Thinking About Church and Diversity

On Sunday morning, the Present Word Sunday School Class discussed the history and the unique perspective of African-American experience and worship. Roscoe Overton, an elder at UPC, leads this class, and he has a heart for educating and challenging the church on multi-culturalism.



Roscoe invited Bill Greenway, member of UPC and professor at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, to help lead Sunday's class and facilitate discussion. Bill mentioned that particular experiences and unique perspectives affect how people read scripture and how they worship. We should be aware of our own perspectives and work to appreciate the cultural particularities of others.


Members of the class also thought about ways that we can promote multi-cultuPralism at UPC. They answered this question: How can we promote multiculturalism in our church?


We should "get to know our neighbors, individually and in community."

-Max Sherman






We could offer a "Spanish service at 9:00, a contemporary service at 9:00 (choice of music critical), or a service in Fellowship Hall for the unchurched."

-Jon Eddison





"Of course, I'm going to mention a group that everyone is welcome to join and that is the Presbyterian Players - multi-cultural and inter-generational!"

-Connie Jones