The Sunday Morning Divide
I cannot count the number of times I have heard someone say that 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning is the most racially divided hour of the week. I can, however, count the small number of occasions when I have been involved in a group discussion designed to move a given local congregation toward becoming intentionally multiracial and/or multicultural. Silence empowers the separation.
Moving Forward or Standing Still?
George Barna, author, researcher and founder of the Barna Group, recently blogged about the need to prepare for a multiracial church. The culture has changed dramatically in recent years. The percentage of minority children born in the United States has been rising and may exceed fifty percent for the first time this year. Churches have been slow to respond to this shift. Barna writes:
You might expect that churches have become more multiracial in the past 20 years, but there has been surprisingly little change in the ethnic and racial composure of Protestant congregations during the past two decades. Our research in recent years continues to show that pastors’ descriptions of the make-up of their congregation indicate that America has few truly multiracial churches.
One Multi Possibility
The United Church of Christ seeks to be a multiracial multicultural church. The full pronouncement, adopted by the nineteenth General Synod, is both lengthy and idealistic. It does, however provide a helpful and healthy framework for the denomination and for congregations. Two of the twelve marks of a multicultural multiracial church are particularly useful in starting a conversation:
A multiracial and multicultural church affirms Christian unity while celebrating the theological and liturgical richness that arises from its racial and ethnic diversity.
A multiracial and multicultural church develops, supports and implements strategies concerning evangelism and new church development in racial and ethnic communities; challenges and invites every member of local congregations to move beyond traditional comfort zones in living out God’s multiracial and multicultural mandate; and prepares Christian education resources relevant to the diversity of racial and ethnic Christian faith traditions and cultures within the church
So What?
The body of Christ is multiracial and multicultural. How might increased diversity in your local context help people understand and experience this?
When was the last time your congregation’s leadership team discussed this topic?
What can you do to raise awareness and begin the conversation?
How important is it that your congregation is or works to becomes multiracial and multicultural?