By Steven G. Vegh,
NORFOLK
For Khadija Vaughan, hearing the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. guest preach Sunday at Bank Street Memorial Baptist Church ended any debate about Sen. Barack Obama's spiritual mentor.
"He tells the truth, nothing but the truth, and he's not afraid to tell the truth," said Vaughan, a senior citizen counselor who lives in Norfolk.
Hundreds packed the 650-seat sanctuary where Wright declared, "T here's no such thing as a trouble-free life."
"Sooner or later - and usually sooner - you're going to run into trouble," Wright said. "In the midst of trouble, remember you are not alone; the Lord is right there with you."
Unaddressed in his sermon was the recent furor over his fiery pulpit rhetoric and ties to Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate.
But Wright's new notoriety undoubtedly swelled Sunday's audience: One-half of the crowd rose when visitors were introduced during the worship service.
"I have never seen it this full before, so I'm going to take full advantage," said the Rev. William K. Dixon, Bank Street's interim minister. "I might not see this again for a while."
Wright led Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago from 1972 until this year and forged close ties to Obama, a Trinity member.
Wright did not mention Obama or discuss the controversy. He did not give interviews. Reporters were allowed into the service, but audio and video recordings were prohibited.
Wright's critics have said video clips of his sermons that condemn U.S. policies showed him to be an angry racial separatist. His supporters said sound bites misrepresented his theology and preaching.
Wright visited Bank Street in memory of his late uncle's long-term pastorate at the church. He said other family and friends also attended Bank Street.
In a news release, Wright said that he "spent many summers attending Bank Street Baptist Church every Sunday."
By turns scholarly and jocular, mellow and crashingly loud, Wright preached from the biblical account of Jesus and his disciples on the stormy Sea of Galilee.
While Wright didn't cite recent events, it was nonetheless hard not to sense them as an undercurrent to his words.
"Some trouble in our lives comes up out of nowhere!" Wright said as his crowd laughed in agreement.
"There's no such thing as a trouble-free relationship," he added, contrasting Jesus' calm with the disciples' frantic fear of sinking.
He also said trouble is not everlasting.
"The Lord will not calm the storm for his children, but the Lord will calm his children in the storm," Wright said.
Wright's most inflammatory comments in past sermons were repudiated by Obama, who refused to sever their relationship.
Bank Street also refused to cancel Wright's visit. "When I stood at the pulpit and announced we were standing strong, the church affirmed your coming," Dixon said after Wright's sermon.
"Somebody has to take a stand... in the midst of trouble. God is with us," Dixon said.
Gary Walker, a heating and air conditioning contractor, called Wright "wonderful" after the service ended.
Walker blamed the recent headlines around Wright on media striving to "just being able to sell papers, to exploit other people for self-gain."
Bill Faulkner, a grocery store clerk from Virginia Beach, said some of the video clips shocked him.
"But I realized there was more to it than that, and that's why I came today," he said. "Not that he talked about the controversy that much, but his sermon definitely did put it all in a context."
Vaughan agreed. "I can't believe the things they wrote about him," she said of Wright's critics. "They need to come to one of his sermons and just see the truth.
"Sometimes, you need to come out to hear for yourself."
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