Posts Tagged ‘Divided by Faith’

Race and the Church in America

Christian congregations, when possible, should be multiracial. It is unlikely that any Christian would disagree with such a proposition outright. However, the overwhelming majority of Christian congregations in America do not reflect racial diversity, and this is even truer within the evangelical tradition. Evangelical congregations, holding to a firm belief that the entire world must hear about the salvation offered by Jesus, should be at the forefront of making the above proposition a reality, but, unfortunately, this is not the case. Thus, evangelicals must take to task the proposition that all churches, when possible, should be multicultural.

When authors Curtiss Paul DeYoung, Michael O. Emerson, George Yancey, and Karen Chai Kim were writing the book United by Faith: the Multiracial Congregation as an Answer to the Problem of Race, the magazine Christianity Today summed up much of what the authors have proposed. The authors define a multiracial congregation as that which 80 percent or more of the church’s membership is made up of one race. The lack of multiracial congregations is simply unacceptable since the racial landscape of America has changed dramatically even over the last few decades. As the article states, “In absolute numbers, the United States had well over 35 million more people of color in 2000 than it did in 1980” (par. 5; emphasis original).

(more…)

I have not done one of these in a long time, but I feel that I should update everyone a little on my life.

Kid #2

Highlights:

1. Amanda is pregnant, and we just found out last Thursday that this one will be a boy! His name will be “Evan” named after my grandfather, father, and me (in that order, too). I am very excited. As a dad, you have fantasies of playing catch with your son, going to games together, camping, fishing, etc. I hope to do all these things and more. Giselle tries her best to pronounce “Evan.” It started like “Ibann,” and now sounds more like “Ebbin.” Close enough.
2. Yesterday, our church plant Redemption Church voted Gary Alloway as our pastor. Gary had been with us from the beginning, and we on the leadership team believed God had called him to be our pastor. However, we wanted confirmation from the congregation, as well. This was confirmed! Pastor Gary Alloway.
3. I am in my second semester at my job, and I am beginning to feel like I know what I am doing. Overall, I love my staff and the people I work with. This sounds bad, but I like my job more than I thought I would. I guess that’s a good thing.

(more…)