Obama Quits Longtime Church Over Inflammatory Comments

By Derek Kravitz and Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, June 1, 2008

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his wife, Michelle, announced yesterday that they have left their longtime Chicago church, Trinity United Church of Christ, after racially charged comments by a visiting pastor last week dragged them into yet another controversy over religion and race.

The resignation came Friday in a letter Obama sent to the church's head pastor, the Rev. Otis Moss III.

"We make this decision with sadness. Trinity was where I found Christ, where we were married and where our children were baptized," the letter said. "But as you know, our relations with Trinity have been strained by the divisive statements of Reverend Wright, which sharply conflict with our own view." the rest image