Crocs and Gators

A Reflection on Racial Diversity in our Churches

With your blood you [Jesus] purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Revelation 5:9

There’s only one place in the world where alligators and crocodiles co-exist, and that’s in the Everglades. The park’s fresh waters, in which gators dwell, mingle with Florida Bay’s salt water, which crocs need, providing the perfect environment for both of these reptiles.

My husband Joe and I saw plenty of alligators when we visited the Everglades—not surprising, since there are over a million of them in Florida alone—and we were fortunate to spot a crocodile in the Flamingo area (they’re an endangered species, with only an estimated 500 in existence in the U.S.). We were able to tell the difference between them, even from a safe distance (highly recommended), thanks to a tutorial in a park visitor center. We learned crocodiles are olive-colored, with pointier snouts, and their lower teeth are visible when their mouths are shut (the preferred way to observe them, in my opinion). 

You might say Joe and I live in a croc and gator world. We look quite different from the majority of residents around us—we’re Caucasian, and most of our neighbors are African-American. Our church is similarly mixed. Living and worshiping in integrated settings has been one of the richest experiences of our lives.  

I also realize it’s not the norm, especially when it comes to church. It was Episcopal Bishop James A. Pike who first said, “The 11 o’clock hour on Sunday is the most segregated hour in American life” (quoted in the May 16, 1960 issue of US News & World Report), a phrase echoed later that decade by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mark Chaves, professor of sociology, religion, and divinity at Duke University, mentions that same axiom in his conclusions from the National Congregations Study: 

Congregations have become more ethnically and racially diverse even since 1998, [when] 20 percent of attendees were in congregations that were completely white and non-Hispanic; in 2006-07, 14 percent were.

Let me be clear about what this means. We do not see significant increases since 1998 in the proportion of predominantly Latino or Asian or African American congregations in the United States. Nor do we see any significant increase in what we might call deeply diverse congregations…What we do see is a significant increase in the presence of some minorities in predominantly white congregations. Fewer congregations, in other words, are 100 percent white and non-Hispanic.

I do not want to overstate the significance of this trend. It definitely is too soon to discard the old saw that 11 a.m. Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week. The vast majority of American congregations remain overwhelmingly white or black or Hispanic or Asian or whatever...Somewhat like black-white intermarriage, which is increasing even though it remains rare, increasing minority presence in predominantly white congregations represents some progress, however small, in a society in which ethnicity and, especially, race, still divide us.

Race still divides us in America, even with our election of a black president? You bet. Joe and I have seen it first hand, and perhaps you have too. But is it really an important issue within the church?

I believe it is. If you want to know why, I recommend three books: Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America by Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith; United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation As an Answer to the Problem of Race, by Curtiss Paul DeYoung, Michael O. Emerson, George Yancey, and Karen Chai Kim; and One Body, One Spirit: Principles of Successful Multiracial Churches by George Yancey. 

Here’s a thought: Wouldn’t it be a powerful testimony to the Gospel to be able to say that another place crocs and gators gather is in church at 11 o’clock Sunday morning? 

As we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., today, and our first African American President is sworn in for his second term, what are your thoughts? Are we making progress toward integration through our churches…throughout our nation?

Penny Musco is a freelance writer with a terrific family—husband, daughter, mom, two brothers, and an assortment of in-laws, nieces and nephews. Her first passion is living for God as His child, redeemed from my “empty way of life…with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18, 19). A second is being with her family. Creating stories, whether fiction or non-fiction, is a third. And then there’s travel, especially to places where she can get up close and personal with the natural world. Trekking through the national parks is the best way she's found to combine all four. 

Penny blogs at Life Lessons From the National Parks. She can also be found at http://www.pennymusco.com and  http://www.steal-away.com

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

 photo credit: BjørnS via photopincc

Changing Perspective

I love throwing parties. I love Mexican food. Give me a reason to throw a Mexican-themed party and I am elated. I have a handful of go-to serving dishes, tablecloths, and decorations just waiting for the next social gathering. Recently, my husband and I were throwing a party with a Spanish flair for our daughter’s birthday and I wanted to serve chips and salsa, one of our family’s favorite munchies. I looked everywhere for our large blue, red, and orange chip and dip bowl but couldn't seem to locate it. I could not believe I had the perfect piece to present the snacks, but could not find it anywhere. The party went off without a hitch even though the presentation wasn’t exactly what I had in my mind.

It is so frustrating when you can’t find what you are looking for.

Our basement is a catch-all for the things that have no place in the rooms above ground. It's the space that’s served as a playroom for the big toys, laundry, gift wrap station, storage, etc. At one time, it also housed a Pilates machine; a late-night purchase from the HSN Shopping Network. For months it went untouched except of course for the kids playing on it, and we always shooed them off.  Filled with promises of lean muscles in half the time, I decided I was finally going to give it a try. I turned on the little TV, popped in the DVD that came with the machine, and laid down ready to transform my body. As I lay there and looked up, my eyes were drawn to the top shelf of the wire racks that ran along the wall…and I saw it! It was the infamous chips and salsa dish that went MIA months before.

In changing my perspective, what seemed lost was found.

I was no longer looking at eye level. I was seeing through a worm’s eye. Perspective is an important element in art. In photography, for example, it adds to the story and perfects the shot. By changing my perspective I saw more. My limits were removed.

You can take a picture of the same subject, engage in the same activity, look in the same places, yet have a different outcome when you change perspective.

A shifted perspective reveals that there is more than meets the eye at first. One of the things that will radically change your perspective is a heart of gratitude. 

We talk a lot about thankfulness during the month of November, but what if we talked about it all year round?

I certainly could stand a little more gratitude thrown my way in my home. I am tired of making meals that are met with complaints or cleaning the house only for it to be littered with stuff soon thereafter. Yet, I realize, if I want the climate in my home to change, thankfulness has to start with me and be intentionally modeled to my kids. The thankfulness I practice now is often reactionary. It is in response to what I have, nice things done for me, and my comfort. That's the stuff of greeting cards. The gratitude tends to be fleeting…it doesn't contain power to change our perspective or produce joy.

 In the book One Thousand Gifts, A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, Ann Voskamp says:

"The practice of giving thanks...eucharisteo...this is the way we practice the presence of God, stay present to His presence, and it is always a practice of the eyes. We don't have to change what we see. Only the way we see."

What if I didn’t wait for the perfect scenarios to give thanks?

I am now on the hunt for that which I have not noticed before. I am looking beyond the obvious and being proactive in giving thanks. This Thanksgiving, my family will not be wrapping up a month of thankfulness but will be kicking off a new journey of partaking in willed eucharisteo in hopes of transforming our perspective. My husband and I will be leading our kids each day in writing down those things that we are grateful for and keeping that list in a place that can be see on a daily basis and by others who enter our home.

How do you participate in giving thanks in your home?

 photo credit: lovesonic via photopincc

Kimberly is an enthusiastic and dedicated founding member of the Circles of Faith team. She is known for her creativity, strong faith, and commitment to living life with purpose and passion. Kimberly is a writer and community builder whose desire is for hearts to be healed, minds to be renewed and women to be connected in fellowship just as God intended.

You can follow Kimberly in her journey to discovering the Sweet Spot of God’s success for her everyday life on her blog at Living in the Sweet Spot. or on twitter @kimberlyamici.Click here for her full bio.