“It's the sad fact of how race still works in our country. We find that over and over again.” Quote by Michael Emerson
“We've done a lot of studies to see when they do happen, why, and I mean there's a variety of reasons. But one, it starts with a commitment where they decide this is going to be who we are. Maybe it's out of their faith, a new way of looking at their faith, that we must be integrated across race.” WayMeanReasonDoneHappensRaceStudyCommitmentVarietyWho We AreNew WaysIntegrated Author:Michael Emerson
“So they actually put it into their mission statement, and they start changing things as a result. They may change how worship works. They may actively recruit folks and try and get them to come and help them to feel comfortable and get them involved in leadership, and there's a variety of ways.” WayFeelsTryingMayHelpingResultsInvolvedComfortableWorshipFolksMissionsStatementsVarietyRecruitMission Statement Author:Michael Emerson
“I never meet a church that wishes they didn't do it. I never meet a leader that wishes they didn't do it. They will all say, to the person, it's hard. It's difficult. It comes with complexities and confusion as you're trying to go across cultures, and you don't understand, you didn't mean to offend somebody but you've offended somebody. But they will all say it just does something.” TryingMeanPersonsDoeHardCultureWishDifficultChurchLeaderConfusionComplexityOffended Author:Michael Emerson
“They could never go back to being a uniracial congregation again. It brings excitement. It brings life. It allows them to be able to know people they would never know, to meet people that are outside the congregation they would have never connected with, you know, through the networks that they developed in the congregation.” PeopleKnowsAbleConnectedExcitementCongregation Author:Michael Emerson
“I certainly think so, and I argue so, and I give talks on that. Are there risks by putting people together? Absolutely. Is there value in the black church? Absolutely. Is there value in having immigrant churches? Absolutely. But if we don't have congregations gathering with people of different races, what we're doing is we are redefining racial division, a racial inequality.” PeopleIfsThinkingGivingDifferentTogetherValuesBlackChurchRaceRiskArguingInequalityImmigrantsDivisionGatheringCongregationDifferent RacesRedefiningBlack Church Author:Michael Emerson
“I spent a lot of time developing in books why worshipping separately actually impacts inequality, economic, social, on and on. So I really do believe there are huge advantages to being together even though it's difficult, even though we have a lot to learn.” BelieveBookTogetherSocialDifficultEconomicHugeAdvantageImpactInequalityDevelopingBeing Together Author:Michael Emerson
“It happens a little bit more in the West, where there's more fluid - where everybody's originally from somewhere else. So they have a little bit more permission to do it. It happens the least, at the individual level at least, in the South, because the South has very strong, you know, set up black churches and white churches and a long history of that, and so it's a bigger social cost.” KnowsLittlesLongHappensIndividualStrongSocialBitsBlackChurchWhiteLevelsCostLittle BitBiggerWestSouthVery StrongPermissionSomewhere ElseFluidBlack Church Author:Michael Emerson
“One of the things we find when we talk to people that attend these congregations, they all have social cost to it. People want to know why they're doing that. Sometimes they're questions about selling out on their race or "Are we not good enough that you have to go to this kind of congregation and not ours?" So there are costs to it, and I think they're a little bit higher in the South because of its history.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWantKindLittlesSometimesEnoughSocialBitsRaceHigherCostLittle BitSouthSellingGood EnoughNot Good EnoughCongregationSelling Out Author:Michael Emerson
“Every pastor I talk to says, and particularly if they're African American they'll say, "I'm not black enough for African Americans. I'm not white enough for the whites. I'm not Hispanic enough."” IfsEnoughBlackWhiteAfrican AmericanPastorHispanic Author:Michael Emerson
“There's always that sense of because we're so racially defined, if you're trying to cross the boundaries you don't fit into any particular space.” IfsTryingSpaceParticularFitCrossesBoundariesDefined Author:Michael Emerson