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I knew nothing about Rev. Wright or Trinity until I attended McCormick Theological Seminary, a graduate school in Hyde Park, from 1997 to 2000. The student body was mostly white, but I’m pretty sure Trinity had more of us enrolled than any other congregation. Trinity was presented to me and everyone else as a welcome and open place whose pastor and members were dedicated to social justice, especially for the people in their own neighborhoods; and the 20 or so people I knew who went there—including several church leaders—were universally warm, respectful, and open-minded. When I attended services at Trinity I was welcomed no less, and while I’m kind of the skeptical type when it comes to sermonizing, I was impressed with Reverend Wright. He was thoughtful, critical, funny, and deeply spiritual; he railed against white supremacy, which struck me as appropriate; and he seemed to challenge everyone there to become better citizens.
A couple of pastors reportedly denounced the story and me in church on Sunday morning. And when Reverend Wright visited my alma mater, he took the opportunity to attack my story for lumping Trinity in with a group of other congregations with less integrity. It was unfair, he felt: I had proceeded as if all black congregations were the same.
But if I’m going to measure him and the church he built by the people who have come out of it—which is the point here, right?—then I’ll just say “Amen to that.”
