Three times now these two church congregations, one white and one black, have come together. Their religious traditions and worship styles are very different. Their backgrounds and experiences, too, overlap little.One church, Circular Congregational, is a bastion of white, liberal Christianity in Charleston’s historic district. The other, Charity Missionary Baptist, is on Montague Avenue in the heart of the poor Liberty Hill neighborhood founded by freed slaves in 1871.While their congregations agree on much, especially matters of social justice, their Sunday services, like most across the state, remain largely separated by race.Since the Civil War’s end, black and white churchgoers mostly have chosen to worship apart. The old refrain remains true: 11 a.m. Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week.Yet, even as the question of diversity is debated throughout the community, many say that integrating the pews isn’t a big concern.“People are probably pretty much comfortable where they are,” said the Rev. Joseph Darby, presiding elder of the 33 churches in the AME Church’s Beaufort District, which includes Charleston. “It’s not a burning issue in the black church, but it’s important to find ways where we can intersect.”In the Charleston area, where so many houses of worship are steeped in a history and culture defined in part by racial divisions, it’s no wonder there are so few integrated congregations.
While Segregated Churches Remain the Norm, Efforts Made to Effect Change | postandcourier.com
