Sunday still the most segregated day of the week

#religion

“My church is open to anybody,” said Furman Miller Jr., pastor of Weston Chapel AME Church in Greenwood. “People make choices where they are comfortable. Sometimes you don’t visit another church. A lot of people have never experienced an AME church. All churches are very family oriented. We serve one God. I think that, unfortunately, the history of the country is that we’ve made it where we have Black and white churches.”

“The Black community has been hurt for centuries in our country. It is my prayer and hope that we, as a church, can reconcile our wrongs and invite our Black sisters and brothers to feel God’s love in a positive and affirming way.”

Indeed, Sunday mornings continue to be a reflection of America’s racial divisions. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously observed, 11 a.m. on Sunday remains “the most segregated hour of the week” across the United States. Despite progress made since the Civil Rights movement, many churches and other public spaces remain functionally segregated along racial lines.

Surprisingly, research shows that most worshipers are content with this status quo Over 8 in 10 congregations consist predominantly of a single racial group, and 67 percent of American churchgoers believe their church has done enough to become racially diverse.

However, it’s essential to recognize that diversity enriches our communities and fosters understanding. As Ed Stetzer aptly put it, “If you don’t like diversity, you’re really not going to like heaven”.