January 13, 2004 == MEDIA ADVISORY
Almost four decades ago Martin Luther King Jr. noted that the most segregated
hour in America is 11 o'clock Sunday morning. Has anything changed in American
religious life since King uttered those memorable words?
This month a Calvin College class is trying to answer not only that question
but also the question of how churches can reach across racial and ethnic lines
to create integrated worshipping communities.
And on January 27, at 6 pm in the Meeter Center Lecture Hall at Calvin, the
students and their professor, sociologist Dr. Kevin Dougherty, will present
their findings in a forum open to the public.
The course is called "The Multicultural Church" and is part of Calvin's
January Interim term, during which students take just one class daily for three
weeks. From January 7-27 the students and Dougherty are doing a sociological
examination of racial and ethnic diversity in American congregations, looking
at what constitutes a multicultural church and how churches become
multicultural.
Among their work is observational research conducted in four Grand Rapids
churches known for their racial and ethnic diversity: Cathedral of St. Andrew,
Grand Rapids First Assembly of God, Madison Square Christian Reformed Church
and Oakdale Park Christian Reformed Church.
Says Dougherty, who did his doctoral dissertation on the subject of on
participation and growth in American congregations: "The Gospel of Jesus
Christ proclaims a radical message of reconciliation. Humans become reconciled
with God. Humans become reconciled with each other. In Christ, social
divisions of race, social class and gender disappear. Yet, the modern church -
the bride of Christ - seems to remain divided. Nowhere is this more apparent
than when examining the racial segregation of American congregations and
parishes."
In his Interim course, Dougherty, who has been working on the topic of
cultural diversity in the church for the past three years, including the 2002
publication of the article "How Monochromatic is Church Membership?
Racial-Ethnic Diversity in Religious Community," is helping students to explore
how congregations and parishes can and do reach successfully across racial and
ethnic lines to become integrated worshipping communities.
"Students are learning," he says, "central sociological concepts, theories and
methods for studying multicultural churches. They are conducting participant
observation research in area churches known for their diversity. And they are
meeting religious leaders who are on the forefront of multicultural ministry."
Contact Kevin D. Dougherty at 616-526-6541
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Received on Tue Jan 13 15:00:55 2004
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