GLIDE PASTOR PREACHES POWER OF LOVEFEATURED SPEAKER AT SR HUMAN RIGHTS EVENT SPEAKS OF CHILDHOOD IN TEXAS

The Rev. Cecil Williams, renowned for his outreach work to a diverse

community through San Francisco's Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, was

once a man who lived with crushing hate.

He admitted as much Thursday night during a speech in Santa Rosa, probably

not for the first time.

Williams, the featured speaker at an event sponsored by the Sonoma County

Human Rights Commission, said his experience as a black boy growing up in

Texas caused him to despise all whites.

As a younger adult ''it was eating me up ... I couldn't get out of the

quicksand,'' he said.

But finally letting go of it has allowed him to do work that's earned

national accolades for him and the programs he's helped launch over the past

four decades, he said.

Over those 40 years, he said his congregation grew from 35 to more than

11,000 people.

''If you want a community, if it's not built on love, it will never be a

community,'' he said. ''And I'm talking about unconditional love.''

Addressing more than 200 people affiliated with the Sonoma County Hate Free

Community Project, Williams said everyone is ''bathed in streams of hate'' of

one kind or another, and they must confront it before trying to rid it from

the world.

Williams' presentation at the Sonoma Country Day School was just the kind

of motivational message organizers were looking for to bring attention and

commitment to their bid to turn Sonoma County into a community in which all

people experience inclusion, respect and dignity.

Developed by the Human Rights Commission, the project includes committees

in individual communities that work with service clubs, schools, businesses,

neighborhood groups, law enforcement and religious organizations to cultivate

respect for diversity and sensitivity to discrimination.

Williams said the key is a combination of love, respect and willingness to

be present with those who feel isolation and need.

''Glide, years ago, exploded with love,'' he said, ''and it's infectious.''

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or

mcallahan@pressdemocrat.com.