Sunday, April 27, 2008

the dream

I visited a church today...it was nice. 

Okay worship, the kind that you'd hear on your local "contemporary" christian station.  I'm on the record as not liking the local "contemporary" christian station (wherever local may be), but in context I can deal with it.

Very good message...but given via video feed!  I'd never seen anything like this before.  There was no pastor, but we all gathered together to watch a screen.  Odd.  Good message nonetheless.

Homogenous.  In this case, it means the congregation was all White.  *sigh*  I have beef with homogenous church...I believe strongly that churches shouldn't be all White, or all Latino, or all Black.  Just all Christian.  If I were planning on living in the Black neighborhood in Heaven, then I'd be fine with all Black church...but from everything I've gathered, Heaven takes all believers.

How can we be more intentional with Christian integration?  Martin's dream hasn't busted through the doors of churches yet...what can we all do about that?
Posted by Dawn at 15:36:44 | Permanent Link | Comments (7) |
Comments
1 - Lol...your "all white beef would be hard to break here, since, uhm, EVERYONE is white.

Dude, I'm not joking. There's white people.......and corn. And cows. And that.is.it. hahaha

:)

I'm glad that you had a good time at the church you were visiting...no pastor? Video feed? Crazy!!

That'd fail here, too. haha....cows don't like video feed, I guess.

hehehe (Comment this)

Written by: jesspond at 2008/04/27 - 17:43:44
2 - The first thing a white person thinks when they see a black visitor in their church is, "I need to make them feel welcome, because this is the first step to integration." The second thing they think is, "If I'm too friendly, the black person will think I am phony as all heck... and he'll be right."

If black people just started going to white churches, and returned to the same white churches every week no matter what, I think eventually the white Christians would adjust, relax, and draw the black people into the church structure. And I don't mean the average American attitude of trying a church for 4 or 5 weeks... I mean return to the same white church every Sunday for two years straight. It sounds crazy, but I think it would work.

By the way: where WAS this pastor? Was he even in the same building? Was it even a live feed or just a recording? Could you tell? (Comment this)

Written by: Opie at 2008/04/27 - 19:33:20
3 - You are hilarious I love the part about a Black neighborhood in heaven LOL. Anyway do think people should date and marry like they choose their church and if you don't go to church should you not date? www.Happen2bBlack.com
 (Comment this)

Written by: Happen2bBlack at 2008/04/29 - 01:25:25
4 - Bellieve it or not - there are more segregated churches than the grains of salt and pepper in a lasagna. Video feed, huh? Yea, kinda wierd. (Comment this)

Written by: Darius at 2008/04/29 - 08:39:21
5 - It's so nice to stumble across your blog and find someone else on the journey towards knowing God better in the midst of a crazy world. I totally agree with you --- 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the whole week, and it really won't be like this in Heaven. I think we are all stuck in our own comfort zones. When our church moved from a small sanctuary to a really big one with two huge screens in the front, I literally cried sitting there in my pew. I love my church, and have since gotten used to the ominous screens, but I still feel like we are losing something in this "mega church" structure so many churches are pursuing. All God's grace to you in your journey.

Michele (Comment this)

Written by: Michele at 2008/05/01 - 19:48:58
6 - Jess: that's the thing...it's decently integrated up here. That shouldn't be a problem.

Opie: how long should a person be "that nice Black lady at my church" before they can just go be "the nice lady at my church"? That's why that method won't work.

I misspoke. It wasn't a video feed, but rather a recording.

H2BB: thanks for visiting!

Darius: I do believe it...and it's a shame.

Michele: and you as well! (Comment this)

Written by: dawn at 2008/05/05 - 19:29:48
7 - Hmmm... I'm not sure what you mean. It seems to me that what I was describing is the *only* way they can go to being "the nice lady at my church." Staying separate wont do it, and white people taking over the black churches certainly wont. What other options do we have? (Comment this)

Written by: Opie at 2008/05/08 - 04:02:34
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