As painful as it was, and as much as Dr. Wright has suffered, this was a discussion that America needed to have.  It at least opened the door to some issues that had been shut for some time. 

THE MEDIA LYNCHING OF JEREMIAH WRIGHT (PART 1) 

March 16th, 2008 · 55 Comments

Sick…disgusted…appalled. Those were some of the feelings that washed over me as I listened to the mainstream media launch an all out assault on Dr. Jeremiah Wright Jr. It should have been no surprise, but even my wary eyes were taken aback by the ferocity of the attacks on Dr. Wright.

I have had the pleasure to observe the gospel genius and hermeneutical excellence of Dr. Wright for the last 10 years since joining Friendship-West Baptist Church. Dr. Wright serves as father in the ministry to my pastor, Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III. After the frustration with the media last week drove me to turn off my television and withdraw from all things politics, it was a sermon today by Dr. Haynes that helped me gather my thoughts to the point where I can now express my feelings.

What is most shameful about this entire episode with Dr. Wright and Barack Obama is that it shows how little America knows about and how much less America cares about the black church. A black preacher uttering words from the pulpit regarding America’s racist past and present is neither novel or unique.

Now the same media structure that constantly undermined Dr. Martin Luther King, and the same government that tapped every phone that he used, wants to prop him up as an example of “color-blind” preaching. The Dr. King who in his day was considered too radical and color concerned by his own contemporaries is now painted as a kumbaya fella who white folks would like to sit down and have a latte with. Save it America.

I hear the question: What is the need for a black church in today’s society.? Is that a joke? I mean when someone fixes their mouth to ask an idiotic question like that, I’m left to wonder what planet -less known what country- that person is living on.

Ask the slave masters who did not invite their hired property to worship with them why there is a black church. Or ask the people who use the symbol of Christ’s suffering as an instrument of hate and fear.

Ask yourself, if you are a Christian, why you don’t make the first step and join a predominantly black congregation. Of course that makes no sense, right? It’s usually expected that African-Americans abandoned our heritage and integrate/assimilate with our white brethren in the name of progress. Well that street runs both ways.

Ask Richard Allen why there is a black church. Allen’s legacy is the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination. He believed it better for black parishioners to have their own places of worship rather than adhere to the dictates and demands of white church leaders who told black church goers when and where they could worship.

You cannot separate the African-American struggle for justice and the black church. Think Frederick Douglass, who in 1839 was licensed to preach in the AME Church. Think Denmark Vesey, a founder of the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston who was executed for his part in organizing a slave uprising in that very city.

Whether its Jeremiah Wright in Chicago, Illinois or the late Rev. A.M. Seamon in Paris, Texas, the black preacher has made it his business to stand up for his people knowing no one else in America would do so. Black preachers have always been labeled as radicals when speaking truth to power. That remains unchanged to this day.

Dr. Wright, a man who retired just last month after a 36-year ministry, now watches as his legacy is distorted and dismantled by those who would do anything to see Barack Obama fall short in his bid for the White House. In the YouTube clip that I saw, Dr. Wright talked about an America where white men controlled the resources and controlled the access to wealth in this country. What’s so radical about that? If it’s a lie please tell me.

• This morning, Pfleger, the 59-year-old pastor of St. Sabina Roman Catholic Church, plans to move out of the rectory he has called home for 33 years and into an apartment in the surrounding Auburn-Gresham neighborhood.

• (Cardinal Francis) George telephoned Pfleger Monday night and asked him to take a sabbatical for a month or so. When Pfleger balked, the cardinal, who has long talked of moving Pfleger from St. Sabina where he’d overstayed the archdiocese’s term limit for parish priests by years and years, told him to sleep on it, Pfleger said.

• “I asked the cardinal if I could stay in the rectory during this time and he said no,” Pfleger said late Tuesday night, after his parishioners held a prayer service and rally demanding their pastor’s immediate and full return to the parish, as well as a meeting with George to discuss Pfleger’s future and the future of the unique African-American parish he’s been instrumental in shaping over the last three decades.

• “I’m going to buy a bed and get some furniture from the church basement and move into an apartment in the neighborhood,” a deflated-sounding Pfleger told me, while the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ where Pfleger made the fiery statements late last month that got him into this latest donnybrook with the cardinal, waited to take him to a late dinner. “I’m trying to find out what [George] means by ‘a couple of weeks.’ There’s no timeline. There’s no date. Give me a time. It just says a couple of weeks. I don’t know . . . “

I haven’t had a chance to discuss these latest developments with Father Pleger but I am hoping to see him later this month.  Until then, I will pray for him as I do for Rev. Wright, and Trinity United Methodist Church.  Father Pfleger has received over 3,000 death threats since his speeches from Trinity were cut up for public consumption.

The ironic thing is that Pfleger was one of three white ministers Trinity invited out to discuss ways of dealing with and overcoming race.  Father Pfleger hates white privilege and white entitlement with a passion. Some may act as if it doesn’t exist, but I have always admired him for standing on this principle.

The “Black Church” gets thrown under the bus while no one accounts for John Hagee’s beliefs. It’s a terrible double standard at work here.

Involvement in civil right on a local level

Some of the NAACP leaders are interested in finding leader who has “worked in the movement” Well just short investigation into Dr. Haynes ministry at Friendship-West Baptist Church will find that he has been intimately involved in the so-called movement.

There is a local instances that highlights Dr. Haynes’ leadership in the area of social justice. First is the case of Tyrone Brown. In short, a Dallas judge sentenced Mr. Brown to life in prison after testing positive for marijuana while on probation for armed robbery. Tyrone was 17 at the time.

Dr. Haynes rallied a coalition which included Mr. Brown’s family (who worked tirelessly), civic leaders -including the local NAACP, and members of the faith community to lobby the governor on Tyrone’s behalf. The effort worked, as Brown was released after serving 16 years and 10 months in prison.

And this was not a drive-by justice effort for Dr. Haynes. Soon after his release last Spring, Tyrone was offered a job at Friendship-West where he is still employed and working towards his GED.

And you can’t dismiss his involvement in the Jena 6 rally last year. 18 buses left Friendship-West headed for Jena for the historic rally, as he pulled together a coalition of local churches and Texas Supports Jena 6.   Haynes was also a speaker at the event in Jena.

Master Orator

George Curry referred to Dr. Haynes as a”high-energy, intelligent, spellbinding orator in the mold of Benjamin L. Hooks.” It was Hooks who took over the NAACP in the late 70’s after a period of decline.

There’s no doubt that Dr. Haynes’ greatest appeal is his gift for the spoken word. That gift has been the catalyst in grown Friendship-West’s membership into 5 figures.

On any given Sunday, Haynes will preach two different sermons, on two different topics without out a set of notes anywhere around. His style has been studied in various theological circles, but the delivery is more captivating than the structure.

Anyone can give a good speech, but Haynes’ sermons inspire action from people who hear his messages. And those sermons are the basis for a ministry that is much more about action than words.

Historically, the African-American community has held oratory prowess in high esteem. That tradition spans from Frederick Douglass, to Martin Luther King, to the emergence of Barack Obama. The NAACP needs a personality cut from a similar cloth that can capture the imagination of its constituency.

Leader of a National Ministry

It’s apparent to all who know Dr. Haynes that he was called for the benefit of the nation/world, and not just his local community. For two decades, Dr. Haynes has evangelized from coast to coast on a weekly basis. From Brooklyn, to Little Rock, to San Francisco and all point in between, Dr. Haynes preaches the good news throughout the land.

His extensive travels make him uniquely qualified to understanding the branch level challenges presented to a national organization like the NAACP.  He’s already visited nearly every large and medium sized city (many small ones too) who have NAACP chapters.

The question has been raised how will Haynes’ relationship with his church differ were he to be selected as the NAACP’s next leader. I’d have to think very little. Friendship-West counts it as a blessing to be able to share their pastor with fellow believers around the country. Any given week their pastor is out of town 4-5 days with preaching engagements.

I can’t see how his schedule could be that much different than that.  He has an able staff of pastors and administrators who oversee the day to day operations of the church.  His ablility to identify able leaders and delegate tasks is another talent which would benefit his NAACP tenure.

A Man of the People

Too often activists, politicians, even preachers, are far removed from the people for whom they are supposed to be advocating. Through all of his success, Dr. Haynes has kept his residence in the Southern half of Dallas which is home to many African-Americans and near the community he holds so dearly.

Another telling sign of how Dr. Haynes relates to people can be seen with how he interacts after a service. Whether it’s a Sunday night in Dallas or a Tuesday night in Jacksonville, Florida, somehow the man manages to shake the hand and talk to every well wisher who approaches him.

Dr. Haynes will translate this same person to person approach to the NAACP. He will take the NAACP from Baltimore and bring it to the people. For too long the NAACP has been more about the national organization than about its members.

Familiar with large projects

In 2006, Friendship-West moved into a $30 million “church and conference center” which resides on 60 acres of land. The sanctuary seats over 5,000 people and a commercial kitchen, computer lab are also housed in the building.

The second phase has just begun which will include a Chuck E. Cheese/Dave and Busters style entertainment center, an amphitheater for concerts, senior and single family housing, as well as a social services center. The budget of an organization like the NAACP will not scare Dr. Haynes, who has managed to sustain his church’s building project through these trying economic times.

Cultivation of talent and technology

Dr. Haynes will find a way to connect the talent that the organization already has spread throughout the country. Though the core of its members and officers are advanced in age, there are a number of branches benefiting from bright young leaders.

Branch presidents are on the front lines doing all that they can with what they have to work with. There are many branch presidents like Casey Thomas here in Dallas dare to challenge the status quo in their cities. Like Kevin Miles who is using the Wichita NAACP branch blog to disseminate pertinent information and as a new tool in the struggle for justice. Like Amber Scott, president of the NAACP chapter at Spelman College who is reaching out to young voters in this election cycle and getting them involved in process.

Dr. Haynes can use all available technologies to tear down silos that exist and make the organization much more seamless. The NAACP has thus far been light years behind in the civil rights movement that is taking place on the internet.

Haynes has already shown a willingness to embrace technology. Friendship-West’s services are currently broadcast each week on the internet. Why not his NAACP addresses and meetings?

If the group has any hopes of regaining its relevance or a place in the national consciousness, it’s imperative that they catch up to organizations such as Color of Change that have proven to be far more effective advocates in the digital age.

Dr. Frederick D. Haynes has a unique set of gifts, talents and experiences that make him the optimal choice as the next president of the NAACP. The historic organization, the African-American community at large, and the entire nation would benefit from the Executive Board bestowing this prestigious honor upon him.

After my initial post on the General Council’s vote adopting an agenda item seeking to stop the sell of the SMU land where the library would be built, I was contacted by Rev. Scott Jones. Jones is Bishop of the Kansas Area of the United Methodis Church, and Immediate past president of the South Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops. He took issues with me saying the council had “rejected” the idea of the library. See his full response here.

Now Rev. Andrew J. Weaver, Ph. D. comes back to Dallas South to share more of his thoughts on what the vote means. After reading his response as well as the linked articles, I have a hard time believing that the South Central Jurisdiction will have the courage to make a decision like the one suggested by Dr. Weaver and many of the church’s members. The stance the General Council took on homosexuality would pale in comparison to the message the church would send by rejecting the Bush Library. The following is Dr. Weaver’s response to Rev. Jones.

“The General Conference of the United Methodist Church did receive a petition asking it to block SMU’s decision to lease land for the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Center. Its decision was only to refer it to the South Central Jurisdictional Conference. In no way did it reject the decision already made by the South Central Jurisdiction’s Mission Council. The action was merely procedural because the General Conference said the decision belonged at the Jurisdictional level. The overwhelming nature of the vote was due to the fact that it, along with 11 other petitions, was on a consent calendar….” (1). Scott J. Jones, Bishop, Kansas Area of the United Methodist Church. (Email to Dallas South May 3, 2008)

United Methodist Bishop Scott J. Jones of Kansas has been an outspoken advocate for locating the Bush library and partisan institute at Southern Methodist University (SMU) (2-3). He has also told the press that the right of the South Central Jurisdiction (SCJ) delegates to vote on the use of their church property at SMU will not be honored, although it is clearly stated in church law that a vote is mandated (4-5).

This appears to continue to be Jones’ position even after an 844-20 vote on a petition calling for the rejection of the Bush project was referred to the SCJ by the highest authority in the UMC – its General Conference. If this vote has no moral or legal force and is, “merely procedural”, why did General Conference bother bringing it to a vote in the first place?

The petition against the Bush project could have been killed in committee, dozens were, but it passed the important Ministry and Higher Education Committee by a vote of 51 to 5. It could have easily been killed on the floor, but it was not. Instead it was formally referred by a vote of 844-20 to the owners of the SMU property.

Bishop Jones told the Dallas Morning News in 2007 that the thousands of fellow United Methodists and SMU alumni who signed a petition (www.protectSMU.org) objecting to Bush partisan think tank “would have no influence” on him as an SMU trustee. Moreover, he declared that SMU “trustees — not the United Methodist Church — have the final say on decisions that SMU makes about the library” (6). Bishop Jones made this statement despite the fact that the UMC founded and owns SMU, and the trustees are appointed under the authority of the church.

I urge Bishop Jones to reconsider and support the democratic and transparent processes of our church. I fear our communion will suffer a lingering and unnecessary wound of distrust, hurt, and anger if there is not fairness on this issue. Thousands of United Methodists (see www.protestSMU.org) believe that honoring and “celebrating” a glaringly unrepentant UMC member, President George W. Bush, with a partisan think tank, will damage our credibility as followers of Jesus Christ and bring lasting shame upon the our church and a fine university (7).

(1)http://tinyurl.com/6av9k4

(2)http://tinyurl.com/6fqpeq

(3)http://tinyurl.com/6gtavk

(4) http://tinyurl.com/5n4mrv

(5) http://tinyurl.com/6lqkw7 “Reverend David Severe, Director of Mission and Administration for the South Central Jurisdiction, wrote to an SMU professor on October 6, 2007, that ‘All actions taken by the Mission Council interim the Jurisdictional Conference must be ratified by the next Jurisdictional Conference session.’ “He (Severe) cited church law from the 2004 Jurisdictional Journal: “The Council shall be subject to the following and specific limitations of authority: All actions taken by The Council shall be valid and in full effect within the South Central Jurisdiction until the next regular session of the (Jurisdictional) Conference…. “

(6)http://tinyurl.com/64bc3c

(7) http://tinyurl.com/67z4hs

Rev. Andrew J. Weaver, Ph.D., is a United Methodist minister and research psychologist living in New York City and a graduate of Perkins School of Theology, SMU. He has co-authored 14 books including: Counseling Survivors of Traumatic Events (Abingdon, 2003) and Reflections on Grief and the Spiritual Journey (Abingdon, 2005).

He has made numerous presentations, most recently at the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Jewish Chaplains, the Southern Medical Association, and the Association of Professional Chaplains. On three occasions he was awarded the Templeton Foundation Prize for Exemplary Paper on Religion and Behavioral Science.