{"id":13807,"date":"2014-12-08T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/many-u-s-congregations-are-still-racially-segregated-but-things-are-changing-2\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:20:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:20:30","slug":"many-u-s-congregations-are-still-racially-segregated-but-things-are-changing-2","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/12\/08\/many-u-s-congregations-are-still-racially-segregated-but-things-are-changing-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Many U.S. congregations are still racially segregated, but things are changing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly a half century after Martin Luther King Jr. called 11 a.m. on Sunday morning <a href=\"http:\/\/sojo.net\/blogs\/2013\/04\/24\/our-most-segregated-hour-church-black-theology-ren%C3%A9-girard\">the most segregated hour in America<\/a>, two Florida churches with different racial compositions \u2013 one with a predominantly black congregation, the other predominantly white \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2014\/11\/30\/church-merger-racial-divide_n_6204244.html?utm_hp_ref=religion&amp;ir=Religion\">are set to merge<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.soc.duke.edu\/natcong\/about.html\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e9e8e5\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e9e8e5;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"310\" height=\"424\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/12\/FT_14.12.04_congregationRacialMakeup1.png?resize=310,424 310w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-25540 not-transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/12\/FT_14.12.04_congregationRacialMakeup1.png\" alt=\"Many U.S. congregations are still racially segregated, but things are changing \" ><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move occurs amid a larger, but slow-moving, national trend. While the degree of racial segregation within religious congregations remains high, some houses of worship in the U.S. have become<a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/articles\/a-church-of-many-colors-the-most-segregated-hour-in-america-gets-less-so-1413253801\"> more diverse in recent years<\/a>, according to findings from the most recent (2012) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.soc.duke.edu\/natcong\/about.html\">National Congregations Study<\/a> (NCS), directed by Duke University researcher Mark Chaves. (The most recent study received financial support from the Pew Research Center\u2019s Religion &amp; Public Life Project.)<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indeed, while about eight-in-ten American congregants still attend services at a place where a single racial or ethnic group comprises at least 80% of the congregation, one-in-five now worship in congregations where no single racial or ethnic group predominates in such a way. This figure has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.soc.duke.edu\/natcong\/Docs\/Changing_American_Congs.pdf\">risen in recent years<\/a>, from 15% in the 1998 NCS and 17% in the 2006-07 NCS.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><!--more-->In addition, the share of white Americans who attend services with no one of another other race or ethnicity is dropping. In 1998, 20% of U.S. congregants were part of congregations that were entirely white. By 2012, that percentage had fallen to 11%, while increasing shares of whites are in congregations with at least some blacks, Hispanics or Asians.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That same dynamic is at work among some other groups. For example, a 2013 Pew Research Center <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2014\/05\/07\/chapter-5-the-ethnic-church\/\">survey of U.S. Hispanics<\/a> found that 61% of Hispanic churchgoers say their place of worship has a mostly Hispanic congregation \u2013 down from 74% who said the same in 2006.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A majority (57%) of congregants overall are part of congregations that are predominantly (at least 80%) non-Hispanic white. Additionally, 14% of Americans who attend services do so at houses of worship with membership that is at least 80% black (including 5% who are in congregations that are entirely black). And another 8% attend churches where at least eight-in-ten churchgoers are Hispanic.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While financial reasons are playing a role in the Florida church merger, the pastors involved say they also are aiming to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2014\/11\/30\/church-merger-racial-divide_n_6204244.html?utm_hp_ref=religion&amp;ir=Religion\">promote racial reconciliation<\/a> in the Jacksonville area and beyond.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the degree of racial segregation within religious congregations remains high, some houses of worship in the U.S. have become more diverse in recent years, according to a National Congregations study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"bylines":[{"key":"8501f648822e97159d40e0da1c94a68e","termId":854}],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[101,28,172,174,142,432],"bylines":[854],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-13807","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-discrimination-prejudice","category-race-ethnicity","category-religion-politics-1","category-religious-demographics","category-segregation","category-us-religious-demographics","bylines-michael-lipka","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-religion"],"label":"Short 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