RIGHT or WRONG? Am I prejudiced?

Posted: 9/01/06

RIGHT or WRONG?
Am I prejudiced?

My church is mostly white, but a few people of darker complexion have begun to visit a little, since the neighborhood around us is changing. I sometimes say that I really am not prejudiced toward other groups. But I find myself struggling a bit as to whether I should or could address this dynamic we are facing.

You find yourself in a position that many of us also are in. Thank you for admitting that, even though you realize that prejudice is wrong, you still grapple with it. This grappling will include accepting your feelings of uneasiness and realizing Christ can work in you to resolve the discomfort. Accept the reality that decades of segregation often have limited our social contacts to people of the same color. This barrier has created cultural differences that can make us unsure how to relate to others. Your struggle with your prejudice indicates you are well on the way to overcoming it and treating all people with equity.

Your situation provides an opportunity to do something that very few churches are doing—becoming a congregation that is truly multiracial. Martin Luther King Jr. called attention to single-colored churches nearly 50 years ago when he wrote: “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is 11 o’clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing: ‘In Christ There is No East Nor West.’” In an area where Christians should have taken the lead, they have abdicated that possibility.

A recent study suggests churches have made little progress in the past five decades. Only 8 percent of churches in the United States can be called multiracial, which is defined as churches where no single racial group comprises more than 80 percent of the participants. That seems a quite broad definition of a multi-racial congregation.

Not everyone in the community of faith will share your concern. Some may refuse to welcome others and may even leave the church when darker-skinned people begin to attend.

Michael Emerson, in a book that focuses on Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston (a church he attended, by the way), offers seven principles for creating healthy multiracial congregations:

• “An institutional commitment to racial equity, clearly stated.” This could be a mission or vision statement. Churches need to state that one of their aims is to be multiracial.

• “Leaders who are personally deeply committed to racial equity.”

• “A common purpose that supercedes racial equity.” Racial equity is not the end but a means to achieve a greater good, such as living fully one’s faith.

• “Structures to ensure racial equity.” Outsiders need to feel they belong and have a voice.

• “Internal forums, education and groups.” Take time for the congregation to dialogue concerning issues.

• “Be a DJ.” This is Emerson’s metaphor for being ready and willing to make constant adjustments.

• “Recognize that people are at different places, and help them move forward one step at a time.”

Two helpful resources are People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States, by Michael O. Emerson with Rodney M. Woo (pastor of Wilcrest). This book was published by Princeton Press in 2006. And One Body, One Spirit : Principles of Successful Multiracial Churches by George A. Yancey, published in 2003 by Intervarsity Press.

David Morgan, pastor

Trinity Baptist Church

Harker Heights

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.