MESSAGE FROM OUR GENERAL SECRETARY The link on the right ("SDPC INTEGRITY IS NOT FOR SALE!") is SDPC's statement regarding recent questions concerning our policies.
"I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40)
ACTION ALERT - Father Mike Pfleger - Removed from St. Sabina
Carnage from the Audacity to Speak
Father Michael L. Pfleger, one of the strongest supporters of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. and a 2009 Beautiful Are the Feet honoree, is now in the fight of his life for his thirty-three year ministry and his pastorate at The Faith Community of Saint Sabina.
Francis Cardinal George, Archdiocese of Chicago, has stripped Father Pfleger of his pastoral leadership and authority for an indeterminate length of time. Father Pfleger, affectionately called Father Mike, has been one of the most prophetic voices and activist advocates for the poor, the marginalized, the disenfranchised and for African Americans in Chicago and throughout the nation. The decision by the Cardinal, and the manner in which it is being implemented, reflect total disregard and disrespect for Father Mike and The Faith Community of St. Sabina.
Father Mike was stripped of all pastoral authority. He cannot preside over a previously scheduled funeral and wedding this week and was informed that another priest, yet to be named, will perform both ceremonies. The funeral is one of a longtime member, and the wedding is that of a couple who had been estranged from the Catholic Church until invigorated by Father Mike's prophetic teachings and moved to join St. Sabina.
Father Mike was told mid-morning on Tuesday, June 3rd, that he was on administrative leave, effective immediately. He was ordered to vacate the premises by evening. He protested and was allowed to stay just one night. He had to find new accommodations by June 4th. This order was given after the Cardinal first asked Father Mike to request a leave under the guise of "stress" because his father is dying. While Father Mike is indeed dealing with his father's physical illness and journey, he declined to participate in this convenient charade.
A priest from a languishing nearby parish has been assigned as interim administrator despite qualified and experienced pastoral and lay leadership who are already in place at St. Sabina and have frequently functioned in Father Mike's absence.
This gross disregard for the welfare of Father Mike and The Faith Community of St. Sabina appears as one more sign that the agenda afoot is to silence, marginalize and vilify prophetic voices for justice in this nation.
The manner in which the Cardinal has acted, effectively rendering Father Mike homeless with less than 24-hour notice and sending in an interim administrator, is unwarranted and unprecedented. The Cardinal has shown more tolerance and compassion for priests accused and convicted of pedophilia, than he has shown to Father Mike and the faithful parishioners of Saint Sabina.
A prayer vigil was held on the evening of June 3rd at the church. Please click here for a statement from the leadership of Saint Sabina for you. We need a national response. Please email or call the archdiocese and voice your concerns.
Please hold The Faith Community of Saint Sabina and Father Mike in your prayers. Feel free to stay in contact with us as we share this journey.
Dr. Iva E. Carruthers General Secretary
Remember...
First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me. [Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)]
"In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Rev. Dr. Samuel B. McKinney Our Elder Speaks for the Villlage
"Not On Our Watch" (Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.)
We encourage you to send this to your colleagues, friends and local media. (Click here) for the PDF version.
“Not On My Watch!”
For nearly a year, I have been greatly disturbed by the attack on the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ, which has culminated in recent weeks into a media feeding frenzy that has tarnished everyone in the process. For 36 years, this man of the Gospel and noted theologian has faithfully served his church, his community and his God, by helping those who could not help themselves and by lifting up those who have lost hope. Dr. Wright’s ministry has been consistent and his commitment to the faith unmatched. While media critics, who have not spent a day in seminary, and have no idea how to exegete the Gospel, might find his sermons objectionable, Dr. Wright’s theology and sermonic delivery are deeply rooted in the faith and sacred traditions of Black Church.
For those who do not know Black Church or for those who simply have not taken time to do the research, here is a mini-history lesson. For the first 150 years of slavery, no organized religious bodies ever attempted to convert those who were enslaved. We established our own congregations and churches, based on our African-ancestored traditions mixed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the process, we became committed to the idea of freedom. There were over 300 known slave rebellions in the United States, the vast majority of which were led by preachers of that day, like Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner. Because of that, two white men had to always be present at any slave-led church service. Even while enslaved we had preachers and pastors who spoke to the needs of our condition.
Now, there have always been accommodationist preachers, those who go along to get along. In biblical terms, they are false prophets. A prophet is simply one who speaks on behalf of God and God’s people. A true prophet speaks truth to power and is not politically correct. The Old Testament prophets were not politically correct. The Apostle Paul was not politically correct. And Jesus, the son of God, was not politically correct. Jesus upset the status quo. He disrupted the comfortable. Remember, Jesus got angry and threw the money-changers out of the temple. Jesus raised some holy hell. So why can’t Dr. Wright? You see, true prophets speak for God, use colorful language and occasionally use a non-traditional method to get their message across.
There is a strong, historical and contextual relationship between the slave-preacher and the social justice, activist preacher of today. And there is a place and role for God’s angry prophets—think Amos, Micah, Isaiah and Jeremiah. They spoke on God’s behalf to kings, to the poor and to the enemies of their nation. Then there are the 20th and 21st century prophets like Vernon Johns, Martin Luther King Jr., Samuel DeWitt Proctor and Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. The difference between false prophets and true prophets is the false prophet speaks to what the masses and those in power want to hear. The true prophet speaks truth no matter how painful. There is a price to be paid for being a prophet. And Dr. Wright is now paying that price both publicly and privately.
It was author Alex Haley who underscored the role and relationship of the Black pastor and their congregations. He said, African American pastors are akin to the African griot, a leader, shepherd, father and the one in whom the story of one’s people has been embodied. For Trinity United Church of Christ and the greater African American faith community, Dr. Wright has been and is a formidable griot. At 81, I am an elder in this tribe of social justice preachers, but I, too, can say the legacy and reach of Dr. Wright’s ministry has influenced my faith.
So what has been lost in inflammatory rhetoric and the talking heads of the day is that Dr. Wright, a theological scholar who speaks five languages fluently, has inspired a church to create over 100 fully-functioning ministries, created seven separate corporations, led thousands to Christ, speaks Sunday after Sunday out of a long and storied, proud and prophetic tradition of our faith. And he speaks in the tradition of the slave-preacher and social justice proclaimer who believed in setting the captives free.
Dr. Wright represents the best among us, one of the best in this tribe of prophetic preachers. He has made his church a place where one could express the centuries-old pain of being Black in America, while finding strength for a brighter day. An attack on this man of the God is an attack on all those of the cloth who believe in the social Gospel of liberation. And I will not stand for it. Not on my watch. Not today.
Father Michael L. Pfleger, one of the strongest supporters of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. and a 2009 Beautiful Are the Feet honoree, is now in the fight of his life for his thirty-three year ministry and his pastorate at The Faith Community of Saint Sabina. 
