Trinity

Trinity is a United Church of Christ-affiliated congregation which bills itself as “Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian…” Reverend Jeremiah Wright played a large role in building the small church of less than a hundred members in 1972, to 8,000 today. It has since become a flagship church of the United Church of Christ denomination whose congregational roots go back to the puritans.

Trinity however is quite distinct, emerging from the sixties with a strong dedication to liberation theology and the social uplift of the impoverished South Side of Chicago. As such, it is an open and affirming community and has a diverse membership that is drawn to its vitality and vibrancy. Here’s more from the church web site:

Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

The Pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a 10-point Vision:

1. A congregation committed to ADORATION.
2. A congregation preaching SALVATION.
3. A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
4. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
5. A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
6. A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
7. A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
8. A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
9. A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
10. A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.

As recently noted by Gwen Richardson, Trinity’s reputation is quite profound in Chicago as it continues to be a:

beacon of light to people in the surrounding community, providing drug and alcohol recovery, marriage counseling, prison outreach and other community services. As in most Black churches, the members of Trinity engage in the Christian rituals of baptism and communion, as well as baby dedications and rites of passage ceremonies. The church’s Afrocentric focus, which teaches the principles of self-reliance and self-determination that conservatives claim to embrace, is designed to build its members’ self-esteem and solve some of the intractable problems within the African-American community.

Reverend Wright retired in early 2008, with the young Reverend Otis Moss III taking his place. Reverend Moss was recently profiled in the Chicago Tribune and the church praised by its denomination.