MauriceStargell.com

Recently, I received a phone call from one of the producers of CNN’s Black In America with Soledad O’Brien. She called me because they’re working on a new installment in their Black In America series with this episode having a focus on “race and religion” and they had discovered through some of their research & contacts that our new church plant in Jonesboro, GA was an “integrated church“. It appears that being a multicultural church (or, in her terms, an “integrated” church) makes us somewhat of an anomaly. Here is some of Hope Church’s story that she found interesting during our 45 minute phone interview.

First of all, before we ever officially launched as a church, we knew that reflecting real cultural diversity was one of our core values, not just for the sake of saying we have an “integrated” church, but because racial reconciliation is a part of the Gospel.

In order to better understand the cultural context of our church, here are some of the demographics of our county – Clayton County, with respect to race and ethnicity, from the US Census Bureau:

• Black – 61%
• White – 28%
• Hispanic – 7%
• Asian – 2%
• (other ethnicities) – 2%

Here’s how my staff looks at Hope Church…

• Maurice Stargell (that’s me), Lead Pastor – Black
• Trey Sheneman, Worship Arts Pastor – White
• Norman Miller, Gospel Formation Pastor – Black
• Chris Brown, Family Pastor – White
• Mary Held, admin assistant to lead pastor – White

So what do people actually “see” with respect to race and cultural diversity when they come to worship at Hope Church?

• Well, when you drive into the parking lot of the Clayton Co. Performing Arts Center where Hope Church meets for our Sunday gatherings, the first thing you’ll notice is our parking crew is a mixed bag Jesus lovin’ dudes, from bald headed Black guys — to goatee sportin’, Harley Davidson bike ridin’ White dudes.
• And when you enter our facility doors you’re greeted by wonderful people whose ethnicities span the cultural spectrum.

Here’s how our worship band looks…

• Broddie Calhoun, bass guitarist – White
• Jason Johnson, keyboardist – Black
• Chris Grajko, electric guitarist – White
• Tony O’Neal, drummer – Black
• Joseph Calhoun, acoustic guitarist – White
• Danielle Tabor, vocalist – Black
• Trey Sheneman, worship arts pastor & vocalist – White
• Damita Stargell, vocalist – Black
• Adrienne Adams, vocalist – Black

You can also click here to see a video snippet from our launch service, it’ll give you a feel for the cultural diversity that exists not only within our leadership & service teams, but also of the beautiful diversity that’s reflected in our congregation.

Here’s the deal…racial reconciliation doesn’t just happen. It doesn’t just happen because we say we want it, or because we use the phrase as a cute buzz word in our slogans, on our websites or even by plugging it into a church’s core values. It doesn’t happen just because of song selection. And it doesn’t happen just by having multiple ethnicities represented on our staff or within our ministry service teams. All those things are good, but they don’t automatically produce racial reconciliation.

In fact, racial reconciliation isn’t simply defined by cultural diversity. In other words, it’s possible (and very likely) to have a very diverse team, staff, and congregation — but yet and still not experience true racial reconciliation.

Cultural diversity (which is what most people celebrate) could happen within a year, like it has for us.

But true racial reconciliation takes YEARS – and it requires the deep, consistent, painful application of the Gospel as well as doing life together in the context of authentic biblical community. And let me tell you, that’s not pretty at all…it’s messy, and it gets ugly, and it’s really painful — but it’s absolutely necessary in order to see real racial reconciliation.

Racial reconciliation deals with our subconscious prejudices and our preconceived notions about people of other races & ethnicities. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have them…

…Deep thoughts within the hearts of true, God-fearing Christians who, if honest with themselves, might acknowledge that they like the “idea” of cultural diversity within the church, while at the same time wrestling with whether or not they’d pay the cost to see true racial reconciliation.

I’m honored that CNN may be using a part of our story in their upcoming piece on “race and religion” about how God has graced us to be a church of real cultural diversity, but the fact is – I’m not satisfied. I still long for the day when the question in the heart of a Black congregant of “why does the music here sound so White?” is resolved by his or her heart being radically transformed by the Gospel. And I still long for the day when a White member of Hope Church who has the heart issue of “can I really fully embrace and receive from a Black pastor” can sense those subconscious prejudices melt away by the life-changing power of God’s great Gospel.

I dare you to click the comments button above and post your thoughts!