Christians in America struggle with the issue of church diversity. Less than 7% of churches in the United States are multiracial as defined by at least one ethnic minority group making up at least 20% of the church's attendance. I am very passionate about seeing Christians leading the way in embracing people across cultures, so we're building relationships with many different kinds of people at North Way East End. Our goal is to be a church that fully embraces and reflects the diversity that is all around us in the city of Pittsburgh.
This weekend is just one example of how we are following the Holy Spirit's leading in the area of diversity. On Friday evening, our city Christmas concerts at the Kelly Strayhorn theater incorporated many different types of music genres including rock, gospel, country, hip hop, and soul. The stage was filled with people of various racial backgrounds, including African-American, Asian-American, and Caucasian. I'm looking forward to today's worship service at North Way East End where the worship experience will be led by two African-American singers, and the live preaching will be coming from my friend in leadership at the East End, Freedom Blackwell. Freedom is a strong African-American leader in the city of Pittsburgh, and he and I have a lot in common in leading a diverse church together. We both live in Homewood, a mostly African-American neighborhood in the East End of the city. We both have a passion for reaching people across socioeconomic barriers, not just racial barriers. And, we are both missional pastors who have a desire to mobilize the church to reach people who are marginalized in our city.
North Way East End has not "arrived" by any stretch of the imagination in terms of being a multiracial church, but we are well on our way in our first year because we are intentionally planning everything we do with the lens of diversity. God is bringing many different kinds of people to our church, racially, culturally, and socioeconomically. It's a beautiful thing to be a part of. I can't wait to see how God grows us in relationship with one another in the coming months and years.
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