A sociologist tested what denominations were most open to new people from different races. His team sent e-mails purportedly from whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians to different churches, asking the pastors about attending their church.
Evangelicals overwhelmingly answered the e-mails and encouraged the new people, of whatever race, to attend. Mainline liberal denominations, on the other hand, for all of their emphasis on social justice, were not nearly so welcoming. Catholics didn’t do so well either.
Interestingly, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, classified with the “evangelicals,” came in at second place in welcoming people of different races (after Willow Creek). The much more liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, however, came in third from the bottom.
Why do you think this is?
HT: tODD
From Bradley Wright, Dear Pastor, Can I Come to Your Church? | Christianity Today (subscription required):