Coming on the heels of Rev. Michael Pfleger controversial sermon there–in which he bashed Hillary Clinton for expecting to win the Democratic nomination out of a sense of white entitlement–it would be easy to take Barack Obama’s resignation from Trinity United Church of Christ as a rebuke to his longtime church. Not so, says a source close to the Obama campaign who is familiar with the process that led to senator’s resignation. Here’s what this well-placed source just told God-o-Meter:
They [the Obamas] let [Trinity UCC senior pastor] Reverend Moss know this after quite a lot of talking and praying. They have been in discussions with Rev. Moss for some time. He made it with a fair amount of sadness. But it’s become clear in the last few months and weeks that anything that anyone says at Trinity will be imputed to Senator Obama, even if they totally conflict with his own views. And Moss and the church is suffering as a result of the campaign. Every aspect of its ministry is being scrutinized, the news media has been harassing people in [Trinity’s] nursing homes, and it’s not fair to the church’s other members. So the bottom line is that something that they [the Obamas and Moss] have been counseling on for quite a while now.
So this is not a rebuke of Trinity UCC in light of Reverend Pfleger’s sermon last weekend?
I would not say it’s a rebuke. It’s an acknowledgement of the tremendous scrutiny on the church. Ever guest speaker, every sermon, every bulletin is put under a certain litmus test. I’m sure many churches would make news if they were under the same test. I would not call it a rebuke. It’s just an acknowledgement of life as it is right now.
When’s the last time Senator Obama spoke with Reverend Moss? Did he tell him a resignation letter was coming?
They’re friends. As Senator Obama has said, Reverend Moss is a man of deep faith and is close to God. They’ve talked about this several times over the course of the last few weeks. And there is an understanding that this is best for everyone it involved.
Barack knows that living out your faith is not something you just do in church. It’s something you do every minute of your life.

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