Evangelical Ministries Do Not Attract Blacks, Other Minorities

“We’d like to hire more minorities. We welcome anyone who walks in the door. But we just don’t see that many qualified minorities apply.”

That comment from the personnel director of a Christian ministry in the Midwest, repeated many times over by the leaders of other evangelical organizations across the country, suggests the jumble of good intentions, explanations, and excuses for a problem that few deny: the lack of minority workers in evangelical ministries. According to figures provided by 18 of 24 well-known ministries contacted by CHRISTIANITY TODAY, minorities make up an average of about 8 percent of the work force of those organizations. (See boxes for specific organizations.) The nationwide nonwhite work force is approximately 15 percent. Most minorities in evangelical organizations are employed at staff levels rather than in management. Almost all organizations surveyed indicated at least one minority member on their governing boards.

Separate Circles

The issue quickly increases long-standing tensions between minority communities and evangelical groups, which historically have traveled in separate circles. Indeed, minority applicants seldom reach the personnel offices of evangelical organizations.

For their part, personnel directors point to several obstacles to finding minority candidates. One is location. Many organizational headquarters are located in midsized cities or suburbs with low minority populations. Hiring patterns, they say, merely reflect the local demographic picture.

[] indicates numbers not supplied by organization but calculated from other figures provided by the organization. Percentages are rounded off.

Editor’s note: The following organizations were contacted by CHRISTIANITY TODAY but did not release employee information: David C. Cook Publishing Co.; Moody Broadcasting Network; Word, lnc.

Economics presents another hurdle. The relatively low pay offered by Christian employers is unattractive to many job seekers, black and white alike, especially those with refined skills and college degrees. And the requirement of some groups that workers raise their own financial support creates near-insurmountable problems for candidates from minority communities.

The major obstacle that evangelical employers and minority leaders point to, however, is the continuing lack of contact between evangelical organizations and minority believers. Some label the problem institutional racism, though most organizations deny such a charge. Motives and intentions aside, however, apparently few organizations are aggressively pursuing a change in the status quo. Only four of the mission agencies, media organizations, or schools contacted by CT have formal plans for recruiting minority employees.

Employment experts say 85 percent of all job openings are filled by word-of-mouth referrals. “So if an organization wants to fill positions with minority workers, it must break out of its usual circles,” said Tom Mockabee, director of personnel for Zondervan Publishing House.

Though Zondervan has no formal recruiting program, Mockabee said, he has made an effort to contact minority leaders and communicate his desire for qualified job candidates. As his motivation, he cites not only a personal responsibility to follow scriptural commands for justice, but also the belief that hiring minorities “makes good business sense.” His company will lose effectiveness, he said, if it cannot respond to the changing cultural mix of the U.S.

Handling Diversity

Retention of minorities is equally important, according to Sam Barkat, vice-president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) and director of its multi-ethnic ministries. If a minority worker is not comfortable on the job, his or her position will become a revolving door, and no real progress will be made. “Christian organizations must prepare themselves to handle diversity,” Barkat said. That includes acknowledging and dealing with the subtle biases that may exist and understanding the cultures and motivations of its minority workers, and empowering them to make decisions in the organization.

As part of a comprehensive plan, Barkat is now conducting training and education throughout IVCF to increase racial sensitivity. Thus far, his work has included sessions for the IVCF board of trustees and senior management at the organization’s headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. Barkat also plans to develop traveling teams to conduct four- or five-day institutes around the country.

Another source of potential improvement in minority hiring comes from Christian college campuses. While total minority student populations remain relatively small, all of the five colleges contacted by CT have or are planning formal programs to recruit minority students. These involve special admissions counselors for minority students, recruiting trips to minority communities and churches, and tuition aid. In the long run, such programs may help provide more qualified job candidates to Christian organizations.

Numbers of minority workers in evangelical organizations are not likely to multiply overnight, and even the most optimistic observers admit attitudes change slowly. But the need for action grows every day, according to Barkat.

“My desire is that Christian organizations take the lead in handling ethnic diversity,” Barkat said, “because of our commitment to the scriptural teaching in regard to the worth and dignity of all human beings.”

By Ken Sidey, with research by Mike Kateman.

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