Differences Betweeand Black and White Christianity/Church

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Differences Between Black and White Christianity/Church


Martin Luther King Jr. was once quoted to say, “Sunday is the most segregated
day in America”. When I was thinking about this statement , I was disturbed to discover
a truth that is very real. I will not pretend to know a lot about the religions of other
cultures. All that I know comes from the text readings that we’ve had is class. My
experiences in a formal church setting come only from services I’ve regularly attended at
an ELCA Lutheran church and a Presbyterian church. Both congregations are made
entirely of white families. In fact, I only saw one black person enter the doors of the
Lutheran church (to witness a friend’s baptism) in 10 years of attendance, and never at the
Presbyterian church. So when I talk about the white church, I have only those
experiences to draw from.
I’ve been to one “black church” in my life. During a Sunday School class in high
school we organized a trip to a Baptist church a couple blocks away. When we got there,
the pastor of the church greeted us warmly as we had called ahead of time to let him
know we were going to be joining them. He lead us to some seats close to the front of the
church, giving us a good view of the things we didn’t get to experience in our rigid,
elderly, white congregation. Music was played almost constantly, the sermon was lively,
and the people were acting happy to be there. By the way, the four members of my class
were the only white faces in the crowd.
An easy thing to do is to draw a stereotype about a certain culture. Everytime we
watch TV or a movie, there is some sort of stereoype occuring.. Currently on the radio, I
would hazard to guess that half the songs are in hip-hop style. The lyrics of these few
songs often lead to negative stereotypes of blacks. (“It’s getting hot in here...so take of all
your clothes.”- Nelly, a black male.) I also would...