Fostering multiethnic churches easier said than done, pastors say

Fostering multiethnic churches easier said than done, pastors say: Congregations must make racial diversity a core value that guides hiring decisions, worship planning and every other facet of church life, Baptist ministers say.

by Jeff Brumley (Baptist News Global — January 29, 2015)

The Southern Baptist Convention can cure the nation’s racial tensions if its churches will embrace congregational integration, said Russell Moore, president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Moore has joined with other white conservative Christian leaders in pitching that message in the wake of police killings of blacks in places like Ferguson, Mo., and New York City.

We may not agree in this country on every particular case and situation, but it’s high time we start listening to our African-American brothers and sisters in this country when they tell us they are experiencing a problem,” Moore wrote on the commission website.

Christians must recognize that when another part of the body is in pain, the entire Body of Christ suffers, he wrote. The commission has scheduled a spring summit titled "The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation" to tackle the subject.

“It’s time for us in Christian churches to not just talk about the gospel but live out the gospel by tearing down these dividing walls not only by learning and listening to one another but also by standing up and speaking out for one another,” Moore wrote.

Read the full story at baptistnews.com/culture/social-issues/item/29767-fostering-multiethnic-churches-easier-said-than-done-pastors-say

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