1) Please write a 1-2 summary on this weeks reading of Chapters 9-1...

1) Please write a 1-2 summary on this weeks reading of Chapters 9-10.

2) Respond to the following: What are the most integral aspects of Race and Religion? Also, do you believe there is a direct correlation between Race and Religion?

3) Please respond to these responses:

a) Roberts and Yamane uses data from the Pew and Research Center Forum on Religion and Public Life to view religious self-identification among racial and ethnic groups to see how the differences are reflected in denominational racial composition. The authors suggest three aspects of race and religion. They include “discrimination through a meaning system that link purity to color; prejudice being passed through the ‘we-they’ boundary and informal norms of the community; and institutional structures rewarding behaviors rather than prophetic ministry. I find the most integral aspect of race and religion to be racial prejudice as a result of racial segregation. I feel like there is a direct correlation between the two because people tend to attract those who share the same ideas, values, and beliefs as they do. As a result, people tend to promote certain ideas and disregard or devalue the ideas of others. As a part of a church that was started as a result of racial discrimination, I find a lot of sermons centered on our roots, how we as a people were mistreated, and how have and must continue to rise above those circumstances by keeping our focus on Jesus Christ (paraphrased). I personally feel that some of the sermons encourage racial prejudice and lead members to develop voids in their hearts for others.

b) One of the most integral aspects of race and religion is one's self-worth. Religion is an important source of self-definition, it serves as an reference point of identity for individuals and others. Religion provides a sense of belonging (Where do I belong). Through our race we gain discovery and definition of one's self ("Who am I").   

There is a connection between race and religion. Particularly in the United States, worship and religious styles are often segregated. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "it is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o' clock on Sunday morning." In the 21st century church we are separated as much as those in the 18th century as Black and Whites. We won't worship under the same roof. Many Whites will not even come in our own neighborhoods to attend church. Black and Whites don't understand each other and therefore are not comfortable worshiping among each other. Whites don't understand why racial identity and pursuing racial justice is the central goal to Blacks spiritual life and the mission of the Black church.

America has many denominations, but the sad fact with all these denominations that exist, we are still warring against each other. God is not Methodist. He is not Episcopalian. He is not Baptist, or Roman Catholic. He is bigger than any our our man-made denominations. There is more integration in sports arenas and nightclubs than the church. A kingdom divided against itself will not stand.

Finally, racism deprives a person of the right to birth. Discrimination deprives a person of the right to have, and segregation deprives a person of the right to belong. Prejudice has its roots in ignorance and leads to further ignorance.


Racial inequality and economic inequality is a major factor of segregation.   We not only have to deal with racism, but classicism in the church. Some of us believe once we reach a certain level of income we no longer should deal with certain kinds of people. There are people who will struggle more than others, but we must not forget to neglect and minister to the needs of those who are oppressed and downtrodden. Another issue is people tend to want a multi-racial church only if others conform to their own culture, sing their songs, adopt their style and follow their minister. People are different, they worship differently, their culture is different, so they take the attitude, "I don't like the way they sing, and why can't we have a black preacher or white preacher."


We need a new mind set, because our state of mind is messed up. Philippians 2:5 said, "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Jesus came to save the Samaritans even though he was a Jew. He came to save Romans, Greeks, the tax collector, the prostitute, and the thief. He broke down those walls and barriers of division. We don't need to build walls, we need to tear down walls. This new kind of hostility should not exist today.

c) The one of the first memories that I have about was attending church with my white grandmother. We be sitting in church with this little white lady. My brother, sisters, and I was the only African American people in the church. The people treated us like we was part of the family we even participate in church activities like Easter programs and Sunday school. When I was about ten my mother went from being a Easter and Christmas worshiper to almost every Sunday then we stop going to church with my grandmother then started to go with my mother. In this church the people was African Americans and everything was so much different then the church we attended before. The first I notice that is was louder, the preacher had a boom to his voice, and people answers the preacher back.

This leads me to believe that there is a difference in the church based on race, location, and class. The church I was raised in is different from the church that I attended now even though they are from the same denomination. As I grown in my ministry the difference are more noticeable.