Source: San Francisco Chronicle
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Black-white-East-Bay-churches-meld-in-worship-3232005.php
The Rev. George Cummings looked out over his congregation in the Laurel District of Oakland and saw white faces sitting next to black ones. Piedmonters sat next to Oaklanders.
One of the most intractable racial divides in America - the self-segregation of churches - was being bridged before his eyes.
"The God who calls us to be together, calls us to oneness," said Cummings, pastor of Imani Community Church.
"Amen," said someone in the crowd.
"We are not always there yet, but we are on our way," said Cummings, who is black.
"That's right," said another voice from the pews.
Cummings' church and Piedmont Community Church decided that they would come together as one people. They will worship together periodically. They've started to mix into each others' Bible studies. Their choirs sing together. Their children have gone on a mission trip together to Tijuana. On Sunday, May 3 and May 17, they had ceremonies affirming their covenant with each other.
Piedmont Community Church is predominantly white, as much as Imani is black. They are only 10 minutes apart by car, yet before this relationship began, neither pastor had been to the neighborhood of the other's church. All sides see bridging the divide as bearing fruit.
"We're in danger of being isolated up here in the hills," said the Rev. Bill McNabb, who is white and is pastor of Piedmont Community Church. "It's an enriching thing. As this relationship deepens, I think we'll find ways to mutually serve each other."
The connections began, in part, because of then-Sen. Barack Obama.
Planting the seed
Obama gave a speech on race in March 2008 that, in part, described the racial divides perpetuated by churches. He paraphrased the oft-repeated, half-century-old words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who described 11 a.m. on Sunday morning as the most segregated hour in America.
The speech prompted McNabb to invite Cummings to come to Piedmont to talk about race at his church. And over dinners at each other's homes, the two began forging a relationship that they presented to their churches. Both said they've yet to hear of any opposition.