Jackson Free Press

Our friends at the Williamette Week in Portland, Ore., are taking on a provocative topic this week: African American preachers trying to be heard after the Rev. Wright controversy in what they themselves call "American's whitest city":

Meanwhile in Portland, 2,000 miles away from Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, senior pastor W.G. Hardy stood in a royal-blue frock at the wooden dais of his purple-carpeted sanctuary at Highland Christian Center, which also is part of the United Church of Christ. Three cameramen beamed his image to a jumbo screen behind him and five other televisions in the balconies.

When the 52-year-old Hardy (pictured on the cover) rises each week to speak in the sanctuary of the United Church of Christ outpost on Northeast 76th Avenue and Glisan Street, he can usually count on rapt attention from most in the congregation, about three-quarters of whom are African-Americans. On Easter morning, he had an extra audience: Two Oregon state senators—Avel Gordly and Ben Westlund—were seated in the pews, along with U.S. Senate contender Steve Novick and Portland City Council candidates Nick Fish and John Branam.

Hardy offered them all a blunt message.

"All of us are messed up," he exhorted the congregants. "Show us your wounds! I heard Obama say, 'That's my pastor, I'm going to show you my wounds. I can't deny him no more than I can deny my white grandmother. I can't help it, I can't change it…that's my wound, you're going to have to live with it, and I'm going to survive it and get over it.'"

At least half of the congregants stood and cheered—just as they had moments earlier when Hardy hypothesized about the other "wounds" in the church.

Previous Comments

ID

118911

Comment

I read the whole article, and what I get from it is that the churches need to get more involved in helping the community. Many do, but there is room for improvement. It's easy to work an 8-to-5 five days a week, relax on the weekends with an hour or two set aside for church on Sunday morning, and not do much else. There must be a way to get the parishioners engaged in improving the overall health of their communities and not just turn their noses up at people because they don't see them in church or go to a different church. If you want to save souls, you have to deal with people where they are and not where you think they should be. You catch more flies with honey, right?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-04-24T18:28:09-06:00

ID

118912

Comment

actually you catch flies with ... well you know what attracts flies...easter sunday my wife and i went to church with my mom...her pastor hooped and hollered i mean he really praised the lord...everybody ate it up...i mean he got a standing o...nobody fell out though...this guy (another minister) he couldnt "preach" that good (he didnt hoop or holler) well he discussed some acronym about doing more work in the community and trying to find ways to get children employed over holidays...he discussed doing some community service and finding one particular issue to work on during the week of easter...well my wife and i clapped and a few people joined in but mostly people looked at us like we were crazy...

Author

skipp

Date

2008-04-24T19:23:00-06:00

ID

118914

Comment

actually you catch flies with ... well you know what attracts flies... Must admit, that's also true. LOL easter sunday my wife and i went to church with my mom...her pastor hooped and hollered i mean he really praised the lord...everybody ate it up...i mean he got a standing o...nobody fell out though...this guy (another minister) he couldnt "preach" that good (he didnt hoop or holler) well he discussed some acronym about doing more work in the community and trying to find ways to get children employed over holidays...he discussed doing some community service and finding one particular issue to work on during the week of easter...well my wife and i clapped and a few people joined in but mostly people looked at us like we were crazy... I hate it when that happens. My pastors don't hoop and holler, but they impart knowledge in a powerful way.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-04-24T22:07:36-06:00

ID

118921

Comment

Some African American congregations (I can't speak for white congregations because I don't know much about them) will not support a minister regardless of the content if he does not "whoop". There was a very intelligent young pastor at the Baptist church my mother used to attend. He did not whoop or hoot or whatever it's called. He taught. The older trustees met with him insisting that they wanted him to "hoop". He refused and ended up having to leave. My mother left and began attending a nearby United Methodist church. Her former church (the Baptists) got another pastor who is relatively uneducated who hoops and wails without a coherent message rooted in scripture and the people seem happy. Often, in our churches there is a distinct triumph of style over substance. My sister referenced this somewhat in article in JFP a few years ago.

Author

FreeClif

Date

2008-04-25T10:23:07-06:00

ID

118923

Comment

That's a shame, Whitley. "Hooping" certainly has its place...sometimes it's really needed to get a point across and get a congregation fired up...but I like a pastor who also takes time to educate me about the Bible, especially the little known stuff, instead of just recycling the same generic shoutfest every Sunday.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2008-04-25T10:56:53-06:00

ID

118925

Comment

This is the same sort of thing that affects hip hop music...not to divert the attention from this topic, but just to show how this sort of thing happens every where - even the church. It's like the more dumbbed down the lyrics to a song, the more bang in the beats, the more reaction it gets from consumers. Now, you take artists who have no interest in making heads bounce, but making heads heavy with knowledge and information and you find that they are what we consider underground. Unable to even buy an opportunity to be heard nationwide. No one wants to hear it. We are not in the business of being educated. We seem to be in the business of being entertained. It's just a shame that now this has transferred over to the pulpit.

Author

Queen601

Date

2008-04-25T12:55:51-06:00

ID

118927

Comment

As one who grew up in the black church, the shoutfest that goes on there is one reason I don't like going to black churches anymore. It might stir up the soul, but I feel empty afterwards. I don't really go to church anymore, but when I do decide to go, teach me something really worthwhile.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-04-25T14:46:17-06:00

ID

118930

Comment

That's a shame, Whitley. "Hooping" certainly has its place...sometimes it's really needed to get a point across and get a congregation fired up... Also, when the apeaker is fired up, it just naturally happens. When it's fake, it's annoying. but I like a pastor who also takes time to educate me about the Bible, especially the little known stuff, instead of just recycling the same generic shoutfest every Sunday. Right. It takes more than a feel-good session to sustain you. What is the point of getting all worked up on Sunday when you leave unprepared to face that same devil on Monday?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-04-25T20:53:41-06:00

ID

118935

Comment

I grew up as a member of a (white) Baptist church and I HATED going to church because I didn't like getting yelled at for an hour. As an adult I started going to Catholic church so I converted. I like the way the service goes, and I've only ever heard one priest raise his voice in a homily. Shouting and reverence are mutually exclusive in my opinion.

Author

bill_jackson

Date

2008-04-26T17:47:55-06:00

ID

118942

Comment

Excellent point L.W.

Author

Queen601

Date

2008-04-28T08:31:14-06:00