Side note: Last weekend I was traveling and Saturday night I had an opportunity to worship in a racially diverse church – also expressive. And yes, it was awesome.

Yes, the people who said that to me long ago left the church.

And yes, I have had follow-up conversations with those folks individually. They wouldn’t see their position as anything other than their personal preference. (See the CNN article linked in my blog post.)

Having been in Romeo for 5 years, there really are racial tensions to deal with. It all gets washed under the table as “well, we don’t have a lot of ____ people.” Again, go to a districting meeting of the school board or the planning commission and you will see racism in plain view. Why do children get bussed several miles further to another elementary school in the district? Race. When those elementary lines moved a mile further to the north… parents were up in arms about it and some sent their kids to Armada schools. When Bruce/Washington had lots of development going on… people in public comment would say, “I don’t want lots of a ___ size or multiple dwellings because the wrong type of people will move in to my neighborhood. I moved here from Detroit to get away from them.” Not sure what else to call.

I’ve got no judgment on the church I used to work with on this issue. At worse, we were nuetral. If there were blame to be had, I bear that as well as I too was a leader! The point of this post is not to cast blame, but to exclaim that there are shining examples of churches laying aside those differences in all reality.

I hope there really is a time in our nations future where churches lay aside racial barriers, admit to their long-term public racial separation, and combine congregations.

As part of the congregation and now a leader in that congregation in that small Michigan town you were once a part of, I trust that either the leader(s) to which you refer are gone and/or there is another context in which this occured. And if those people who you claim to be racist are still around, shouldn’t you address the issue directly instead of airing it publicly?

Knowing all the present leaders, there is not an ounce of racism among them. And I think just about everyone in the congregation today would gladly have one united body of believers.

When I say “another context” or “just about everyone,” I refer to how churches vary: some churches are more expressive in worship than others, styles differ and unfortunately, yes, this is one of many reasons people choose to worship at different churches.

I long for the day when believers from all nations come together for an eternity to worship our God and King. Until then, we need to press onward, continuing “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God (Eph 4:12,13)”.

-sorry for the long reply-