The pastor of the Washington, D.C., church attended by Bill and Hillary Clinton during their days in the White House says whites in America can learn from listening to the sermons of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Sen. Barack Obama’s retired pastor, who has been criticized recently for statements about race and American foreign policy.

“Those of us who are white Americans would do well to listen carefully to Dr. Wright rather than to use a few of his quotes to polarize,” the Rev. Dean Snyder said in a statement posted on the Foundry United Methodist Church website. “This is a critical time in America's history as we seek to repent of our racism.”

The Clintons are no longer members of Foundry UMC, but have deep roots in the denomination.

According to an article published in the Christian Science Monitor, Sen. Clinton’s mother Dorothy Rodham taught Sunday school at First United Methodist Church in their hometown of Park Ridge, Illinois. That’s also the church where a young Hillary began to grow spiritually and participate in community service.

In Arkansas, Bill and Hillary Clinton affiliated with the First United Methodist Church, Little Rock. According to published reports, the Clintons maintain their membership at that church.

Candidates and their faith have emerged as topics throughout the political season. However, more is known about Obama’s personal faith community as his pastor’s brief, explosive sound bites have been broadcasted nationwide in recent weeks.

This week, Sen. Clinton weighed in on the controversy surrounding the retiring senior pastor of Barack Obama’s home church, Trinity United Church of Christ, in Chicago.

In response to sermon clips where Wright criticizes America for its treatment of blacks and other minorities down through the years and also questions foreign “terrorist” activities, Clinton criticized Obama for maintaining his membership at the church on Chicago’s south side.

“He would not have been my pastor,” Clinton said in an interview with reporters and editors at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “You don’t choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend.”

But the Foundry UMC pastor had a different opinion on Wright’s legacy and message.

In his prepared statement, Snyder said, “the Reverend Jeremiah Wright is an outstanding church leader whom I have heard speak a number of times. He has served for decades as a profound voice for justice and inclusion in our society. He has been a vocal critic of the racism, sexism and homophobia which still tarnish the American dream. To evaluate his dynamic ministry on the basis of two or three sound bites does a grave injustice to Dr. Wright, the members of his congregation and the African-American church, which has been the spiritual refuge of a people that has suffered from discrimination, disadvantage, and violence.”

Wright had been out of the country, but was scheduled this week for events in Florida and Texas that have now been either altered or changed.

He was scheduled to preach a revival Tuesday though Thursday at the Bible-Based Fellowship Church, Temple Terrace in Tampa. The host church asked Wright to cancel because of security concerns.

On Saturday, Wright was to participate in a panel discussion on the State of the Black Church, hosted by the Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. That event will go on as planned, school officials announced on their website, but Wright will not be participating.

Wright also was scheduled to be honored during a banquet at that same conference. The school has not announced any change in plans regarding that honor.

On Sunday, Wright was to preach three services at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston.

The Rev. Marcus Cosby, pastor at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, told Houston television station KTRK and the Houston Chronicle that safety concerns had prompted Wright's decision.

Cosby told the Chronicle that Wright cited three reasons for canceling: "the safety of the institution to which he has been invited; the safety of his family, which has been placed in harm's way; and for his own safety."

Attempts by BlackAmericaWeb.com to reach Wright or other Trinity officials for comments or elaboration on security concerns were unsuccessful.

"His schedule is pending," Joan Harrell, minister of communications for Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Wright was pastor for nearly four decades, told the Dallas Morning News for its Tuesday online editions. The newspaper said that she wouldn't elaborate.