Not a White Church

I am not a white pastor. Don’t get me wrong, I am quite Caucasian. I’m named Douglas, get sunburned pretty easily and live in suburbia. That sounds pretty Caucasional…Caucasionistic…Caucaustic? But I am not a white pastor. I am a pastor… who wants to be a man of God.
My church is not a white church. While we have a lot of whitish skinned people in our church we are not a white church. We are a church. And, by the way, we have a lot of people of different skin pigmentation and ethnic heritage in our church- and that, to the glory of God, is growing. We are a church… which wants to be God’s church.
My denomination is not a white denomination. The Southern Baptist Convention has a white heritage and a lot of baggage. But we have become a denomination which has dealt with the wrongness of our past and has become a denomination of every race and background- perhaps as ethnically diverse as any denomination- and that, to the glory of God, is growing as well. Our current president, Fred Luter, is not very Caucastional…Caucasionistic…Caucaustic? (Oh the bother of labels!) We are a denomination… that wants to be part of God’s people.
God is not a white God or a black God or a chartreuse God. He is God.
You were born with a heritage and pigmentation. Great. But you were saved- if you have been- to be part of a really big and diverse family. There are people in our family from every race and tribe and tongue. And that is good. That is of God.

4 responses to “Not a White Church”

chaddamitz | March 24, 2014 at 8:08 am | Reply

Having a proper mindset of the gospel extinguishes the problem of racism. We are all created equal by God. Thanks for sharing brother!
dwmunton | March 24, 2014 at 8:11 am | Reply

Thanks!
Name | March 26, 2014 at 11:33 am | Reply

I have to disagree with a couple of your major points here. Yes, you are a white pastor and yes, your church is a white church. I mean no harm nor is there degradation in that statement, or the explanation to follow. I attended your church for quite some years and it was very much culturally white american (in the context of a southern baptist denomination). I have also attended churches that are comprised of mostly blacks/african-americans, whose pastors are as well, and I would call them black or african-american churches. There are many cultural differences between white, black, latino, korean, etc churches and pastors. I have even attended a black baptist church and the ways they preach, praise through music, collect tithes and offerings, and conduct Bible study are very different from yours. Now, there is no saying one is greater than the other, but they are different. So, unless something has drastically changed, the cultural way of doing things at your church has been very white american (even if there are other peoples present at your church). Again, nothing wrong with it, I just don’t see a reason to deny that. Yes, the vision is one body, and the church is diverse and multicultural, but due to that we express our faith very differently through our different cultures. I believe that is something to be acknowledged and celebrated. I believe its healthier to say, “Yes, we have white churches. Yes, we have black churches. Yes, we have….” and to affirm each and partner with them (and even have true multicultural churches as well), than to say we are one body, so lets look past race and culture (not necessarily implying that was your intent, it just seems to be a popular idea today). I don’t find that healthy at all, it denies our unique cultural perspectives with which God has blessed all of us.
- dwmunton | March 26, 2014 at 1:23 pm | Reply
  
  Name,
  I am a white pastor and have a predominately white church, but my point is that those issues which divide us are secondary and we want to note our unity in Christ. And, of course, there is a great deal of variety within white and black churches. Thanks and blessings on you!