[...] they have to wait for the KM—Korean Ministry—to finish their corporate worship services) is the most segregated time in America.  And when it comes to all-white or all-black churches, at least they have the excuse that the [...]

We believe it is a question of culture, not of race. Religion tends to be a part of specific cultures. People look for a place to feel as if they belong. It may be based off how they were raised and what their parents believed, how the service/music is performed, what type of lifestyle they lead on a daily basis, friends in the congregation, race, ethnicity(as race and ethnicity are not necessarily the same thing) geographic location, personal belief system, transportation, class, age, marital/divorce status, sexual orientation,etc…

Interestingly, both my husband and I initially interpreted the question of segregation as one of religion, those who attend church or a worship service versus those who do not. We did not think “race” until we scrolled down.

Folks, these are all very honest and informative responses. Thanks so much for taking the time.

I seriously believe that this is a major issue that needs to be better studied and understood, if not corrected.

I don’t really know where I am at right now, but it seems that there is a problem. I like the posts about diversity. Diversity does not seem to be merely a preference that we can opt for, but a mandate of the Gospel. Just how we achieve this, I don’t know.

God help us. I seriously believe we may be overlooking one of the biggest problems in (American) Christianity.

Michael I haven’t had a chance to reply to this but have wanted to.

You know where I live and have met some of my neighbors.I have had loads of people invite me to their respective churches. It would seem they haven’t even thought twice about the fact that I am white.
They just know I am a believer and have said “oh well come and fellowship with us”.

I would suspect if I did visit a church close to my area I would be in the minority in teerms of race yet again those who have asked me to come with them haven’t even considered that (at least I don’t think they have).

Maybe mine is a unique situation?

My biggest concern is what is taught. Some of my neighbors seem solid some not so much. But then, that is something that goes beyond race barriers.

Anyway I reckon I haven’t helped to shed light on this matter.

Great post and important.

I think you can and should argue the merits and definitions of “qualified”. But, nonetheless, it is still a legitimate question to ask. Do we want to hire ministers based on race rather than other more substantative attributes, e.g. academic credentials, theological fit, etc. Maybe the answer is sometimes yes, I don’t know. We probably wouldn’t hire a newly ordained 23 year old as the “old folks” pastor.

Talacker29,

It depends on what you mean by “less-qualified”. Though I am not ordained, I imagine that I have more theological training than some who are. But at the same time I have not lived the experience that many who are [pick an ethnic/cultural minority] have. Thus I would probably be ill-equipped to serve as a pastor in a setting that required significant shepherding of people of [pick an ethnic/cultural minority], as opposed to, say, simply teaching.

Further, if the Body of Christ is doing its job, then there ought to be significant overlap between “qualified” and “fits the target demographic” anyway. I think it’s only because The Church too closely mirrors the values of The World that we even have to face this dilemma.

Juan brings up an interesting aside to this discussion. Should churches hire ministers based on race, in an effort to “reach out” to a particular demographic? Should race/ethnicity be given preference to other attributes in the hiring process? Should a less-qualified candidate be given preference over a more-qualified one because he fits the target demographic of where a church would like to focus? When we focus on “multi-culturalism” and diversity, it seems we head down a slippery slope.

I too have read much about the subject and have spent the last six years planting a multi-ethnic church in Mt. Pocono, PA. This summer I moved my family to downtown Denver to plant another multi-ethnic, socio-economically diverse church.

There is no question that we are in the midst of a demographical shift that will have an impact in the way church is done in heavily ethnically diverse areas of our country. Several weeks ago, I came across a front page article in the USA Today titled “Births Fueling Hispanic Growth: Immigration no longer top factor.” The article pointed out that for the first time in 30 years, births, not immigration, now account for most of the growth in the nation’s Hispanic population. According to this article, all the Hispanic growth in the city of Denver is coming from natural increase. This rapid increase is only going to accelerate over the next decade, which means that the number of second generation Hispanics will eventually outnumber the new immigrants coming to Denver.

As a result of the reshaping of the nation’s ethnic makeup, it should hardly be surprising that Hispanics are helping blur the color lines that have long-marked previous American generations. According to a market research firm, 60% of American teens say they have friends of different ethnic backgrounds. More telling, however, is a 2006 Gallup Poll showing that 95% of young people (ages 18 to 29) approved interracial dating. Likewise, a Gallup Poll conducted last year among teens showed that 57% have dated someone of another race or ethnic group.

What does this mean for Providence Bible Church? I believe that a healthy multi-ethnic church will be better equipped to attract minorities to Jesus Christ. Here at Providence Bible Church we don’t just say that all peoples of different ethnic backgrounds are welcome and leave it at that. We believe that if we are going to reach all the peoples of Denver for Christ, we need to be intentional in doing so. For this reason, we are committed to maintaining an ethnic balance in our pastoral staff. We believe that a church for “all people” is best led by a ministry team made up of “all people.” Right now, we are still praying for an African American brother to join our leadership team before our September 28th Grand Opening.

Here is another example of intentionality at Providence. Last Sunday I spent 10 minutes before our greeting time teaching our people how to welcome others from different ethnic backgrounds. Traditionally in American churches, greeting time may extend to a handshake and quick hello; however, here at Providence, one of our core values is People Embracing. This means that we welcome people from all cultures! So what did we do?
We literally practiced hugging and kissing in the middle of the service. We are constantly telling Providence that if we are going to be a multi-ethnic church we all need to step outside our comfort zone and this is one way that we have to do it. In speaking to another Spanish brother in the service that day, I asked for feedback. He said, “Well, if we’re supposed to be a family, we should be hugging.”

Our style of ministry also reflects diversity. We have had people pray in Spanish, before and after the service we play music from Africa, Latin America and good old fashion Gospel music. Our worship team is practicing Spanish songs to introduce to our congregation. The length of our services can range between two and three hours. These are just a few of the things we are intentionally doing to build an environment in which God’s love for all peoples can be demonstrated and observed. To us building a multi-ethnic church is much more than an effort at racial reconciliation. We are convinced that it is a biblical mandate, because if in Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, Greek or barbarian, then God’s church should look like God’s kingdom: full of people from every ethnic and economic class

To paraphrase Ed Dobson: I don’t care if Sunday is the most segregated time in America. If my black friends came to my church, they would think they were attending a funeral. If I went to a black church, I would probably have a heart attack. I care what’s happening the rest of the week outside of church.

This is a great discussion. I was talking with a friend of mine yesterday about this very issue. I’m a pastor in Winona, MN which is about 30,000 people. We are predominately a white community however there are all sort of people groups here.

We have an African American couple in our church. He is a gifted speaker. This past Sunday we had him speak from the pulpit. He also has done spoken word, hip-hop in our worship. It has been refreshing to say the least.

Rochester, the big city 45 miles from us, the bigger churches there are predominately white and I believe no staff that are not white. This is coming from a community that is becoming hugely diverse.

I think the lack of ethnicity in churches stems from the inability to connect with people of diversity, disciple those who have teaching gifts or any gift for that matter.

For those of you who are from ethnically diverse areas, what are your experiences with diverse churches?