Local ministers call for Ohio lawmakers to censure president

Leaders of Oberlin’s faith community have joined clergy around the country condemning President Trump’s actions involving visits to a church and religious memorial this week.

More than 20 Oberlinarea faith leaders have signed a letter calling for Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen. Rob Portman and Rep. Jim Jordan to begin formal censure proceedings against the president.

The request stems from the president’s “photo ops” while visiting the burned St. John’s Episcopal Church and the Pope John Paul II Shrine in Washington.

The Oberlin faith leaders stated: “These acts of selfglorification on the part of our nation’s leader must be condemned as blasphemous and unconstitutional.”

The call for censure was suggested by John Elder, retired former pastor of The First Church in Oberlin United Church of Christ.

“We join many other faith leaders who have termed the president’s actions ‘blasphemy,’” Elder said.

The faith leaders noted that the Episcopal bishop expressed “outrage” at Trump’s act, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop termed the visit by the president and first lady “baffling and reprehensible.”

A number of national news outlets carried reports about the reactions of Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde and Catholic Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, who also posted his response on the Archdiocese of Washington website.

The June 1 visit has prompted criticism for police using tear gas and other forms of force to clear the area at St. John’s Church.

There is universal agreement protestors nearby were peaceful as they demonstrated against racism and social injustice, Elder said.

The protest was prompted by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

Trump held up a Bible outside the church.

“But not opening the Bible, not using any scriptural text to address any aspect of the act and then walking back to the White House — it was not only odd, but it was, in the words of many clergy, a blasphemous appearance,” Elder said.

The Senate minority leader has said the decision to have police use tear gas and other forms of force to clear the area in front of St. John’s Church of protesters was “blatantly unconstitutional,” the Oberlin clergy said.

“Although many members of Congress, like clergy across the religious spectrum, have expressed dismay and disgust at what the president did, the seriousness of his actions demands a much stronger response,” Elder said. “Censure is a formal disapproval that can be adopted by one or both chambers of Congress, and now is the time for our elected representatives to give a clear warning that this behavior will not be tolerated.”

“The congressional oath of office is an affirmation to ‘support and defend the Constitution,’ and at the least, the First Amendment ‘right of the people peaceably to assemble’ was violated at the president’s order on the evening of June 1,” the Oberlin clergy statement said.

As of the afternoon of June 5, Elder said he made contact with Jordan’s staff to send the letter.

Jordan’s 4th House District includes Oberlin, the cities of Amherst and Elyria, villages of Sheffield and Grafton, and several Lorain County townships.

Elder said he was attempting to reach aides at the Cleveland offices of Brown and Portman to get the letter to the senators.

The additional signers were:

• Rev. Fred L. Bell, Mount Zion Baptist Church

• Rev. David E. Cann, United Methodist Church

• Rev. Ruth Ann Clark, United Church of Christ

• Rev. Rollin Conway, United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ

• Rev. David Dorsey, Multi-Faith Chaplain

• Rev. June Hardy Dorsey, Episcopal Church USA

• Rev. John D. Elder, Presbyterian Church USA, United Church of Christ

• Rev. Milton J. Ellis, United Church of Christ

• Ann Francis, Oberlin Friends Meeting

• Rev. Mary E. Grigolia, Unitarian Universalist Association

• Rev. Mary Hammond, Alliance of Baptists

• Rev. Steve Hammond, Alliance of Baptists

• Rev. David Hill, United Church of Christ

• Rev. Edward L. Long, Jr., Retired Presbyterian Scholar of Christian Ethics

• Rev. A. G. Miller, Oberlin House of the Lord Fellowship

• Rev. Saranne NelsonOlin, United Methodist Church

• Rev. Laurence E. Nevels, Christ Temple Apostolic

• Rev. Gary Olin, United Methodist Church

• Rev. Erica Saunders, Peace Community Church

• Rev. Sarah Shofstall, Christ Church, Oberlin

• Rebecca Thompson, Th.M., United Church of Christ

• Rev. Ralph Thompson, American Baptist Churches of America

• Rev. David S. Trask, Sacred Heart Catholic Church