The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright’s controversial sermon that created a firestorm for one of his congregants, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, wouldn’t be something heard in most local churches, three Shenango Valley pastors say.

“Jeremiah Wright’s comments are not the norm in a black church,” the Rev. Dr. Angel De La Cruz said. He is pastor of Word Centered Presbyterian Church, Masury.

His congregation prides itself on diversity and tolerance and Rev. De La Cruz said Wright’s divisive language is something he wouldn’t use in his sermons.

“I would not damn the place I live; I would seek to pray for it and its blessing,” Rev. De La Cruz said.

Rev. Wright has been called to task for post-9/11 words that can be construed as un-American, but Rev. De La Cruz said it’s important to understand where Rev. Wright is coming from.

“It’s called black liberation theology,” Rev. De La Cruz said.

Rev. Wright is a “very smart man — he’s been educated in top schools — so this guy isn’t just off the street, he has been preaching this was for a long time,” Rev. De La Cruz said.

The Rev. Charles Johnson of Cedar Avenue Church of God, Sharon said liberation theology has a special place in African American churches because of the history of the black experience here.

That theology has “sustained us over the years,” he said.

Rev. Wright filled the pulpit at Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s South Side until last year and helped lead the church to grow from 72 members in 1972 to about 10,000 when he retired earlier this year.

He preached to a mainly African American congregation who’d been through tough times, Rev. De La Cruz said.

Rev. Wright’s fiery sermons about the injustices committed to minorities need to be taken in that context, Rev. De La Cruz said.

“Context matters; that is crucial,” Rev. De La Cruz said. “Look at the context of Chicago, the south side of Chicago. It’s a poor, blighted, activist area. He (Rev. Wright) has been formed by that.”

Rev. Wright stands up for racial and economic injustices that have afflicted many of the people hearing his words, Rev. De La Cruz said.

In some ways, Rev. Wright’s sermons are from the past, he said. “He represents a time, he represents the ’60s, the ’50s.”