August 20th, 2020

I often hear people from predominantly white churches say they wish their congregations were more diverse. And I wonder…

• Could they be serious about changes in congregational leadership?
• Are they open to change in worship? For example, are they willing to incorporate two or more languages in our liturgy? 
• Are they willing to seriously address issues of white privilege?
• Could they be committed to decentering whiteness as normative for their congregation?
• And forget about their church for a minute. Are they willing to take on issues of white privilege in their personal lives? 
• And more simply, do they seek diversity outside of church, and what is that experience teaching them?
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If we’re not willing to change anything and we’re not committed to examining and dismantling powers of white power and privilege, then could it be that we only want a diverse congregation so that we can fool ourselves into thinking we don’t have to do the work?