To an overwhelming majority of state leaders and, according to recent polls from the citizens of Illinois, he is the state leader charged with some brazen illegal activity and should immediately resign.
To an overwhelming majority of state leaders and, according to recent polls from the citizens of Illinois, he is the state leader charged with some brazen illegal activity and should immediately resign.
But to a few Black ministers, embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich is a downtrodden soul in need of pastoral care.
So Rev. Marshall Hatch and three other pastors accepted an invitation by Blagojevich to come to the state executive’s Northwest Side home Friday and pray. It was nothing more than a “pastoral call,” Hatch told the Defender. The pastor of New Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church on the West Side said that for at least a half hour, he and Rev. Steve Jones, president of the Baptist Pastor’s Conference, and Rev. Ira Acree, of Greater St. John Bible Church, met with Blagojevich and talked about faith and discussed some Bible scriptures. Rev. Leonard Barr of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church met with the governor after the other ministers’ visit.
Hatch said the spiritual leaders talked to the governor about overcoming, comparing his plight to that of Nelson Mandela, jailed for decades in South Africa, Jesus, and the Apostle Paul.
“No matter what position of life a person is in … everybody needs support and pastoral care in our lives,” Hatch said.
Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on corruption charges. The U.S. Attorney’s office accused the Democratic governor of conjuring a play-to-pay scheme in connection with filling Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.
Hatch said the ministers were mostly concerned with the affect all of the media attention could be having on the governor’s two young daughters and his other family members.
Hatch called for the public to have “civility” in dealing with the governor’s troubles.
The governor told the ministers that he was “innocent,” Hatch explained, but that was about the extent of their discussion of the pending criminal case.
There has been clarion call made for the governor to resign his position, in light of the allegations against him.
But Hatch declined to say if he or any of the ministers echoed that request. They would only encourage the governor to cling to his faith.
“God will often bring good out of bad,” Hatch said the ministers told the governor.
Blagojevich, who does not attend any of the pastors’ churches or have had any extensive dealings with the ministers, extended the invitation for the ministers to visit him after their people talked to the governor’s people the day before, Hatch said.
For their part, the ministers offered Blagojevich pearls of faith: “When a person is sometimes in the worst of circumstances … that’s when they … find themselves closer to God,” Hatch said the ministers shared with the governor.
They left the governor and his wife, who reportedly joined the discussion toward the middle of the ministers’ visit, with a scripture to reflect on.
Hatch said the ministers focused on Romans 8:28, which states, in part, “..and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God …”
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