Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. (born September 22, 1941) is a former pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC), a megachurch in Chicago, Illinois with around 10,000 members. In early 2008, Wright retired after 36 years as the pastor of his congregation. Following retirement, Wright's beliefs and manner of preaching were scrutinized when segments from his sermons were publicized in connection with presidential candidate Barack Obama. Obama addressed the matter in his "A More Perfect Union" speech. To lay his actual positions on various social issues before the nation, Rev.Wright gave a speech before the NAACP on April 27th, 2008, wherein he stressed that he was not "divisive", but "descriptive", and that the Black church experience, like the Black culture was "different" not "deficient".

Personal life

Wright was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a racially mixed section called Germantown. His parents are Jeremiah Wright, Sr., a Baptist minister who pastored Grace Baptist Church in Germantown, Philadelphia from 1938 to 1980, and Mary Elizabeth Henderson Wright, a school teacher who was the first black to teach an academic subject at Roosevelt Junior High. She went on to be the first black person to teach at Germantown High and Philadelphia High School, where she became the school's first black vice principal for girls.

Wright graduated from the Central High School of Philadelphia in 1959, among the best schools in the area at the time. At the time, the school was around 90% white. The 211th class yearbook described Wright as a respected member of the class. "Always ready with a kind word, Jerry is one of the most congenial members of the 211,” the yearbook said. “His record in Central is a model for lower class [younger] members to emulate."

His wife is Ramah Reed Wright, and he has four daughters, Janet Marie Moore, Jeri Lynne Wright, Nikol D. Reed and Jamila Nandi Wright, and one son, Nathan D. Reed.

Education and military service

From 1959 to 1961, Wright attended Virginia Union University, in Richmond. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy's 1961 challenge to "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," Wright gave up his student deferment, left college and joined the United States Marine Corps and became part of the 2nd Marine Division with the rank of private first class. In 1963, after two years of service, Wright then transferred to the United States Navy and entered the Corpsman School at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, where he graduated as valedictorian. Having excelled in corpsman school, Wright was then trained as a cardiopulmonary technician at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland where he graduated as salutatorian. Wright was assigned as part of the medical team charged with care of President Lyndon B. Johnson (see photo of Wright caring for Johnson after his 1966 surgery). Before leaving the position in 1967, the White House awarded Wright three letters of commendation.

In 1967 Wright enrolled at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1968 and a master’s degree in English in 1969. He also earned a master's degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Wright holds a Doctor of Ministry degree (1990) from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, where he studied under Samuel DeWitt Proctor, a mentor to Martin Luther King.

Career as minister and honors

Wright became pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago on March 1, 1972, at a time when its membership was only 87 members. In March 2008, Trinity United Church of Christ is the largest church in the mostly white United Church of Christ. The President and General Minister of the United Church of Christ, John H. Thomas, has stated: “It is critical that all of us express our gratitude and support to this remarkable congregation, to Jeremiah A. Wright for his leadership over 36 years.” Thomas, who is a member of the Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Cleveland, has also preached and worshipped at Trinity United Church of Christ (most recently on March 2, 2008).

Trinity and Wright were profiled by correspondent Roger Wilkins in Sherry Jones' documentary "Keeping the Faith" broadcast as the June 16, 1987 episode of the PBS series Frontline with Judy Woodruff.

Wright, who began the "Ministers in Training" ("M.I.T.") program at Trinity United Church of Christ, has been a national leader in promoting theological education and the preparation of seminarians for the African-American church. The church's mission statement is based upon systematized Black liberation theology that started with the works of James Hal Cone.

Wright has been a professor at Chicago Theological Seminary, Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary and other educational institutions. Wright has served on the Board of Trustees of Virginia Union University, Chicago Theological Seminary and City Colleges of Chicago. He has also served on the Board Directors of Evangelical Health Systems, the Black Theology Project, the Center for New Horizons and the Malcom X School of Nursing, and on boards and committees of other religious and civic organizations.

Wright has received a Rockefeller Fellowship and seven honorary doctorate degrees, including from Colgate University, Valparaiso University, United Theological Seminary and Chicago Theological Seminary. Wright was named one of Ebony magazine's top fifteen preachers. He was also awarded the first Carver Medal by Simpson College in January 2008, to recognize Wright as "an outstanding individual whose life exemplifies the commitment and vision of the service of George Washington Carver".

Relationship with Barack Obama

Barack Obama, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, first met Wright and joined his church in the 1980s, while he was working as a community organizer in Chicago before attending Harvard Law School. Obama and his wife, Michelle, were later married by Wright, and both their children were baptized by him. The title of Obama's memoir, The Audacity of Hope, was inspired by one of Wright's sermons and he credits Wright with strengthening his faith.

The public invocation before Obama's presidential announcement was scheduled to be given by Wright, but Obama withdrew the invitation the night before the event. Wright wrote a rebuttal letter to the editor disputing the characterization of the account as reported in The New York Times article.

In late 2007, Wright was appointed to Barack Obama's African American Religious Leadership Committee, a group of over 170 national black religious leaders who supported Obama's bid for the Democratic nomination; however, it was announced in March 2008 that Wright was no longer serving as a member of this group.