Ministers at black churches know the power of words.
In recent weeks, the explosive words of one minister - the Rev. Jeremiah Wright - have been used to bludgeon one of his church members, Sen. Barack Obama, creating a national debate on race and religion.
Yesterday, on the holiest day of the year for Christians, black ministers used more measured language to explain Wright's incendiary sentiments while also appealing to their congregations to not be divided and distracted by political games.
"Forty years after Dr. King's death, when we should be excited about electing the first African-American or first woman president of the United States, the politics of race and religion are being used to divide us again and destroy a great opportunity to rebuild America," the Rev. Frank M. Reid III said yesterday morning at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in West Baltimore.
In a stirring sermon before a congregation gathered in its Easter finery, Reid said, "It's not about Jeremiah Wright. It's about taking our eyes off the prize. What is the prize? A better America for all of us. What is the prize? A nation in which no child has to go to bed hungry at night. What is the prize? A nation where every child can go to school and learn to read and write and be successful."
The crowd, which included Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and Comptroller Joan M. Pratt, was on its feet by then, applauding and offering "Amens" to Reid's words. The pastor said that today he would send a letter to top elected officials in the city and state, as well as leaders of schools and universities, asking them to help him organize "a conversation on race that will make a difference."
"It can't only be held in the pews," Reid said. "It needs to be held in the schools and colleges and public spaces."
The controversy surrounding Obama and his minister ignited this month, when video clips of Wright making anti-American statements appeared online. "God damn America!" he said in one sermon, and in another suggested the Sept. 11 attacks were warranted, saying of the attacks, "America's chickens are coming home to roost."
Obama denounced those statements and others made by his minister, and on Tuesday he delivered a well-received speech on race that was quoted from the pulpit yesterday. Churches, as nonprofit organizations, cannot endorse political candidates. But ministers had words of praise yesterday for how forthrightly Obama addressed race.
"Come now, let us elect a person who can bring us together," said the Rev. Emmett C. Burns Jr., pastor of Rising Sun First Baptist Church and a state delegate. "We have been separated for too long."
Congregants welcomed the message of unity from their pastors, saying they were not in a position to judge Wright and that they resented the use of words from a pulpit to tarnish someone in public life and to tarnish black churches in general.
"People need to gear toward the election and not what Jeremiah Wright says," said Joyce Alton, 58, of Pikesville, after the service at Bethel AME. "Take your eyes off Jeremiah Wright and focus on the candidates running for president."
The pews were packed yesterday with women in yellow and pink hats, boys in seersucker suits, girls in flowery dresses and men in top hats and fine overcoats. Dozens of Easter lilies filled the Bethel sanctuary, and the church's members appeared ready for a rebirth.
Reid told his congregation: "On this Sunday morning, the relevant question facing our nation is, 'Will America, and Americans of will, choose to rise above the denial and destruction of racial politics?'"
Not all ministers mentioned Obama yesterday. Some, in interviews last week, said they would stick to themes of the Resurrection. Others alluded to the senator without mentioning him directly.
At New Psalmist Baptist Church in Irvington, Bishop Walter S. Thomas Sr. titled his sermon, "The Arrogance of Power vs. the Audacity of Hope," a reference to the title of Obama's best-selling book on faith, values and restoring government. But Thomas did not refer to Obama in his sermon.
At Bethel AME, congregant Kevin Simmons, 44, said he thought Obama's denunciation of Wright was made out of political calculation. He said he could not believe that Obama would have remained in Wright's church for so long - nearly 20 years - if he didn't find some truth in the pastor's comments.
"I don't think he could have served under a man for so long without pretty much agreeing with what he had to say," said Simmons, a Baltimore resident.
But in their sermons yesterday, ministers said their congregations often disagree with them - but that doesn't mean people leave the church. Indeed, Wright has preached at Bethel AME before.
"Reverend Wright is no stranger to this congregation," Reid said. "I know him to be a man of honesty and prophetic power. While I may not agree with many of his insights, only God can judge what God's prophet says."
At Rising Sun, Burns defended Wright as part of the prophetic church tradition, which uses strong language to bring about social, economic and political change. Wright comes from a tradition that includes the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass and others, Burns said, though adding that Wright's language was rougher.
"Jeremiah Wright just cussed everybody out," Burns said. "His major infraction and infringement on the American ideals were the harsh words Jeremiah Wright used. Yet he spoke the truth."
The crowd murmured its assent before filing out into the bright sunshine.
stephen.kiehl@baltsun.com