Meeks Hands Off Megachurch During Mayoral Run

By Kevin Robinson in News on Nov 2, 2010 2:00PM

In a reversal from last month's statement that he could be both a preacher and mayor of the nation's third-largest city, Pastor and state senator James Meeks announced Monday that he would step away from his role in the day-to-day operations of his South side Salem Baptist Church. "Chicago voters need to know that my priority is with all the people of Chicago and not just a segment," Meeks said in a statement released to the press Monday morning. "When I fought for education funding reform, it was for the entire city of Chicago. I have always fought for everyone in Chicago regardless of race, religion, immigration status or otherwise, and the voting public deserves to hear it and needs to see it clearly and unequivocally from me." Last month Meeks said that giving up the pulpit was "non-negotiable" and people who didn't believe he be both mayor and pastor “probably shouldn’t vote for me.”

Although he will no longer be involved in the operations of the church, and will step down from the pulpit should he win, Meeks will still attend church on Sundays should he win, and anticipates giving the occasional sermon. "He's certainly going to attend church every Sunday," Bryan Zises, Meeks’ spokesman, told the Tribune. "Which side of the pulpit he's on, I don't know that it matters."

Last week black political leaders in the city announced that they had narrowed their search for a "consensus candidate" to two people - Carol Mosley Braun and Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Larry Rogers, effectively snubbing Meeks. Meeks and his supporters have argued that the selection process was stacked against him, and fought privately for a "do-over." A parallel search being conducted by the city's black business leaders has narrowed their candidates down to Mosley Braun and Meeks.