In the wake of the Jeremiah Wright flap, the United Church of Christ ran this full-page ad in yesterday’s New York Times. Because it was prompted by Barack Obama’s longtime minister, the ad could affect him as much as it does the UCC.
The last paragraph of the text-heavy ad reads:

Our unity is not dependent upon uniform agreement, but in our shared
allegiance to Jesus Christ. Ours is a risk-taking church, because ours is a
risk-taking God.
God is still speaking, ®

God-o-Meter suspects that this ad will serve Obama well in the eyes of voters for the same reason that his speech on race did: as opposed to shrinking from a debate about a touchy subject, which would allow Obama’s and Trinity’s critics and enemies to define the them, the Church is embracing the controversy as a “teachable moment” to educate outsiders about itself. The church might not overcome the negative sentiment generated toward it and toward Obama by the Wright controversy. But at least the UCC can mitigate the damage by getting its story out.
Like Woody Allen says, 80-percent of success is showing up.

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