Enthusiastic Nevada County residents commemorated the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., crowding into the auditorium at the miner’s foundry Monday to partake in what resembled a typical Gospel Church service in the south. Soulful voices resonating and accompanied by the swaying of an eager, genial crowd made one feel they were every bit a part of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. [...]

Racism and Church. Seems like an odd topic. Actually, it seems like a time warp topic that sends us back to the 1950′s and 1960′s. Well, it’s not. Every generation will deal with racism in some way, and I want to think for a few minutes how we deal with it in our day. It is true that 21st century churches do not have to fight Jim Crow, but does that mean we have beaten racism?

I look around my church on a given Sunday and I see a lot of different colors. We have a really ugly sanctuary. Seriousy, it looks like it was built in the 70′s by a guy who was tripping on LSD. Along the sides of the walls there are rectangular windows no bigger than the size of a sheet of notebook paper. Oh, did I mention each rectangle is stained in a fluorescent color. It’s like looking through a kaleidoscope. I see many colors on Sundays, but only one on the faces of the people there. I go to a predominantly white church.

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