Why the African American Christian community is divided over working with the White House.
At the beginning of August, Donald Trump convened a gathering of pastors at the White House. While many of the president’s loudest supports have been Christian leaders, these were not the predominantly white male group that make up his informal faith advisory council.
Instead, at the table was a group of African American pastors invited to discuss criminal justice reform. At the president’s right-hand side was South Carolina pastor John Gray, who opened the meeting with a prayer.
“God, we thank you for an opportunity to speak about the hearts of those who sometimes cannot fight for themselves,” the Relentless Church pastor prayed. “We thank you for this moment to be able to share our hearts with the president. Dr. King said, ‘We cannot influence a table that we are not seated at,’ so we pray that this conversation will be fruitful and productive and honoring of the best traditions of this nation.”
Conservative media quickly praised Gray’s action—Fox 10 Phoenix described footage of the moment as “POWERFUL PRAYER.” But few in Gray’s community responded as positively.
Days after the meeting, a black ministers coalition issued an open letter expressing “heartbreak” about Gray and the other pastors’ dialogue with an “amoral” leader.
“We need not remind you of the posture of the Prince of Peace, our Savior from the streets, when He stood before Herod and Pilate,” stated the letter, signed by more than 50 pastors. “He didn’t even pray for them.”
Gray is a trusted voice in some evangelical circle and hosts a popular TV show on the OWN Channel. He’s largely kept a distance from politics—and ...
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