False church notions

Regarding the March 21 McClatchy Newspapers article "Obama's church holds controversial views":

There is no denomination more American or mainstream than the United Church of Christ. Our forebears came to this continent aboard the Mayflower and founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They came to this continent aboard slave ships and founded some of the first free African-American churches.

We have and always will be fierce defenders of American liberty, free speech and separation of church and state. We are a denomination that vests authority in the local church. Each of our more than 6,000 congregations is autonomous, free to follow its own heart and mind as it works out its relationship with God. Indeed, it is that autonomy that has led to the current debate concerning the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who spoke to his church (not for his church or its members). Like any member of a UCC church, Barack Obama thinks for himself.

The United Church of Christ has a rich and diverse history and a vital presence in our communities today. Please do not accept the distortions of it that have been used to smear Trinity United Church of Christ, in a transparent attempt to discredit Obama's candidacy. Such false notions have no place in telling the magnificent history of our distinctly American denomination.

Rev. Jill Edens

United Church of Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill

Rev. Paul Davis

Congregational UCC

Greensboro

(The letter was signed by 42 other United Church of Christ ministers.)