Why is racial diversity in each congregation a goal? Many/most churches are neighborhood churches, so that's one factor that this article didn't discuss. Then there are styles of worship, from drums and guitars to liturgical/classical music, and that might be correlated with race. Isn't it more important that the church overall help all kinds of people in all their preferred, effective style of worship rather than making each parish statistically diverse? Shouldn't God somehow come into the picture?
Racial diversity in every congregation simply isn't realistic seeing as though there are big chunks of the country that aren't racially diverse. I think it would be more feasible for congregations in sizable metropolitan areas to work towards such a goal if desired.
I feel like there’s an extent to which the question can’t capture diversity, because there are lots of places where even if the worshiping community exactly mirrors the demographics of the surrounding population, it will still be majority white.
Like, if you took the same data for high school classes, which are usually much more demographically representative, I think you’ll see similar results.
Basically I’m not sold that 11am is the most segregated hour based on this data, is what I am saying. Biased because my parish is one of the two most diverse places I hang out, but it’s still technically MAJORITY white, I think.
Suppose a model that looked at every individual and compared them to their 100 closest neighbors (plus themselves). What percent of people would be in the majority race among their neighbors? How would that break down by race? How would that compare to the religion data presented in this post? It isn’t clear to me that the religious numbers obviously show less diversity.
Last year I read the book "The Religion of Whiteness; How Race Distorts Christian Faith by Michael O. Emerson and Glenn E. Bracey II, one author black, the other white. It's chock full of graphs and interviews, and a few personal stories.
Their conclusion: The majority of white churches don't worship Jesus, they worship whiteness.
From the Amazon description:
Recent years have seen a growing recognition of the role that White Christian Nationalism plays in American society. As White Christian Nationalism has become a major force, and as racial and religious attitudes become increasingly aligned among whites--for example, the more likely you are to say that the decline of white people as a share of the population is "bad for society," the more likely you are to believe the government should support religious values--it has become reasonable to wonder which of the adjectives in the phrase "White Christian Nationalism" takes precedence.
In this book, Michael O. Emerson and Glenn E. Bracey II respond definitively: the answer is "white." The majority of white Christians in America, they argue, are believers in a "Religion of Whiteness" that shapes their faith, their politics, and more. The Religion of Whiteness, they argue, raises the perpetuation of racial inequality to a level of spiritual commitment that rivals followers' commitment to Christianity itself. This religion has its own unique beliefs, practices, sacred symbols, and organizations. What is more, this religion affects more than just churches. It drives the nation's politics, divides families, and is especially harmful to communities of color.
Using national survey data, in-depth interviews, and focus group results gathered over several years, Emerson and Bracey show how the Religion of Whiteness shapes the practice of Christianity for millions of Americans--and what can be done to confront it.
--------------
That book has shaped my understanding of white churches more than anything else. While I agree many churches may be diverse in the pew, this book has convinced me that most aren't nearly so diverse in their hearts.
Just asking people's opinions about a subject is always going to get some cultural bias. Asking control questions first and compiling that data as Emerson and Bracey did, and then asking race related questions second reveals an entirely different picture of the divisive understanding of Jesus in the United States.
Don't take my word for it. Get the book and read it.
Full disclosure: I'm a white cisgender Marine Corps Vietnam veteran.
This book is worth a read for those who really enjoy the nitty-gritty of interpreting charts about religion.
I found this interesting and hopeful. While it doesn’t exactly reveal anything very specific, it does say that some change has occurred and we should see that as a good thing. My own experience in our own church has been to see some change. With the complexity of the subject it would be very difficult to study it. I remember Voddie Baucham relaying a story of a white pastor asking him in tears what they were doing wrong that other people of color or nationality were not coming to their church. Baucham said that he had never known a “black” church to be that passionate about seeking to draw a multicultural church together. That conversation caused Bachman to leave his church and attend the white pastor’s church. It would be interesting to look at who is working toward building multicultural congregations.
As some have suggested, maybe it isn’t that important, but more about how we engage in our communities and with our neighbors. How we define neighbor may reveal more about ourselves in the church than anything else.
I agree with Baucham's observation and the reason for that is the historical opposition to Black American attempts to fully enter mainstream society and how the burden of legalized desegregation of the public realm has been disproportionately shouldered by Black Americans, often resulting in the deterioration of our own valuable institutions.
The PCUSA requires congregations to report racial make-up in an annual report, and congregations seeking a new minister need to provide age breakdown as well as ethnic mix. I would guess the UCC does the same, and perhaps other denominations. So there's some demographic info available.
My parish is quite mixed. A lot of Puerto Ricans, some Mexicans, some White (or Anglo as old timers in South Texas call it), an India Indian, and I'm probably missing something. Well, we had a Nigerian family for some time.
You know how we got that way? By caring about Truth, righteousness, right worship, and about each other. We frankly don't care about ethnic backgrounds. We don't think about it much, to be honest. Shine as a light in the darkness, and people from different backgrounds will be attracted to that.
It helps that our city does not have as much racial tension and woke politics as most cities.
Why is racial diversity in each congregation a goal? Many/most churches are neighborhood churches, so that's one factor that this article didn't discuss. Then there are styles of worship, from drums and guitars to liturgical/classical music, and that might be correlated with race. Isn't it more important that the church overall help all kinds of people in all their preferred, effective style of worship rather than making each parish statistically diverse? Shouldn't God somehow come into the picture?
Another triumph of the Null Hypothesis (with a "maybe" level of confidence).
Why is racial diversity in each congregation a goal? Many/most churches are neighborhood churches, so that's one factor that this article didn't discuss. Then there are styles of worship, from drums and guitars to liturgical/classical music, and that might be correlated with race. Isn't it more important that the church overall help all kinds of people in all their preferred, effective style of worship rather than making each parish statistically diverse? Shouldn't God somehow come into the picture?
Racial diversity in every congregation simply isn't realistic seeing as though there are big chunks of the country that aren't racially diverse. I think it would be more feasible for congregations in sizable metropolitan areas to work towards such a goal if desired.
I feel like there’s an extent to which the question can’t capture diversity, because there are lots of places where even if the worshiping community exactly mirrors the demographics of the surrounding population, it will still be majority white.
Like, if you took the same data for high school classes, which are usually much more demographically representative, I think you’ll see similar results.
Basically I’m not sold that 11am is the most segregated hour based on this data, is what I am saying. Biased because my parish is one of the two most diverse places I hang out, but it’s still technically MAJORITY white, I think.
Suppose a model that looked at every individual and compared them to their 100 closest neighbors (plus themselves). What percent of people would be in the majority race among their neighbors? How would that break down by race? How would that compare to the religion data presented in this post? It isn’t clear to me that the religious numbers obviously show less diversity.
right that’s exactly what I’m saying.
With the youngest Catholics attending less diverse parishes, could this be Spanish speaking Catholics attending Mass in their preferred language?
Last year I read the book "The Religion of Whiteness; How Race Distorts Christian Faith by Michael O. Emerson and Glenn E. Bracey II, one author black, the other white. It's chock full of graphs and interviews, and a few personal stories.
Their conclusion: The majority of white churches don't worship Jesus, they worship whiteness.
From the Amazon description:
Recent years have seen a growing recognition of the role that White Christian Nationalism plays in American society. As White Christian Nationalism has become a major force, and as racial and religious attitudes become increasingly aligned among whites--for example, the more likely you are to say that the decline of white people as a share of the population is "bad for society," the more likely you are to believe the government should support religious values--it has become reasonable to wonder which of the adjectives in the phrase "White Christian Nationalism" takes precedence.
In this book, Michael O. Emerson and Glenn E. Bracey II respond definitively: the answer is "white." The majority of white Christians in America, they argue, are believers in a "Religion of Whiteness" that shapes their faith, their politics, and more. The Religion of Whiteness, they argue, raises the perpetuation of racial inequality to a level of spiritual commitment that rivals followers' commitment to Christianity itself. This religion has its own unique beliefs, practices, sacred symbols, and organizations. What is more, this religion affects more than just churches. It drives the nation's politics, divides families, and is especially harmful to communities of color.
Using national survey data, in-depth interviews, and focus group results gathered over several years, Emerson and Bracey show how the Religion of Whiteness shapes the practice of Christianity for millions of Americans--and what can be done to confront it.
--------------
That book has shaped my understanding of white churches more than anything else. While I agree many churches may be diverse in the pew, this book has convinced me that most aren't nearly so diverse in their hearts.
Just asking people's opinions about a subject is always going to get some cultural bias. Asking control questions first and compiling that data as Emerson and Bracey did, and then asking race related questions second reveals an entirely different picture of the divisive understanding of Jesus in the United States.
Don't take my word for it. Get the book and read it.
Full disclosure: I'm a white cisgender Marine Corps Vietnam veteran.
This book is worth a read for those who really enjoy the nitty-gritty of interpreting charts about religion.
I found this interesting and hopeful. While it doesn’t exactly reveal anything very specific, it does say that some change has occurred and we should see that as a good thing. My own experience in our own church has been to see some change. With the complexity of the subject it would be very difficult to study it. I remember Voddie Baucham relaying a story of a white pastor asking him in tears what they were doing wrong that other people of color or nationality were not coming to their church. Baucham said that he had never known a “black” church to be that passionate about seeking to draw a multicultural church together. That conversation caused Bachman to leave his church and attend the white pastor’s church. It would be interesting to look at who is working toward building multicultural congregations.
As some have suggested, maybe it isn’t that important, but more about how we engage in our communities and with our neighbors. How we define neighbor may reveal more about ourselves in the church than anything else.
I agree with Baucham's observation and the reason for that is the historical opposition to Black American attempts to fully enter mainstream society and how the burden of legalized desegregation of the public realm has been disproportionately shouldered by Black Americans, often resulting in the deterioration of our own valuable institutions.
The PCUSA requires congregations to report racial make-up in an annual report, and congregations seeking a new minister need to provide age breakdown as well as ethnic mix. I would guess the UCC does the same, and perhaps other denominations. So there's some demographic info available.
My parish is quite mixed. A lot of Puerto Ricans, some Mexicans, some White (or Anglo as old timers in South Texas call it), an India Indian, and I'm probably missing something. Well, we had a Nigerian family for some time.
You know how we got that way? By caring about Truth, righteousness, right worship, and about each other. We frankly don't care about ethnic backgrounds. We don't think about it much, to be honest. Shine as a light in the darkness, and people from different backgrounds will be attracted to that.
It helps that our city does not have as much racial tension and woke politics as most cities.
Why is racial diversity in each congregation a goal? Many/most churches are neighborhood churches, so that's one factor that this article didn't discuss. Then there are styles of worship, from drums and guitars to liturgical/classical music, and that might be correlated with race. Isn't it more important that the church overall help all kinds of people in all their preferred, effective style of worship rather than making each parish statistically diverse? Shouldn't God somehow come into the picture?