The Rev. John Gray, pastor of
Relentless Church in Greenville, S.C., and other religious leaders meet
with President Trump at the White House, Aug. 1, 2018.
(Associated Press)
Two black Christian pastors who were among a group of
religious leaders meeting with President Trump at the White House this
week are now facing backlash from congregants back home.
The Rev. Phillip Goudeaux of Calvary Christian Center
in Sacramento, Calif., and the Rev. John Gray, head of Relentless Church
in Greenville, S.C., came under fire from critics who say Trump's
policies have harmed the black community.
But at Wednesday's event, dubbed “Meeting with Inner
City Pastors,” many of the pastors who attended expressed sympathetic
views toward Trump, with one pastor -- the Rev. Darrell Scott, of
Cleveland -- calling Trump “the most pro-black president we’ve had in
our lifetime.”
Pastor Phillip Goudeaux of Calvary Christian Center in
Sacramento, Calif., has come under fire for attending a meeting with
President Trump.
(Calvary Christian Center)
Scott also slammed former President Barack Obama for not trying to “prove something to our community” because “he got a pass.”
Goudeaux, a spiritual adviser to the family of Stephon Clark – the unarmed black man who was
fatally shot March 18
by two police officers in Sacramento -- praised Trump as well, saying
the president restored “hope” to his community, but jokingly urged Trump
to not give up on the state of California.
“Please don’t give up on California and Sacramento,” Goudeaux quipped, according to the
transcript. “I’m right in the capital there, and we’re working in every area to try to make a difference in people’s lives.
"So, I guess the greatest word I can say for you, Mr.
President, is that you have given this country expectations, given us a
new hope, a new excitement to believe that things are getting better and
are going to get better."
- Pastor Phillip Goudeaux
“So, I guess the greatest word I can say for you, Mr.
President, is that you have given this country expectations, given us a
new hope, a new excitement to believe that things are getting better and
are going to get better,” Goudeaux continued. “And we appreciate that
leadership, your tenacity to keep pushing in against all the opposition
that comes against you. Thank you so much.”
Gray, meanwhile, was skeptical about attending the meeting with Trump and initially thought he would decline the invitation.
“My wife told me ‘If you go, no one will hear what you
say. They won’t understand why you’re there. And any good that could
come out of it will get lost in translation,’” Gray wrote on
Facebook. “I had not one thing to gain by being there. Not. One.”
Gray said he eventually decided attending the event and even led the prayer so he could speak out about prison reform.
"That could greatly end up benefiting many people who look just like me."
- Pastor John Gray on his decision to attend the meeting
“That could greatly end up benefiting many people who
look just like me,” he said. “The pain of so many is too real. The hurt.
The isolation. The sense of disenfranchisement. The real hate that has
bubbled to the surface of the national discourse.
"I myself have been vocal about my personal disagreements with key policy decisions of this administration,” he added.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with inner
city pastors in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington,
Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018.
(Associated Press)
But despite their open-minded approach, the two pastors were still facing condemnation from their communities.
Tre Borden, who works in the Sacramento area and
attended the Calvary Christian Center when he was young, shared a photo
of Goudeaux and called him and other religious leaders “shameless” and
“contemptible” for attending the meeting, the
Sacramento Bee reported.
“The majority of people in Phillip Goudeaux’s Del Paso
congregation are poor and black,” he told the publication. “For him or
any other black religious leader to align himself with Trump and his
policies in this day and age is extremely distressing and hypocritical.
How can he possibly think our current president is helping people who
are on the margins of society?”
Gray is reaching out to many people who are criticizing
him on social media. His Facebook posts concerning the meeting drew
thousands of comments, many of which were critical.
“The pain of those who have been hurt is real. And I
would be a dishonorable man not to acknowledge that,” Gray wrote. “But I
will honor what I believe was the mandate on my life to be there and
available to God should He choose to give me voice,” he added, noting
that his comments on social media about why he attended didn’t
“invalidate the visceral reaction of those who can’t imagine why I would
be in the room.”