Reverend's Words Stir Debate on His Creed

Video

Pastors Come Out in Support the Rev. Wright

Pastors speak out in support of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright at the National Press Club on Monday after the Rev. Wright delivered a theoological critique to explain his now infamous messages.

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

"I had to write it because I felt it was white society that had killed King," Cone, 69, who teaches liberation theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York, said in a recent telephone interview. "By not addressing the plight of black people, the white church had simply fallen short."

The prevalence of the theology today can't be easily measured, but traces of the movement can be seen in the style and ministry of many black churches across denominations. Some black church leaders, however, say its relevance is waning.

"The issues that we face today are more crisis-oriented: How am I going to keep my marriage intact? How am I going to keep my home? What school am I going to put my kids in?" said the Rev. Keith Battle, who heads Zion Church in Landover. "There might be a racial undertone to the questions, but it can't just be a movement anymore about when am I going to get my 40 acres and a mule."

Battle's church still tackles issues of poverty and social justice, member Kimberly Moore said, but on a more intimate level.

Moore, 46, is not the type to attend protests or march on the government, but for the past five years, she has run a ministry that works with youths in juvenile detention centers. "Sometimes these issues are things we can affect on an individual level. It's not always about attacking the system," the Mitchellville resident said.

Bernard L. Richardson, dean of the chapel at Howard University, said many young black pastors now come out of seminaries focused on catering to parishioners' concerns about individual well-being. He is worried about the effect of what critics call a "prosperity gospel" on the larger community.

"Some churches have abandoned issues of justice entirely," Richardson said. "But Christianity's not about your material worries or even your own salvation. It's supposed to be a concern for all God's people."

That kind of concern for the poor and willingness to get involved in the political arena is what drew Makita Haynes, 34, to Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast Washington last year. Her pastor, the Rev. Willie F. Wilson, a strong believer in liberation theology, isn't afraid to speak out on social issues, she said. "And the church is the perfect place to talk about these things, to toss around ideas and solutions about the society we live in."

The Rev. Harry Jackson Jr., who leads the multiracial Pentecostal Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, said that liberation theology might have begun as a helpful rallying cry in the civil rights era but that what is needed now is a message of reconciliation.

"You can't keep bringing up the anger of black power or black theology without a vision or plan to address those issues," he said. "There is a desire for the first time in post-civil rights history among large white churches to integrate in cities like D.C. that are predominantly black," he said.

The Rev. Tony Lee, however, says liberation theology is misunderstood.

"People have been trying to pass it off as an angry theology, something coming from the angry older generation," said Lee, 39. "But it's not about anger; it's righteous indignation that makes you want to be used by God to bring change."

His church, Community of Hope AME, started two years ago in a Temple Hills strip club. It offers HIV testing, and its members organize prayer services in high schools struggling with gang violence. Most Sundays find Lee at the pulpit, preaching about the social issues of the day.

"It doesn't make sense for me to sit in a community like this and just talk to people about personal piety," he said. "Liberation theology is still relevant because the issues -- the racism, the disparities in education, health care, employment -- they're still relevant."