DENVER--A pastor who wants to light a fire under the men in his congregation knew just the firebrand to help him do it.
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., one of the most respected and provocative preachers in black church life, jolted Shorter Community African Methodist Episcopal Church on Pentecost on Sunday with some straight talk about men.
"There's a prophet in the house," said Shorter's pastor, the Rev. Timothy Tyler, by way of introduction for his famous guest preacher.
Wright, with his trademark heady brew of theology, politics and humor, drew laughter, shrieks and even gasps from a full house with a ribald sermon on the biblical story of King David's s*xual impropriety, attempted coverup and its tragic consequences.
"David was annointed by God to be king, but he messed up," Wright said. "The higher the levels, the greater the devils. David's words have blessed millions of people, but David still messed up."
Wright, pastor emeritus of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, is widely known as the minister whose charged rhetoric became a exploding powderkeg in 2008 for one of his former congregants, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama .
Tyler said he sees men like Wright and the church playing the key role in reversing disturbing trends among black men in the Denver area and the nation.
"Many of our homes are single-female-parent homes. Many mothers are divorced, but many never married," Tyler said in a recent interview with The Denver Post.
"We're in very volatile times right now. Men get crushed in the midst of all the economic problems," Tyler said. "We also have an education crisis — a shortage of African-American men going to college ... or even finishing high school."
Tyler, who's known Wright for most of his adult life, also had Wright lead a retreat for about 75 men Friday and Saturday at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park.
Before the church can make a difference in men's lives, Tyler told The Post, you have to get them in the door. His female parishioners outnumber the men by roughly a 3-1 ratio in the 1,200-member church.
"We have to find a way to bring men back to church," Tyler said.
Inviting a megawatt speaker like Wright is one of those ways. Tyler said other hooks include giving men active roles in causes and projects because men want to do things, not just hear things.
"There's a two-pronged approach here," Tyler said. "We need to encourage our older men to get their acts together. And then they need to be mentors for our younger men."
Tyler, a divorced parent with two children, 16 and 19, both living out of state, knows firsthand the challenges of fulfilling the responsibilities of fatherhood.
"It gives me a passion for it," Tyler said.
Wright's Sunday message on s*xual misconduct was topical, given recently revealed high-profile missteps and coverups by former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York.
King David, though handpicked by God to lead, not only committed adultery and impregnated Bathsheba, Wright said, the king also attempted to hide his sin by manipulating her husband Uriah so he might believe the child was his.
"When a man messes up, he also messes somebody else up," Wright said. "When a man messes up he tries to cover up, when what he needs to do is 'fess up."
Men also messed up by committing acts of domestic violence — physical and verbal abuse — and through addiction, Wright said.
Once a sinner repents, God will provide the consequences and the mercy, he said.
"His grace is greater than all our sins," Wright said.
Early in Sunday's service, Tyler called on the Shorter congregation to defend and support New Hope Baptist Church Deacon and Denver Mayor-elect Michael Hancock, who has responded with emphatic denials to recent media inquiries about whether he's been a client of an escort service or prostitute.
"Mayor Hancock belongs to us," Tyler told the congregation. "Don't you let the media kill him."
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Monday, June 13th 2011 at 10:10AM
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