Letters to the Editor

On OneUnited, Charles St. AME and the Banner

I am impressed with The Bay State Banner’s coverage of this story notwithstanding the potential conflict of interest. Howard Manly’s reporting has been clear and even-tempered. He should be commended for his high journalistic standard.

Mr. Miller’s editorials, on the other hand, have been somewhat aggressive and a bit unbalanced. But one can understand this given the fact he is a member of the board of directors for OneUnited Bank. I am glad that Miller divulged this fact recently.

What concerns me about last week’s article (“Charles Street AME seeks federal bankruptcy protection,” Bay State Banner, Mar. 29, 2012) is that it appears that Rev. Groover may have been caught telling lies to the public and, in particular, to his parishioners and his fellow clergy.

When he says to the public that the church has not “missed” a mortgage payment, he gives the impression that payments were made on time and fully. The Banner reported last week that, according to court records, 46 of 56 mortgage payments were late and that two final payments were not made at all.

When Rev. Groover made comments that payments were not “missed,” I grew sympathetic to his plight and the position of other ministers who supported him.

But now that seems to me to be a deception. If that is true, then shame on you Rev. Groover and others among the black clergy which may have perpetuated this lie.

I look forward to the Banner’s continued coverage on this issue.

Deeply Concerned Clergy
Via email

+ Add Comment

Apr 4 16:04pm by cmills [50.12.154.19]

Its unfortunate the deeply concerned clergy decided to remain anonymous. We are all adults with the freedom to agree/disagree. The writer/s of this letter are doing their congregation and the community a dis-service by being afraid to speak openly and honestly about their feelings.

Can't trust or rely on anything in that letter w/o knowing who sent it. They likely stood side by side with Groover using his mis-fortune to get some media attention, please don't publish any more of these cowardly acts.