{"id":32882,"date":"2022-09-10T16:26:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/pastors-choose-sermons-personal-touch-to-address-matters-of-race\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:26:51","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:26:51","slug":"pastors-choose-sermons-personal-touch-to-address-matters-of-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/pastors-choose-sermons-personal-touch-to-address-matters-of-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastors Choose Sermons, Personal Touch to Address Matters of Race"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Bob Smietana<\/em><\/p>\n

Most Protestant senior pastors say their church is open to hearing about racial reconciliation.<\/p>\n

But few say church leaders are clamoring to hear more about it.<\/p>\n

And pastors seem to prefer personal relationships and prayer when it comes to addressing matters of race.<\/p>\n

Those are among the findings of a new study about pastors, churches and racial reconciliation from Nashville-based Lifeway Research. The survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors, found little pushback against or demand for sermons on racial reconciliation in their churches, said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost pastors appear to be taking a leadership role in encouraging racial reconciliation,\u201d said McConnell. \u201cNine in 10 pastors say they recently have done something to encourage racial reconciliation. A majority has been socializing with other races and ethnicities and have led prayer on racial reconciliation, but less than a third have addressed economic inequity or publicly lamented injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mixed feelings about racial reconciliation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers found most pastors (90 percent) say their church would welcome a sermon on racial reconciliation. Seven percent disagree, while three percent aren\u2019t sure.<\/p>\n

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While 45 percent have preached on racial reconciliation in the last three months, few pastors have been criticized for speaking about race. Five percent say they\u2019d received negative feedback for addressing racial reconciliation from the pulpit in the last two years. Eighty-four percent received no negative feedback. Ten percent haven\u2019t spoken about the topic.<\/p>\n

Yet few churches seem enthusiastic about discussing issues of race, according to their pastors. About three-quarters of pastors (73 percent) say they have not been urged by church leaders to preach about reconciliation. About a quarter (26 percent) have been urged to preach on the issue.<\/p>\n

Responses varied by denomination. And at times, a pastor\u2019s impressions of their church and their church\u2019s actions were at odds.<\/p>\n

Baptist (92 percent) and Pentecostal (93 percent) pastors, for example, are more likely to say their church would welcome a sermon on reconciliation. However, they\u2019re less likely to have been asked by church leaders to preach on the topic. Only about 1 in 5 Baptist (17 percent) or Pentecostal pastors (20 percent) have been urged to address reconciliation.<\/p>\n

By contrast, Presbyterian\/Reformed pastors are likely to say their churches are open to sermons on reconciliation (92 percent) and more likely than other denominational pastors to have been urged to preach on the topic (37 percent).<\/p>\n

Overall, mainline pastors are more likely to have been urged to preach on racial reconciliation than evangelical pastors (38 vs. 22 percent).<\/p>\n

Age also played a role in whether or not pastors had preached on racial reconciliation. Pastors age 65 or more are least likely to have preached on racial reconciliation in the last quarter (32 percent) and least likely to have been urged to preach on it (18 percent).<\/p>\n

Reconciliation has a personal touch <\/strong><\/p>\n

The new Lifeway Research study found that pastors report taking a number of personal steps when it comes to racial reconciliation.<\/p>\n

Meals with people from other ethnicities are most common.<\/p>\n

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Almost three-quarters (72 percent) of Protestant pastors say they\u2019ve had a meal with a diverse small group of people (less than 10) in the last month. That includes 44 percent who say they\u2019ve had a meal in the last week with a small group that included someone of another race.<\/p>\n

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See also  U.S. Pastors Identify Their Greatest Needs<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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About 4 in 10 white pastors (42 percent) say they\u2019ve had a meal in the past week with a diverse group. So do 52 percent of African-American pastors and 60 percent of pastors of other ethnicities. The portion of pastors who say they\u2019ve had a meal with a diverse group in the past week varies by denomination. Baptist (46 percent), Methodist (48 percent) and Pentecostal (50 percent) pastors were more likely, while Presbyterian\/Reformed pastors (34 percent) were less likely.<\/p>\n

Among other findings about pastors\u2019 actions in the last three months:<\/p>\n