The Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermon at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church Thursday was met with murmurs of approval and, at times, raucous laughter. Choir members sang softly in the background through parts of his speech.
Wright delivered a sermon focusing on domestic violence, which he said has long been a silenced issue within the church.
Wright spoke Wednesday, Thursday and will speak again Friday at the church, 1113 Clark St., as part of the congregation’s annual fall revival. He drew about 80 people to the church Thursday, some of whom came from his own congregation, Trinity United Church of Christ, 400 West 95th St., in Chicago.
The reverend spoke at Northwestern last year. In spring 2008, the University rescinded its offer of an honorary degree after some of Wright’s controversial comments emerged in connection with President Barack Obama’s campaign.
Wright discussed the Bible verse Judges 19, in which a member of the clergy allows the rape of two women.
“Don’t confuse a man of God or a woman of God with the will of God,” Wright said. “Do not confuse the customs of the culture with God’s will.”
Wright paraphrased the story and framed it with familiar surroundings, describing a dangerous area as “47th and Calumet,” as opposed to Evanston. He described a small town as Skokie, then compared Evanston’s neighboring city to Jena, La., alluding to racial tension and drawing appreciative nods and comments from the audience.
He said the church had failed women by not protecting them and by barring them from the pulpit, saying they had been treated as “pieces to be had, not persons to be honored.”
Wright asked women who had been abused to step up to the pulpit, accompanied by those who knew victims of abuse. About 40 people streamed into the aisle. Rose Stone, a congregant, was among them.
“He touched me because I’ve been abused; I’ve been raped,” Stone said. “He got all the way down to the nitty-gritty.”
The Rev. Taurus K. Scurlock, Mount Zion’s pastor, said Wright was one of his seminary professors.
“I think he brings an approachable inclusion to the scriptures,” Scurlock said.
He said the church’s stance on domestic violence is “usually a position of silence.”Saman Shafii, said he attended the revival after noticing the number of cars in the Mount Zion parking lot Wednesday and learning of Wright’s speaking engagement.
“I thought maybe there was something I could learn from,” he said.
At Thursday’s service, Shafii decided to be saved.
“Everyone was just in touch with each other,” he said between hugs and handshakes. “You feel yourself come out.”
Scurlock said the church is mostly African-American. He said Shafii, an Iranian-American, is the first member of Middle-Eastern descent.
“We have started to become more multicultural,” Scurlock said.[email protected]
