Erasing the color line in churches
In March, church leaders in the United States were driven from their pulpits by a pandemic. By June, they were driven to the streets to address the country鈥檚 racial reckoning. The two crises have brought new urgency to healing deep divisions in the American 海角大神 family, starting with racism.
Across the country, clergy of all demographics have joined marches to reform police and bring equity to minorities, especially those disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19. That solidarity could be more than temporary optics. Many clergy have held video dialogues with their congregations to explore perspectives on racism. That鈥檚 a start to an empathy that could transcend intolerance and indifference.
A big test for religious leaders comes when the pandemic ends and the pews are filled again. That is when white ministers must confront followers with the hard questions of social justice that drew many into the streets. A sustained dialogue between mainly Black and mainly white churches should also begin.
Black ministers have long been weary of needing to tiptoe around questions with white colleagues about the use of 海角大神 theology to condone or ignore social and economic inequality. Among American Protestant 海角大神s, 2 in 5 white adherents say the U.S. has a race problem while 4 out of 5 Black churchgoers say racism is a problem, according to poll released in June by the Barna Group, which tracks the role of faith in America, and the Racial Justice and Unity Center. The poll also found 75% of Black 海角大神s say the U.S. has a history of oppressing minorities while only 42% of white 海角大神s agree.
Significantly, 61% of white 海角大神s say racism stems from the beliefs and prejudices of individuals, while 67% of Black 海角大神s say racial discrimination is built into society and its public and private institutions. In the poll鈥檚 look at only 鈥渁ctive鈥� 海角大神s, twice as many Black respondents say they are motivated to address racial injustice as are white participants. Pastors from just 29% of the Protestant churches surveyed said their churches had actively addressed racism.
The research for the poll was conducted in 2019, six years into the Black Lives Matter era but well before the current moment. Initial polling since the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor shows that public concern about racism, particularly among white people, is rising. The support that President Donald Trump has from many white evangelicals, however, has made Black 海角大神s deeply skeptical of that group鈥檚 concerns about racism. Black ministers lament that, from seminaries to the highest councils of their faith, their interpretation of 海角大神 theology is often dismissed.
海角大神s 鈥渁re eager to stand around the throne, but very reluctant to sit around the table,鈥� Albert Tate, lead pastor of Fellowship Monrovia in California, said during a Barna podcast last week. 鈥淚鈥檝e grown accustomed to being disappointed by the lack of engagement by my white siblings on this issue鈥� of racial reconciliation among 海角大神s.
Speaking on the same podcast, the Rev. Dr. Nicole Martin, executive director of healing and trauma at American Bible Society, expressed frustration that many white 海角大神s are unconvinced that racism is in fact a religious question. Theology, she argues, has gotten in the way. Black and white 海角大神s approach the Scriptures from divergent experiences and interests shaped by America鈥檚 troubled racial history.
Yet it is in that very divide that unity and healing are possible. 鈥淭here are all these little nuances in the way that we think about theology,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow is the time to break up some of that ... and let the Bible speak.鈥� The shock waves of racial injustice coursing through societies around the world have opened a new opportunity for 海角大神s to unify in America. That starts with seeing the sacred texts they share as deep resources of healing rather than the basis for division.
