Rev. Jeremiah Wright to be guest preacher at Nashville revival

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retired former Chicago pastor of President Barack Obama whose history of impassioned sermons created a firestorm during the last presidential election, is said to be visiting Nashville for a church revival next week.

According to a flyer found on the website of Ray of Hope Community Church [1], Wright, pastor emeritus at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, will be the guest preacher at the East Nashville church for a three-day consecrated church revival from April 30 through May 2.

Ray of Hope has billed the event as “three nights of empowering worship.”

The City Paper was unable to reach Ray of Hope pastors the Rev. Martin Espinosa and the Rev. Renita Weems to learn additional information about the event.

Ray of Hope has advertised Wright’s attendance on a church sign at the corner of Meridian and Cleveland streets.

Wright, Obama’s pastor for two decades who also presided over the would-be president's marriage, took center stage in the 2008 presidential election when media outlets discovered several inflammatory comments made during his 36-year run as Trinity’s senior pastor. Trinity, a predominantly African-American church, subscribes to black liberation theology.

In March 2008, ABC News was the first to report on Wright’s statements in the context of Obama’s presidential election [2]. Five days after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Wright told his congregation, “America’s chickens are coming home to roost!”

In 2003, Wright told his congregation they should not be singing “God Bless America” but rather “God Damn America.”

Obama denounced the comments, and later addressed his relationship with Wright and the issue of race in a speech in Philadelphia called “A More Perfect Union.” The speech is regarded as a turning point in the campaign.