the United Church of Christ, will be preaching on race in hopes of beginning a sacred conversation, a dialogue that is needed in our pews, our homes and the hallways of power across our country.
Sacred conversations are never easy, especially when honest talk confront our nation's painful past and speaks directly to the injustices of the present day. Yet sacred conversations can, and often do, honor the value of diverse life experiences, requiring an openness to hear each others' viewpoints.
Over the coming weeks, as we prepare to speak from our pulpits and organize follow-up conversations with our 1.2-million members, we pray this effort will be an important step toward a holy and reconciling dialogue within our church and for our nation.
We invite all communities of faith to join with us. No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, your voice is needed--now.
God is still speaking,
Much has been said about the United Church of Christ in recent weeks, much of it hurtful for many in our country, including members of Trinity UCC in Chicago. That is why we are eager to share the broad and diverse story of the United Church of Christ, one that we celebrate.
With all Christians, we rest in God’s amazing grace and hear God’s voice in the words of Scripture. Yet, the UCC is unique to some because we do not require uniformity of belief. We are a church of open ideas, extravagant welcome and evangelical courage. Our passion for democracy extends to both government and church, where decision-making rests within each congregation. We support liberty in our pulpits, just as we affirm the individual conscience of our 1.2-million members to agree, disagree and wrestle with life’s biggest questions in a spirit of love.
Our story is this nation’s story. We are the people of the Mayflower. More than 600 of our 5,700 congregations were formed before 1776. Eleven signers of the Declaration of Independence were members of UCC predecessor bodies.
As early abolitionists, we came to the aid of the Amistad captives and founded hundreds of schools across the South after the Civil War. We were the first mainline church to ordain an African-American (1785), a woman (1853) and an openly gay pastor (1972). We were also the first to form a foreign mission society (1810). Our multi-ethnic membership includes persons from every immigrant group, as well as native peoples and descendants of freed slaves.
Our unity is not dependent upon uniform agreement, but in our shared allegiance to Jesus Christ. Ours is a risk-taking church, because ours is a risk-taking God. God is still speaking, ®
