A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog series entitled “Jungle Fever.” This series took a look at the racial differences between African-American and White churches. This series touched on how churches are still segregated and it appears this dynamic won’t change soon. Additionally, I shared the differences between black preachers and white preachers. Finally, I touched on how remarkably different blacks and whites dress when they attend worship. It was a great series that generated several comments. You can read more about it HERE.
There are many reasons why Sunday mornings continue to be the most segregated day of the week. This video excerpt from the documentary, “Baptists and Racism,” attempts to address some of them.
Why do you think the Body of Christ remains segregated so many decades after the civil rights movement? In my opinion, any time you call upon the majority group to divest themselves of power and influence, you’ll have fear, insecurity, and skepticism. In short, they’ll passively sabotage any progress towards inclusion and multiculturalism.
Question: What do you believe are the fundamental reasons churches are segregated?
Two reasons. 1) The lesson of love thy neighbor as you love yourself has not been learned. 2) The notion that we ALL are image bearers of God has not been embraced. Do you also want to discuss class segregation within the Black Church? 🙂
Rev. Roundy,
Brother, it's good to hear from you & thanks for taking time to read my blog & comment. As always, you always ask thought-provoking and straight-forward questions. I agree that equality & worth has not yet been realized within the church and we still have a long way to go before we get there.
Regarding classism within the Black Church, sure, I'd love to spark a healthy debate that'll shed light on the 800lb gorilla that sits on the 1st pew each Sunday. Allow me to begin the discussion by saying how amazed I am at how quickly some within our race easily look down on others who may not be as polished. I've seen looks of disgust & disdain on their faces – looks that say "what are they doing in my church." Perhaps they forgot they once sat in the same seat. Furthermore, in our relentless pursuit of more, we've place upwardly progression ahead of empowering others. It's ugly and sheds negatively on the Kingdom.
Interesting…there are probably as many reasons as there are stars in the sky. I think for a lot of Blacks, we remain segregated because culturally church and state had no separation. We're a people of vast tradition. With that said A plus B always equals C – and in this case, we still hold on to cultural traditions from our yester-years.
Besides that, most Blacks have this innate need to have church be a certain way. It can be done differently, but there must be parts of it that we subconsciously relate to.
That's all surface level conversation regarding the topic.
We delve deeper when we start understanding the various belief systems within protestantism. That will always keep us separated. Not to mention the view points that certain pastors hold in precedence and priority over others. That will keep us separated too.
A large can of worms you've opened up here Pastor and I love it. I'd love to hear some healthy conversation around the topic in hopes of gathering unity and harmony.