The Most Segregated Hour

At Sunday's very moving and powerful worship service celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., members of Pacific Southwest Region (Disciples of Christ) congregations were called to task for allowing 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning to remain the most segregated hour in America... even among Disciples... even in the Pacific Southwest region.

In response, I would like to extend an invitation to all those who recognize the truth of that statement to visit Bixby Knolls Christian Church. We are a small congregation, one that often remains outside the spotlight; and yet -- if it is true that 10:00 a.m. Sunday is still the most segregated hour -- I feel called to share this simple message:

We are Bixby Knolls Christian Church, and we are black, white, Asian, and Hispanic. In our pews are people who have come from other countries, such as Cambodia, Pakistan, Burma, Samoa, and Canada. Our members speak over a half dozen languages. We are heterosexual, homosexual, transgender and cisgender.

And we worship together every week.

This is not due to anything I have done in my 6+ years as BKCC's pastor. I think most in the congregation would say this is not because of anything any person or persons have done. It's because of what God's Spirit has done among us. Mostly, we just try to not get in the Spirit's way, and not mess up what God has been doing through us.

I extend to you an invitation to visit us, but please don't come expecting a "perfect" church. We are diverse, but we are not perfect. For example, last Sunday we couldn't even figure out how to turn the microphone on.

Yet we are thankful for the gift God has given us: a beautifully diverse, multi-cultural congregation that gathers each week at the Lord's Table, a table where the welcome never ends.