Leaders of the National Council of Churches and the United Church of Christ held a news conference Thursday at the now-famous Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago to defend the congregation, its former pastor Jeremiah Wright and its denomination from what they view as distorted media reports.

“In recent weeks, I have seen the UCC occasionally portrayed as some kind of radical sect,” said the Rev. Michael Kinnamon, the NCC’s general secretary, who stood with UCC President John H. Thomas and the Rev. Otis Moss III, Trinity’s current pastor. “This, of course, is nonsense.”

He declared that Trinity, whose most famous member is Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama, and the UCC “are not fringe groups” but instead are “part of the wider Christian community.”

Thomas added that he is calling for the pastors of his denomination to observe May 18 as a day to address the subject of race from their pulpits.