Undivided: How a pastor bridged racial divide through a faith-based organization

A program launched at a predominately white evangelical megachurch in Cincinnati encourages participants to overcome prejudice and work toward unity in their church and their community

Key Takeaways

• Undivided, an initiative started at a Cincinnati megachurch, works to heal racial divides.
• Hahrie Hahn, director of the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, documents the program’s success in her new book Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church.

When Hahrie Han examined the 2016 election results, she found something that surprised her: Cincinnati voters passed a ballot initiative for universal preschool, while overwhelmingly supporting Donald Trump. She was curious to understand why residents voted to expand government services while also casting a ballot for a candidate who often opposed such programs.

Her quest for answers led her to Crossroads Church, a predominately white evangelical megachurch in Cincinnati, where Chuck Mingo, a Black pastor, had begun a movement called Undivided. The initiative challenges members to acknowledge racial injustice and work toward unity in their church and community.

Han, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University and the director of the university’s SNF Agora Institute, documented her findings in her new book, Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church. At a recent Authors & Insights event at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, Han discussed her book with Robert P. Jones, president of the Public Religion Research Institute, as well as two subjects of the book.

 “Very inspiring” program

Han noted that traditional diversity, equity, and inclusion programs often fall short at driving meaningful change. According to her research, when evangelical churches have tackled questions about race in the past, they often focused more on interpersonal reconciliations rather than addressing structural inequalities. However, Undivided provides a safe, faith-based environment that encourages participants to confront their deep-rooted biases on a larger scale. It begins with a six-week program aimed at addressing racial prejudice.

Jess Knight, a parishioner of Crossroads Church, shared her journey from growing up in a family with strong white supremacist views to active involvement in Undivided. Her family mingled regularly with Ku Klux Klan members who taught her that integrating white supremacist politics with her faith in God was normal. Knight admitted that she was terrified to walk into Undivided and expose her controversial views. So what made her get out of the car, go into the meeting, and keep attending? She said she knew the only way past it was through it.

“I was very, very drawn in by the ability of Chuck … to stand up in front of the third largest megachurch as a Black man in an all-white denomination, and challenge them,” Knight said. “It was very inspiring to me. So if Chuck Mingo can get up on the stage and tell thousands of people who probably don’t like him, that maybe they should try this, I think I can get out of the car.”

Entrenched racism

While the program has reached about 1,200 participants, that has not been accomplished without controversy. Many of Knight’s fellow community members were entrenched in their racist beliefs. They failed to recognize the value of Undivided. Conflicting views caused tension among members of the church.

Undivided conducted a pre-survey, in which participants were asked if they had ever had a person of a different race over to their house for dinner. Mingo said that nearly 50% of participants surveyed had never experienced that level of interaction within their community.

“I think that just speaks to the challenge and the opportunity we have in spaces like these to awaken people to this calling,” Mingo said.

What’s next?

Undivided is now an independent nonprofit. Han said that Mingo’s leadership is expanding beyond Crossroads to engage with other churches and community organizations, creating the potential for broader societal change.

“I have a mentor who taught me that … the leading edge of social change always begins with people who have a critical eye and a hopeful heart. Because that’s what you need to be able to think about and move between, the world that we have and the world that we want,” Han said. “I think Undivided is a place where it equips people to be able to act with both a critical eye and a hopeful heart and kind of peer into, what is the possible world that we could create?”