Building Multiracial Congregations

Tom Metzger's endorsement of Cruz Bustamante reveals the seamy side of race relations in Christendom. For those of us who find this abhorrent, what does it take to build multiracial congregations as called for in Ephesians 2:11-22?

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

The following study by the Multiracial Congregations Project is helpful:

Multiracial congregations are rare, and any estimates we get from surveys are overestimates. Reflective of the different organizational structures, Catholics churches are about three times more likely to be multiracial than are Protestant churches. Though Catholic churches are more likely to be multiracial, such churches tend to have less impact on the attitudes, religious understandings, and social networks of their parishioners than is the case for those in mixed Protestant churches.

For congregations to be multiracial, a racially diverse neighborhood is usually necessary, but often not sufficient. A tension seems to exist between in the minds of both the leadership and the members as to why they are racially mixed. For some, the diversity is simply due to the neighborhood, for others, the diversity required other forces, such as God and intentionality. Reflecting this tension, when we asked clergy why their congregation is multiracial, the reasons listed as most important most often were 'a movement of God,' and 'the neighborhood became/is diverse.' These responses varied substantially by tradition. For Catholics clergy, the most important reason was neighborhood diversity, for Protestants, a movement of God. Again, reflecting this tension, the reasons listed as the second most important most often were 'it just happened,' and 'the existing clergy developed a vision for becoming diverse.' Catholic and Protestant clergy did not differ on these responses.

This tension points to what we have found in our site visits. There are two main types of multiracial congregations--accidental (different people groups just seemed to show up) and intentional (preparations and changes were made to become racially mixed). Not surprisingly, the congregational model that seems to have the largest effect on parishioners' attitudes, religious understandings, and social networks is the intentional model.

Regardless of the model, the most common type of mixed-race congregation follows this path: A formerly white church in a white neighborhood became a mixed congregation when the neighborhood experienced racial change. The white members are older than the non-white members, and stay in the church because they grew up in the church. The challenge then, especially for the accidentally mixed congregations, is to maintain the diversity after the older members are gone. We have encountered other unique paths that do not follow this model. For example, some congregations create diversity through extensive bussing ministries.

People who attend multiracial congregations have substantially different social networks compared to those who do not. They are much more likely to have best friends who are of a different race than their own, much more likely to have mixed friendship circles, much more likely to have more racial diversity in the people they encounter at work, in their neighborhoods, and in their schools. Based on our site visits, the causal direction is reciprocal. Except for older white members of churches experiencing racial change, parishioners typically have some experience and comfort with mixed-race situations before they enter a mixed-race church. Being part of such a church furthers their experience and comfort with mixed-race situations, further diversifies their social networks, and can alter attitudes and religious understandings.