Diversity

If you ever see me here on Sunday morning looking like my head is about to explode there is a very good reason. I have a 10-year-old daughter who likes to ask me really difficult questions on the way to church. All of the body (you know what I am talking about), mind and spirit questions have been asked of me at about 7:45 a.m. at some point this year. I usually have a somewhat reasonable response ready, but early this year she asked me a question that I had no real good answer for, “Why does everybody at our church look just like me?” This got me to thinking…
I grew up in Miami, a very integrated city, my friends were white, African American, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Haitian, Jamaican and race wasn’t really something you had to think about. Don’t get me wrong this was the early 80’s and if you’ve seen Scarface then you know if wasn’t perfect, BUT an integrated populace was just part of life.
Now we live in Austin, TX. A wonderful town full of good hearted, open-minded people who in my experience have no racial prejudices and YET this town is very segregated. Why? How should I answer my daughter’s question? How do we cross that color divide?
I think we have to be intentional. If it is not happening in other parts of our lives then I think it is the church’s place to make opportunities for us to cross that color line.
Huston Tillotson is a historically black university here in town supported by the Methodist church. Rebecca Fly, one of their staff members came to us with a small request. She spoke at our two 11:00 services this past week about how we could help some of their International students feel welcome here in America. The students are here for almost a full year without their families and support networks. Rebecca asked us to invite one of these students into our homes to spend holidays with, to invite to family or church events, to come see them if they are participating in school events. She invites us to be a friend to a student while they are here in America,” A stranger in a strange land”. So here is a chance for us to be intentional.
What do you all think? Do you value diversity in worship? Should we be working to make our congregation more diverse?