I read a disturbing blog today about race and the church, and I’ve been thinking about it all day long.  Essentially, the blogger (Ed Stetzer) reminded me that churches are still far too segregated in many ways:

• Over 90% of churches in the United States are racially segregated, with 80% or more of the congregation comprised of a single race or ethnic group.
• Churches are ten times more segregated than the neighborhoods they are in.
• Churches are twenty times more segregated than nearby public schools.
• Many churches are satisfied with this and have even justified it. 

In America, slavery was abolished nearly 150 years, and the Civil Rights act was passed nearly 50 years ago, but racism is still a factor and segregation is still an issue.  Here in Arizona, black-and-white tension may have eased a little bit–but not nearly enough.  And racism may actually getting worse in black-and-hispanic and hispanic-and-white circles.

My thinking is simple.  Churches, who preach and who therefore should practice God’s love, should not allow racism to be an issue.  As a matter of fact, we should go overboard to make sure that the church (and each local expression of it) is a multi-racial, multi-cultural, and multi-generational congregation that mirrors its community.

FSBCA is making strides in this area, but we are not there yet.  So what can we do?  Here are some practical suggestions:

• We need to make sure that our leadership teams are racially diverse.  We should see whites, blacks, and hispanics (and others) on our platform, in our choirs, and in our church council and deacon teams.
• We need to let people know that we are attempting to be a racially and generationally diverse congregation.  Let them know that we value different skin colors and younger and older members alike for the very simple reason that God values all people.  Saying it won’t make it so, but it won’t happen until we say it and we mean it.
• We will need to teach our members to get outside of our personal comfort zones.  If we know only know whites, hang out only with whites, and talk only to whites . . . who will we be inviting to church?  Our community is racially diverse; we should have no problem meeting people with different skin colors, but it sometimes takes some work to get outside of our comfort zones.
• We must refuse to allow racial putdowns.  We need to practice aggressive accountability within our congregation.  A simple, “We don’t talk that way in this church because God doesn’t think that way” will let people know that racism is not allowed in our church.  It has to come from both the pastor and the members for it to be effective. 
• We must refuse to judge others on cultural differences.  There are differences in white culture, black culture, and hispanic culture.  There are different types of dress, different expectations, different foods, and different ways of thinking.  We need to remember that God is not white.  He is not black.  He is not hispanic.  He does not exclusively speak English.  God does not judge; neither must we.  So we must allow for and even celebrate differences.

One of my deepest dreams for FSBCA is that we will reach all people.  We will have to work hard to make this dream come to pass. 

If you have suggestions on ways to help, please let me know!