Multiethnic Churches: The Next Step Beyond Diversity

EDITORIAL

Forward Leading | Mark DeYmaz

Martin Luther King Jr. once said that 11 o’clock on Sunday morning was the “most segregated hour of America.” At the turn of the 21st century, when Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith published their seminal work Divided by Faith, only 6% of U.S. congregations were considered multiracial—no one racial group comprising more than 80% of the whole.

So, in 2006 when the Mosaix Global Network first championed the vision of seeing 20% of churches become multiethnic by 2020, it sounded audacious and naive. How could centuries of racial separation inside the American church possibly give way to such dramatic change in just two decades?

But it did.

Progress With Celebrating

The percentage of U.S. congregations today meeting the multiracial definition has risen dramatically. By Christian tradition, the growth in the percentage of churches that are multiethnic has been:

* Catholic: 17% (1998) to 22% (2024)

* Mainline: 5% (1998) to 17% (2024)

* Evangelical: 7% (1998) to 24% (2024)

As Emerson observed last November at the sixth national Mosaix Conference, “The first quarter century of the multiethnic church movement produced a demographic miracle. … We should shout it from the mountain tops. God is working!”

Emerson’s language is not only factual; it’s doxological.

But what happens next? What should the new goal for multiethnic churches be?

While the U.S. church has made measurable progress toward demographic diversity, it hasn’t advanced nearly far enough toward equitable power, justice or unity. Sociologists such as Emerson and Korie Little Edwards find that many diverse congregations avoid addressing difficult racial realities in the name of keeping the peace. In some cases, Emerson notes, “We have dressed up white churches in brown face,” achieving diversity without structural change.

The next quarter century must be different. If the first 25 years brought initial integration, the next 25 must bring about maturity.

From Integration to Maturity

Churches meeting demographic percentages will need to get beyond assimilation to accommodation so that people of every color, class and culture can foster authentic relationships, embrace mutual advocacy, and together engage their communities. To do so, we’ll need to set aside fear and embrace faith.

Mosaix defines a healthy multiethnic church as one in which people of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds will commit themselves to:

* Walk, work and worship God together as one

* Recognize, renew reconcile, and redeem broken relationships

* Establish equitable systems of responsible authority, leadership, governance and accountability

* Advocate and advance justice, mercy and compassionate work in the community

* Embrace the tension of sound theological reflection and applicational relevance in an increasingly complex, intersectional society.

If the Lord tarries and believers 500 years from today look back and ask, “What was the single greatest move of the Holy Spirit in the 21st century that significantly advanced the gospel and credibility of the church?” what do you suppose they’ll say?

I hope they’ll say that Christ-centered believers refused to remain segregated by color, class or culture, choosing instead to embody one new humanity in local churches throughout the world.

Toward that end, the next goal was set and embraced at last year’s Mosaix conference. As articulated by Chuck Mingo and Troy Jackson, founders of UNDIVIDED, “By 2050, 11 o’clock on Sunday morning will be known as the most undivided hour of the week.”