REASONS WHY BLACK CHURCHES DON’T ATTRACT WHITE CHRISTIANS
I overhead a black middle class lady having a conversation with another person, and some of the things she said includes;
1. My daughter goes to a white school
2. My daughter can’t speak our language because we live in a white area
3. We attend service in a White Church.
White school, white area and white Church.
Was it really necessary to emphasize the whiteness?
Yes it was necessary because how else will the person on the other side know that I am not at the same level with them, and that my class or status has changed?
So Lawrence what could be the reasons why black churches don’t attract white christians?
[THIS POST AIMS TO RAISE A CONVERSATION ON RACE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST]
When black christians continue to flock to white Churches but white Christians will not join a black initiated churches, why?
I am writing this post from Muizenberg in Cape Town, South Africa. I will draw a lot from my observation of the Church in Cape Town.
In 2001 when I shared with my contact person my intention of Church planting in Cape Town , this is what my Christian friend said to me.
“Lawrence, it is difficult for you to start a Church in Cape Town because of its history of segregation.
You can’t be a pastor in a white area because whites can’t be pastored by a black man. You can’t be a pastor on the Cape flats because they won’t accept to be pastored by a black man unless you were black American. And you can’t pastor a Church in the black township because you are a foreigner”. I don't know if the 'black American' was a joke.
Today 2019 I look closely at what is popularly known as multi-racial/multi-cultural Churches in Cape Town, and in almost all cases the so called multi-racial churches are churches initiated by white Christians who feel the need to have a local church reflect the new South Africa, which is not a bad thing.
But ironically only Churches led and pastored by white brothers attract the black christians.
Why are churches that are initiated and planted by black pastors not attracting white Christians?
REASONS WHY WHITE CHRISTIANS DON’T GO TO BLACK CHURCHES
[There maybe exceptions. I don't intend to paint every church black]
1. TIME
They say black churches don’t keep time. They turn up late, and their services take too long and are repetitive.
2. STRUCTURE
Black churches don’t have a structure. The services can go on and on as the spirit leads. Every person coming to perform a function begin with a song, preach a bit before giving their testimony, announcements or lifting up the offerings.
3. EMOTIONAL
Black people respond to the gospel emotionally. They have no depth, they are shallow and have no intellectual approach to the gospel.
4. SAFE ENVIRONMENT
Most black Churches have no safe environment for children’s ministry. The first thing a black pastor thinks about are the adults and where the adult church will be housed.
Children are just left out for someone to baby sit them least they become a nuisance and disturb the service.
5. SECURITY
Especially in townships no security for parking cars. Gadgets like cameras and phones easily get stolen on gun point.
6. COMFORT
Black churches don’t always provide comfort like air conditioners, good coffee and cakes. As long as the high Seats where the man of God sits is comfortable that is enough.
7. ORDER IN WORSHIP
They say black churches don’t have orderliness in the worship, shouting, screaming, speaking at the same time etc.
8. CHILDREN MINISTRY
Most black churches don’t take children ministry seriously. They see the children in the service as a nuisance or disturbance & usually pick any person to keep them somewhere away from the main service without a proper teaching material to help children to understand the gospel message.
If you observe when black children are playing church you see one child laying hands on another child shouting "fire, fire, fire" this shows what kind of content children are exposed to in black Churches.
9. TOO LOUD
They say our churches are loud (too noisy) A sound system which is meant for outdoor or in the stadium is used in a building with 40 people. Sometimes the sound is two loud and the interpreter is speaking at the same time with the Preacher.
10. NO BALANCE
Too little bible teaching, no balanced message. Usually the preacher has an agenda
11. NO ACCOUNTABILITY
This is often to black independent churches and even mainline churches led by a black clergy is usually culprit for lack of accountability.
REASONS WHY BLACK CHRISTIANS GO TO WHITE CHURCHES
1. STATUS
Usually status plays a big part in black families going to a white Churches.
They have graduated from a township life, and they are now living in the suburbs, therefore it goes with status to change churches.
There are cases of black families still living in black townships but are more established financially with good jobs, and they can afford to drive out of the township into a white suburb to attend church.
2. INFERIORITY COMPLEX
Because black Christians still feel inferior to whites, a slave-master mentality. I would rather have a white man as my pastor than a fellow black man/woman pastoring me.
3. BENEFITS
Handouts, the possibility of getting some jobs like gardening, dog walking, house sitting, house helper etc.
4. NO PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
They don’t feel so condemned. There is no pastoral visitation, therefore, the chances of your pastor knocking at your door when you are in a compromised position is next to none. Unless with prior appointment.
5. LESS PRESSURE FINANCIALLY
Pressure to give financially in a rich white church.
The middle class Christian feel suffocated in a black church because the pastor is poor and he might be the only person whose tithes & offerings they depend on.
So even in those months they don’t feel like giving they know the church will feel it because their giving makes a huge difference.
So they are blessed, they move to a “blessed’” white church.
6. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
To learn English, computer skills etc.
Whether I personally agree with these reasons or some of the reasons may be legitimate. The reasons given above is not the goal of this Post.
Whether some of them are legitimate or not the bottom line is;
Privilege and Superiority, Inferiority and Status play a big role in this divide.
A white initiated project among black people will attract white support, a black initiated project will be held in suspicion by white brothers and sisters.
It's easy for a white brother to find sponsorship for a project they initiate in black communities, than the black brother who initiates the same. The unspoken rule of financial support for a black Christian is to support the initiative by a white brother.
My advice to white brothers in the Lord is that these conditions you seek like, safety, comfort, materials for Children church, order in the service etc. you can come and introduce these things slowly among black churches while you willingly submit under a black pastor.
Truth is, most of our brothers don’t want a black preacher preaching to them, it should be the other way round.
And so I observed in the so called multi-racial churches, the top leadership is white.
Once in a while there is that Congolese/Zambian/Zimbabwean man stand up to give announcements, that man is nothing but simply a face of the black people in a white Church.
Is a multi-cultural church even possible in a black initiated churches?
You tell me!
Lawrence Musunte
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