American Churches Give A 'Foretaste Of God's Eternal Church' Even As Only Half Of Evangelical Pastors Have A Biblical Worldview

The Arizona Christian University's Cultural Research Center released last week its "American Worldview Inventory 2022," which showed that a minority of churches in the country are multiethnic and that only half of the Evangelical Pastors maintain a biblical worldview.

American Churches Becoming More Multiethnic

The Christian Headlines highlighted that the "American World View Inventory 2022" showed that American Churches were 16% multiethnic. The survey revealed that 67% of American Christian churches are predominantly white, 10% mostly black, and 4% Hispanic.

The media outlet said that a multiethnic church is a "foretaste of God's eternal church in the new heaven and the new earth here on earth," as per comments of Transformational Church Pastor Derwin Gray to The Washington Post.

Gray, author of "Building A Multiethnic Church: A Gospel Vision Of Love, Grace, And Reconciliation In A Divided World," explained that the family God promised to Abraham is multiethnic. The pastor said this is based on the fundamental belief that Jesus Christ's work entails not only the forgiveness of sins but also the creation of a family of different races or skin colors.

Accordingly, the survey's results present a 4% growth in multiethnicity among American Churches when compared to the 2018 Baylor University study. This growth is consistent with the 4% growth rate seen among Protestant congregations in 1998 compared to 2012 indicated in the 2018 Baylor University Study.

Arizona Christian University Cultural Research Center Director of Research George Barna affirmed that American churches are heading in the right direction and are in a far better condition today.

"Some 60 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King pronounced Sunday at 11 a.m. to be the most segregated hour of the week. Things have changed for the better since that declaration, but most congregations are still dominated by a single racial or ethnic group," Barna said.

Also Read: Only 6% Of Americans Believe Biblical Worldview, Barna Survey Reveals 

A similar study conducted by Lifeway Research last February on 1,000 Protestant pastors revealed that most American churches want diversity but find it difficult to achieve it due to gaps in what pastors say and do. The research showed that most American protestant pastors admit their congregations are predominantly of one racial or ethnic group although a majority (88%) agree on the need for racial diversity. A decrease in education among pastors interestingly showed the more diverse the congregation's race or ethnicity becomes.

This echoed what Martin Luther King's daughter, Bernice, pointed out last year that American Christian Pastors are not doing enough for the country's racial justice system.

American Churches Declining In Biblical Worldview

Besides the multiethnic composition of American churches, the American World View Inventory 2022 mostly emphasized the lack of a biblical worldview among American Evangelical Pastors. The survey presented that 37% of all Christian Pastors possess a biblical worldview. Of which, 57% are non-denominational or independent pastors, 51% are Evangelical Pastors, and 32% are mainline Protestants, 37% are Charismatic/Pentecostal, 28% are Holiness, 9% are Traditionally Black Protestant, and 6% are Roman Catholic.

Barna, who is also the Senior Research Fellow at the Family Research Council Center for Biblical Worldview explained in an interview with Tony Perkins for "Washington Watch" that having a biblical worldview helps one determine right from wrong, good versus bad, appropriate versus inappropriate. A worldview, he said, determines all the choices one makes throughout the rest of one's life.

Barna stressed that the FRC survey result is a wake-up call that American Churches are not being who Christ has called them to be. Barna's interview came in the light of FRC's recent national poll, "Perceptions About Biblical Worldview And Its Application," which underscored only 6% of Americans believe in a biblical worldview.

Related News: 'Spiritual Crisis': Small Percent Of Christian Parents Hold A Biblical Worldview, Survey Finds