Church Diversity - Scott Williams

I am joining Scott Williams and New Leaf Publishing Group as they celebrate the release of Church Diversity: Sunday the Most Segregated Day of the Week.

Church Diversity is more than a book it’s a movement of God, pastors, ministry leaders, volunteers, congregants, and the community. It’s about the Church changing its perspective to become part of a culture-changing and world-changing movement. A new and different future begins with the turning of these pages, taking this journey, and speaking the truth in this vital conversation.



Scott Williams served on staff as a key leader and campus pastor at LifeChurch.tv, one of the largest and most innovative churches in America. He is an effective speaker, strategist, ministry consultant, entrepreneur and popular social media influencer for pastors and ministries around the globe. He is an avid blogger at BigIsTheNewSmall.com. Scott is married, a father of two, and lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

In Chapter 2: Confront the Elephant in the Pew, Williams talks about how easy it seems to be for us to completely ignore what is right in front of us. This does not benefit us, or the elephant.

We could make a strong argument that we have come a very long way in the area of dealing with race and ethnicity. However, we are far from arriving. Race is just one of those things that people would prefer to ignore and would rather not talk about. The problem with that approach is the fact that ignoring the elephant is not going to make the elephant (insert elephant noise) get up and waddle out of the sanctuary. As a matter of fact, the elephant has been sitting around for so long that he’s lazy and doesn’t want to move. There are pockets of leaders and churches poking and prodding at the elephant, but not enough to get the attention of his elephant siblings around the world. Herding elephants is not an easy thing to do, and herding racial elephants is ten times as hard as herding any other. The first step in herding elephants is acknowledging that they exist. No one wants to be ignored — that includes the racial elephant. Acknowledgment is the first step to getting it out of the room. When there is an elephant in the room, acknowledge it.

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, attended integrated schools and know well the issues between people of colour and those with "white" skin.  We could play together at school, but rarely mixed after the bell rang.  It saddens me to know things haven't changed as much as we'd like to believe.

In the rural area of Manitoba, Canada where I now reside, the problem is the same, but the colour is different.  People will ask "Do you go to a "white church" or a "First Nations" church?  The elephant still sits sluggishly, waiting for the people of God to wake up and throw him out.

You can find more information about this important new book and view chapter videos at http://www.churchdiversity.com/ I urge you to join in the efforts to become the Church that our Lord desires to come back for.