Murray to clear air with city clergy

Senate President Therese Murray has invited Boston ministers to her office this morning to discuss political fallout left by the federal indictment and resignation of state Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who was the only black member of the Senate.

"It's a meeting she's called with clergy, I guess to talk about the Second Suffolk District and concerns from constituents and maybe to let folks know that, despite what's happened in recent days, she understands the concerns of the district," said the Rev. Gregory G. Groover, pastor of Charles Street AME Church in Roxbury.

The Roxbury, Dorchester, and Jamaica Plain district Wilkerson represented, which is home to the largest concentration of blacks in the city, now lacks representation in the Senate, and Murray wants to assure community leaders that their constituents will still have access to Beacon Hill. Sonia Chang-Díaz, who easily won the seat last month, will take Wilkerson's place in January.

Murray aides began placing calls last week to individual ministers using an outdated phone list. Several calls were made to pastors who have left the state, an indication that without Wilkerson the links between Boston's black community and the Senate have grown weaker. Several ministers said they did not even know Murray, a Democrat from Plymouth, before she requested their presence at her office.

"Out of respect for those attending this private meeting, the Senate president will reserve comment until after it is completed, except to say that the intention of the meeting is to let the ministers know that the lights are on and the door is open," David Falcone, her spokesman, said in an e-mail.

In another development, US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan has also sought to meet with clergy members, according to a source briefed on the discussions. Sullivan has been criticized by some black leaders because his investigation so far has resulted in the arrest of two influential black politicians, Wilkerson and Boston city councilor Chuck Turner.

It is extraordinary for a prosecutor to try to respond to such criticisms.

The US attorney's office declined comment on the issue. "We don't discuss meetings that happen or don't happen," said Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for the office.

Several clergy members said that they were suspicious of the reasons for the meeting with Murray.

"When people really want guidance, they'll pick up the phone and call me to talk one on one," said the Rev. Bruce H. Wall, senior pastor of Global Ministries Christian Church in Dorchester, who was invited to the meeting but does not plan to attend. "I've been invited to other meetings of this nature . . . and I end up walking in and walking out feeling used. I cannot lend my credibility or my integrity to political circuses. I'm not saying that's what this is going to be, but every other one like this that I've been to has been that way."

But another was positive.

"We feel it's important to meet with the Senate president, to have the voices of our communities and of the district heard," said the Rev. Jeffrey Brown, the political chairman of the Black Ministerial Alliance.

He said the ministers plan to ask Murray to help preserve funding for antiviolence, youth, and community police programs.

Wilkerson resigned two weeks ago from the office she held for nearly 16 years, and last week Murray ordered Wilkerson's office locked.

The former senator's five-member staff has remained on the payroll and is working out of a basement office on district issues until Chang-Díaz assumes office.

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.