Barack Obama's Ohio Link: His Church Is Based In Cleveland

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ, an old-line Protestant denomination with its national headquarters on Prospect Avenue in downtown Cleveland. It is not widely known that the UCC is based in Ohio, and that its roots go back to the Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth Rock in the 1600s.

[UPDATE: Obama's pastor is having a tiff right now with The New York Times. h/t to Brewed Fresh Daily. And there is this report on the Cleveland church headquarters Web site.]

Earlier this year, as Obama began his campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, church officials in Cleveland issued a BACKGROUND STATEMENT about the denomination and its history. Most of the attention about Obama's religious beliefs is focused on Trinity UCC in Chicago, a 10,000 member congregation. Trinity is the church's single largest American worship group. UCC leaders in Cleveland say they have concerns that their denomination's traditions and faith could be misrepresented during a presidential campaign. It is quite progressive -- or perhaps, revolutionary -- as the background document it placed online notes.

"Known for arriving early on social justice issues, the church's history includes being the first to practice democracy in church governance (1630), the first to ordain an African-American pastor (1785), the first to ordain a woman (1853), the first to ordain an openly gay man (1972) and the first to support same-gender marriage equality (2005).

"In 1773, Old South UCC in Boston helped inspire the Boston Tea Party and in 1777, Old Zion Reformed in Allentown, Pa., hid the Liberty Bell from occupying British forces."

Most of the church's members are in New England and the Midwest. Reinhold Niebuhr, a great 20th Century Christian theologian and UCC minister, wrote the SERENITY PRAYER that has become a pop culture icon. A link to the church's official Web site is HERE and offers a good peek at its philosophy and faith-based initiatives. Details about its history are HERE.

Obama's Army Of Celebs: Are The Stars Really Aligned?

CINCINNATI (TDD) -- The draft Obama movement has a cute gimmick up on its Web site -- a list of stars and tycoons and celebrities who are "honorary members" of the drive to get the Illinois Democrat into the '08 presidential race. The kind words by folks like George Clooney and billionaire Warren Buffet aren't official endorsements, but they read like high praise.

Here's Buffet, the sage of Omaha, who is America's second richest man and is giving his wealth away: "I've got a conviction about him that I don't get very often. He has as much potential as anyone I've seen to have an important impact over his lifetime on the course America takes. If he can do an ounce better with me, fine."

And Clooney, whose dad, Nick, is a columnist at the Cincinnati Post: "He possesses the one quality that you cannot teach and you can't learn . . .He is a leader, He walks into a room and you want to follow him somewhere."

And the Biggest O of All, Oprah: "I think his sense of hope and optimism for this country and what is possible for the United States is the kind of think I would like to get behind."

Read all the "endorsements" that DraftObama.org has found. On Feb. 10, when the senator speaks in Springfield, we'll find out if he's running.