Why Oprah Winfrey Left Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Church
Something Wasn’t Wright
For any spiritually minded, up-wardly mobile African-American living in Chicago in the mid-1980s,
the Trinity United Church of Christ was—and still is—the place to be. That’s what drew Oprah Winfrey, a recent Chicago transplant, to the church in 1984. She was eager to bond with the movers and shakers in her new hometown’s black community.
According to two sources, Winfrey was never comfortable with the tone of Wright’s more incendiary sermons, which she knew had the power to damage her standing as America’s favorite daytime talk-show host. “Oprah is a businesswoman, first and foremost,” said one longtime friend, who requested anonymity when discussing Winfrey’s personal sentiments. “She’s always been aware that her audience is very mainstream, and doing anything to offend them just wouldn’t be smart.
But Winfrey also had spiritual reasons for the parting. In conversations at the time with a former business associate, who also asked for anonymity, Winfrey cited her fatigue with organized religion and a desire to be involved with a more inclusive ministry. In time, she found one: her own. “There is the Church of Oprah now,” said her longtime friend, with a laugh. “She has her own following.”
She’s secure in her blackness, so that didn’t have a hold on her.” And while Winfrey, who has endorsed Obama and campaigned on his behalf, had long understood the perils of a close association with Wright, friends say she was blindsided by the pastor’s personal assault on Obama. “She felt that Wright would never do anything to hurt a man who looked up to him as a father figure,” said her close friend. “She also never thought he’d intentionally hurt someone trying to make history and change the lives of so many people.”
