Northwest Indiana Discussion

Obama's liberal church under the microscope
RELIGION | Presidential candidate to speak at group's convention

June 21, 2007
BY SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH Religion Reporter/shogan@suntimes.com

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ, one of the country's most racially diverse and liberal Protestant denominations -- the first to ordain an openly gay minister and to call for equal marriage rights for all people, regardless of gender.

The UCC prides itself as being "out front" on social justice issues, battling civil rights, women's rights and gay rights ahead of the mainstream. One Sunday hymnal equally celebrates male and female images of God.

And earlier this month, the UCC took a stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that the Anti-Defamation League rebuked as "unfair and one-sided."

"Whether the issue is war, health care, poverty, abuse against women and children, the church is right there and sometimes that makes us a target," said the Rev. Edward Smith Davis, 53, of UCC's God Can Ministries in south suburban Ford Heights.

UCC officials said Obama's invitation isn't a political endorsement. They're expecting the highest turnout ever for a convention-- an estimated 11,000 people -- but they say that's because the denomination is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

"We are definitely proud the senator is a member," said the Rev. Jane Fisler Hoffman, head of the UCC's Illinois Conference. "It will be important for church folks to hear a politician speak about his faith and how that informs his work in politics."

Conservatives: Church is racist
The UCC was formed in 1957 by a merger of churches from Congregational, Christian, Evangelical and Reformed traditions. The denomination traces its roots to Christians who ordained the first African-American minister (1785) and the first woman minister (1853).

It's also home to the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, the world's largest gay and lesbian church.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, are members of Trinity United Church of Christ, a South Side church led by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., who teaches members about their African heritage and preaches a theology of black liberation.

Conservative pundits say the church espouses white racism. But Obama and Wright say black empowerment doesn't mean white inferiority.

"For Trinity, being unashamedly black does not mean being anti-white," church historian Martin Marty said in a recent writing.

Because Wright is officiating at a wedding Saturday, he won't be on hand in Hartford to hear Obama. But at a recent church conference in Virginia, Obama singled Wright out in the audience for introducing him ''to someone incredible, Jesus Christ.''