The Elephant in the Room at T4G

April 18, 2012 David Murray 43 comments

Although commentary abounds about last week’s T4G (pros and cons, highlights and disappointments, etc), one question I have not seen raised is, “Where were all our black brothers (and sisters)?”

Kim Shay has blogged about what it was like to be one of the small minority of women at the conference. But there was an even smaller minority of African Americans. It looked to me to be about 1-2%, maybe.

In one way I’m very reluctant to raise the question because I’ve discovered to my cost that it’s almost impossible to question or comment about anything race-related in the USA without being accused of being a racist! I’ve waited to see if some of the more culturally sensitive commentators/bloggers would address this “elephant in the room.” So far, silence.

So let me break the silence by saying that I was hugely disappointed by the largely mono-cultural make-up of T4G (the few non-WASPS I did get to speak to were from outside of the USA!). Others, quietly, said the same to me.

TGC Contrast
It was quite different at The Gospel Coalition conferences I’ve attended in Chicago, where there was a much better representation of different cultures and races (not yet representative of society, but much closer). Coming from a fairly mono-cultural church in Grand Rapids, it was one of the great blessings of attending TGC to get to know and fellowship with people from different backgrounds – challenging, but edifying, and some of these relationships endure. I’d hoped for more of this at T4G.

Given the massive and admirable effort people like John Piper, Mark Dever, and Thabiti Anyabwile, have put into challenging racism and expanding the “New Reformed” movement’s racial and cultural diversity, it must have been so disappointing for them to look out on an almost unbroken sea of white faces.

Conference clash?
Why did this happen? What are the reasons? One African American brother I wanted to meet at the conference told me that he would be at the Man up 2012 conference in Atlanta the following week. Maybe that conference clash explained many other absentees. In some ways I hope so, because it would be a real pity if, after all the barrier-breaking, bridge-building work, we all retreated into our ghettos again.

(And if I’ve used any wrong or insensitive language here, I sincerely apologize in advance).

UPDATE FROM COMMENTS:

Well, the racist charge came as expected. Sigh! Where does one begin?

1. I loved T4G. Listen to this week’s podcast with Tim Challies if you’re not convinced. It was a privilege to be there and I look forward to going back. It was superbly organized and the speakers did a great job. Met lots of fantastic people and came back supercharged. I loved T4G.

2. The leaders and organizers T4G are not racist. I did not accuse them of such and I would never dare to do such. As I said in my post, I know these men have done a huge amount to try to build bridges and break down barriers. I’m sure that they were as disappointed as me that we were not as “Together for the Gospel” as we could be.

3. And that’s really my point. And I’m sure it’s the ultimate aim of T4G as well – to be TOGETHER for the Gospel, for such conferences to truly reflect the beautiful diversity of Christ’s kingdom on earth. My post was to highlight the lack of diversity, ask why, and initiate a conversation about how that can be better accomplished in the future. The cause certainly isn’t helped by closing our eyes, shutting down conversation, and throwing accusations of racism around. The lack of “togetherness” was not intentional but we need to be intentional if we want to change it.

4. This is not just about how to get more cultural and racial diversity at “our” conferences. What about ourselves attending conferences where we might be the minority? As well as giving us a sense of what it’s like to be in a minority, that might do more than anything to show to the world the way that the Gospel can unite. I’d love to see it in our churches, but conferences would be a good start. Anyone got any good suggestions?

http://chrisblackstone.com Chris Blackstone

David,

I’m guessing that many of the attendees at T4G were Southern Baptist. It’s possible that the relative “white-ness” of T4G simply reflects the relative “white-ness” of the SBC. That’s not a good thing, IMHO, just an observation.
http://martyduren.com Marty Duren

African-American pastor friends of mine might be more interested if things like this were addressed more often by members of the white community:

http://www.martyduren.com/2012/04/16/our-comfortable-injustice-part-1-christians-race-and-the-u-s-legal-system/

Unfortunately, most would rather debate the gospel vs social justice than practice both.
Roland Bennett

A friend of mine passed away recently and I was asked to participate in the funeral. (BTW, He happened to be Black) In the church before the service we gathered for prayer. In the pastor’s office there was the usual wall hangings, a very small library, but most prominently, a poster of our president,(BTW, I happen to be White). The advice I received from another Black preacher in commentary on the Black church culture – “They are void of any depth of Bible teaching and are growing closer to this Liberation Theology.” Plus, some may avoid any serious instructive seminars, conferences, schooling for fear of being labeled by the community as being friendly with the other side. Some may label me a racist, but this is what the Black community is saying.
- Shanice
  
  1. It sounds like you’re trying to answer the question of “why some black churches haven’t embraced sound doctrine” Rather than the actual question being asked. The poster mentions that other conferences have seen a better representation of the black culture. That indicates that it’s more than a matter “theological difference”. I’m also pretty sure that if we were going on theological difference a lot of America would fall into the category of being ensnared by false doctrine.
  
  2. I’m curious to know the significance of pointing out that the president’s poster was in this preacher’s room? What does that have to do with the issue being brought up in this article?
  
  3. One preacher does not constitute as the “black community”. Neither does 10 people.
AJ

David,

You are so right that our culture (ironically, the culture of tolerance that is so intolerant of discussion) makes this concern such a touchy issue.

I do remember a wonderfully honest message by Sherard Burns (a “dark-skinned” brother) given at the 2003 Desiring God conference. He spoke on Jonathan Edwards and how he “got it wrong” when it came to slavery. He encourages his black (actually a smooth brown) brothers to embrace the sound doctrine of Edwards even though he was wrong on this issue, and he encourages his white (more like a pinkish-tan) brothers to not insensitively defend the African Slave trade and be patient with our black brothers in the arena of biblical theology.

Interestingly enough, this is the only message that is no longer available at the DG website. I would love to know why this message has been removed.

If you are interested in a listen, email me and I can send you the mp3.
- Roman Misula
  
  I’d be interested to hear Mr. Burns’ message. It up anywhere else?
  - AJ
    
    Roman,
    
    I haven’t found it anywhere, but if you want a copy let me know – ajerwin@gmail.com
- Shanice
  
  your email address doesn’t show up anywhere…but I’d be interested in hearing that message also. email: thejesuspeep@gmail.com.
  
  Thanks!!!
- Marcus
  
  I would be interested in hearing that message as well. Marcus@991church.com -Thanks.
- Pastor Rod
  
  Aj, I would also like u to send me the mp3
- Brett
  
  It is my recollection that Mr. Burns disqualified himself from ministry, at least for that season of his life, which may be the reason the mp3 has been taken down.
  
  Although it may no longer be up at the site as an mp3, the content of the message is available to read from the free online book, which is available here (Mr. Burns’ address, “Trusting the Theology of a Slave Owner” begins on page 145):
  
  http://cdn.desiringgod.org/pdf/books_bgev/bgev_all.pdf
Kevin Chen

OPC Pest Control?

Well, I rejoice in the fact that T4G 2012 is way more diverse than T4G 2006.

In T4G 2010, Thabiti did preach about how the “churches are to be multi-ethnic but mono-cultural, and their culture is to be the culture of Christ”. And I remember his talk was well received and applauded by the crowd, myself included. Afterward, I realized his proposal is wrong and unhelpful to his already-monocultural audience. Do we want unity or uniformity?
Kevin Chen

Can you post a dropbox link :)?
http://letmypeopleread.blogspot.com Frank!

Can I ask a further question? Were there Hispanic brothers and sisters? How about Asian or Filippono? I would love to see more Hispanics attend these kinds of conferences. We’re a growing majority, and yet when it comes to faith, we’re either some kind of Pentecostal/Charismatic or Catholic. I’m sure I’m in the minority, as I’m reformed and SBC. But I’m hoping that people see this isn’t just a black/white issue anymore.
- Douglas
  
  Frank, it seemed to me that after caucasians, Asians were the next largest group followed by hispanics. At one point in the conference I looked around and saw Asian brothers on every side. We are reformed and primarily caucasian but have seen growth in the number of African Americans who have begun attending and some are involved in the leadership training our church offers. Our church is directly across the street from a community comprised entirely of African Americans. I have visited every home, we have reached out to them in a myriad of ways and many of our people know the families by name. Without exception these brothers have been heavily influenced by either liberation theology or prosperity teaching. For every African American family who stays at our church 8 do not stay because they do not agree with our theology. The families who do stay have told me that their friends and family often make disparaging comments about them selling out. While I am sure there are many in the Reformed camp who are not doing a good job reaching out to other people groups in their communities but many are, and they are being met with resistance. By the way we brought 27 men from our church to T4G. Some of our African American brothers really wanted to attend (a few did in 2010) but they could not take time off of work.
- Stephen Beck
  
  It’s likely deeply related to the current immigration issues (contrasted with the black/white racial tension that has been fought against in multiple generations now in society) that Hispanics will not be largely folded into the conservative/reformed/cessationistic (perhaps not fully cessationist in the typical sense) church in the near future, apart from a mighty move of the love and grace of Christ in our communities, on both sides.
http://osborneministries.com Reggie

I live on the border of Eastern Indiana and Western Ohio. I just don’t know that many non-white people. In cities like Dayton, Ohio (45 minutes away) or Indianapolis (1 hr) there is much more diversity. Here…well, there was 1 black student my age in my high school and he came to church with me.

This is not a racist machination. I’m not simple ignoring minority groups. I can’t afford to go to a conference in Atlanta. I can afford to go to a conference in Louisville – and I can’t bring minority friends that I don’t have to a gospel conference.

So that’s my reply. I can’t speculate as to why minority groups were not better represented from other places.
Jim Upchurch

Can you control who comes to a conference? No. But you can control who speaks at it, which may, in turn, influence who comes. Perhaps the ethnic makeup of the attendees simply reflected the makeup of the speakers… 8 out of 9 speakers were white.
http://www.davepeterssays.blogspot.com David Peters

I was also at T4G last week and could not help but notice how white it seemed. Often I wanted to say something like, “keep your eyes out for my friend- he’s a middle age white guy, you can’t miss him” or “all these white men look the same to me.” My disclosure is that I am a middle age white guy. Perhaps I’m more sensitive to white crowds because my wife and children are more ethnically diverse.

I would suggest that the reason for the lack of diversity has more to do with the location and aim of the conference rather than with any direct racism. As one commenter already mentioned, a similar conference had greater diversity, but that conference was in Chicago. Perhaps a different venue would encourage greater diversity. That being said, I don’t envy the position of the organziers of the conference in finding a venue which meets the needs of the conference. While I was there someone pointed out to me that we had people from all over the nation and they didn’t think that would happen if it met on either the East or West Coasts.

The organizers of the conference and all of the main speakers come from a reformed bent of theology. While I met many people (black and white and others) at the conference, the one person that did not really fit was a white guy with strong Arminian theology. It was an Asian youth at my lunch table that challenged him the most and answered his questions. On the other hand, at the next meal I sat with some black brothers. One of them had turned his church around from a “health and wealth” perspective to a true Reformed theology.

Essentially, the conference was supposed to be about common devotion to the gospel of Christ. It is disappointing if the location of the conference makes that unity appear monolithic. But the fact of the matter is, there are people in America from different races that all believe the same gospel of Jesus Christ and understand it the same way that the organizers of T4G understand it. I’m glad I was able to attend. I hope that these concerns can be addressed in order to more easily welcome others to the next conference.
Andy

I noticed this issue at the passion conference this year in atlanta. 40K+ college students attended, and there’s no way there were 500 african americans present. It was downright tragic and it hurt me that so many white people could gather for God and for social justice and not notice this problem. It was downright painful for me and still is. This is a huge problem. It’s a theological problem, ministry problem, race problem, fear problem, and white flight problem. I’m glad people are noticing…maybe there’s hope. Or maybe we are we becoming a group of scared white Christians who are too selfish to actually do ministry and want to experience good music and speakers?
Shanice

the short response is that the black culture isn’t really represented at conferences like these.

Someone mentioned this in another post, but it’s quite significant that 8 out of 9 preachers were white. Now…why weren’t there any other representation in the line-up? It’s not as though there aren’t any black, Latino, Asian reformed speakers out there. So why aren’t they there? Is it a matter of fame? Should that run any significance in a conference like this? Frankly…a lot of the racial tension that exists in society, exists in the church. Things like this make it obvious how subtle, and yet, how grieving it can be. Sadly, people either don’t notice, don’t care to notice, or don’t care to change this even when they do notice.
It is our responsibility to RESPOND to this, as the bible instructs that we love and reprove one another…and not keep brushing it under the rug.

The long response can be seen through the Grace and Race event that happened a month or so ago in NY with Dr. Anthony Bradley, Tim Keller, and John Piper. I encourage folks to watch it. They graciously discuss in depth what I could barely say in the paragraph above.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/now-available-race-and-the-christian

Grace and Peace.
- J-Zilla
  
  Since when is the SBC reformed? Do they have a confession that they confess or adhere to? They are calvinist but that does not make them reformed.
  - Dan
    
    The SBC has been mentioned in comments but T4G per my understanding is not an SBC conference. The initial founders of the conference are from a variety of backgrounds, one of which happens to be the SBC (though he is a ‘Calvinist’ in some fashion).
    - J-Zilla
      
      Gotcha. thanks!
  - Shanice
    
    replaced reformed with any other denomination or school of thought and my point still applies.
    
    thanks.
    - Shanice
      
      *replace
      - J-Zilla
        
        Thanks shanice. i guess what hooked me in your post was you refering to the speakers at T4G as “reformed”. I am second generation OPC’R i dont know anyone in my denomination or in the URC who would call any of the Pastors (except Lig Duncan and R.C.) at T4G reformed. The rest are all baptists or whatever. At a real reformed church, lets take mine for example, we have blacks, asian, white, middle eastern and hispanic MEMBERS not just attenders. And I think thats the difference. We dont agree on the 5 points and just love Jesus. When that is you only critirea you are going to have mucho problems.
Dan

Speaker representation has already been mentioned as a possible cause. I agree with that because speakers are essentially the ‘face’ of a conference, if not also the leadership behind the conference.

A related possible cause is conference awareness, which I believe would be primarily influenced by local church leadership (that is where the representation of the speakers can really matter). I hesitate to use the words “marketing” or “promotion”, but in churches, it’s typically the leaders who raise broad awareness of such things.

I was recently the only one in my congregation to attend a conference on Reformed theology. Guess what? In my own estimation, my own broad evangelical non-denom church is at best lukewarm or agnostic toward Reformed theology. If I hadn’t told a few people about it, nobody would have known about it, and I only found out about it a few years ago via influences outside of my own local church.

So in general I believe the speaker demographic influences church leadership, and church leadership influences congregations. In my Reformed conference example, media did play a role, but Reformed theology is by no means “mainstream” in my church so it is no surprise that the influence had to come from elsewhere. That case is not a ‘racial’ example, but it’s equally tragic that a ministry dedicated to strengthening churches in godliness and sound doctrine is virtually unheard of in a church that could really benefit from it (so next year I guess I’d better tell more people earlier)!
Matt

As an attender of T4G 2012, I can attest to the relatively uniform crowd. However, even the thought that brought this blog post concerns me a little, particularly coming from a “white” professor (observation only, not an attack by any means). Have any non-white pastors mentioned the same concern? Find something offensive? Have only “whites” been invited to the conference?

1. I’m not sure that this is a topic worth seriously considering. Forcing “non-whites” to attend a conference simply because there aren’t enough of “them” there seems to me incredibly arrogant. The door is open, and trying to intentionally create a “diverse” group of attendees seems very unwise “Hey, will you come to my conference so I don’t feel like I’m a racist? We need as many of you and your kind to come so I feel better about myself.”

2. T4G is not (outwardly) a SBC event. I know lots of people who are not SBC who attend this conference (myself included).

3. Isn’t looking outwardly at a mostly white crowd and being “concerned” by this really just a hidden form of racism? If non-whites aren’t being invited, then that’s a completely different story.

We need to remember that T4G was begun by four friends who were all white and wanted to open the door to others that they had connections with. I don’t for a moment think that Thabiti should be seen as the token black man (8 out of 9 were white- I’m not sure why this is an issue to begin with).

Another observation- everyone that I can see that has posted so far is white. That’s not a jab or an attack, but it is an observation worth noting. Do non-whites even see this as an issue? If so, then it needs to be addressed. I would be shocked if there were some covert attempt. I would guess (educated guess) that all of the congregations of the main 4 are probably more diverse than most who attended the conference.

Maybe I’m completely off-base here, but something feels “off” about this entire discussion to me. I’m open for insight.
- Michael
  
  I agree totally with Matt. It appears to me that if blacks are interested in the subject matter, they will come. It seems somewhat racial to me that blacks won’t attend because there isn’t enough black representation. The gospel is the gospel. It is not black or white. It is the gospel. Why do we have to confuse lack of attendance of a certain group because of that group’s make-up. If you love the gospel you will come regardless of your race. Let’s don’t start an argument where there isn’t one.
Matt

And, David, I have absolutely no idea what your ethnic background is. So I posted too soon. My sincere apologies.
http://www.TheSmokeFilledRoom.com OFelixCulpa

T4G has MANY problems which are not really being addressed, but this accusation is not a fair one.

Your premise seems to be that if the proportion of black people who choose to participate in a things is less than black people per capita in society, then that thing must be racist. By that reasoning, you should be also condemning dairy consumption as racist, because black Americans tend to consume far less bovine milk than white Americans.

Defending T4G is not something I do often; I really encourage people to avoid getting caught up in it. Those who put it together are guilty of many things, but to suggest they are guilty of racism on the grounds cited in this post is just not reasonable.
- http://headhearthand.org/blog/ David Murray
  
  Well, the racist charge came as expected. Sigh! Where does one begin?
  
  1. I loved T4G. Listen to this week’s podcast with Tim Challies if you’re not convinced. It was a privilege to be there and I look forward to going back. It was superbly organized and the speakers did a great job. Met lots of fantastic people and came back supercharged. I loved T4G.
  
  2. The leaders and organizers T4G are not racist. I did not accuse them of such and I would never dare to do such. As I said in my post, these men have done a huge amount to try to build bridges and break down barriers. I’m sure that they were as disappointed as me that we were not as “Together for the Gospel” as we could be.
  
  3. And that’s really my point. And I’m sure it’s the ultimate aim of T4G as well – to be Together for the Gospel, for such conferences to truly reflect the beautiful diversity of Christ’s kingdom on earth. My post was to highlight the lack of diversity, ask why, and initiate a conversation about how that can be better accomplished in the future. The cause certainly isn’t helped by closing our eyes, shutting down conversation, and throwing accusations of racism around. The lack of “togetherness” was not intentional but we need to be intentional if we want to change it.
  
  4. This is not just about how to get more cultural and racial diversity at “our” conferences. What about ourselves attending conferences where we might be the minority? As well as giving us a sense of what it’s like to be in a minority, that might do more than anything to show to the world the way that the Gospel can unite. I’d love to see it on our churches, but conferences would be a good start.
  - http://www.TheSmokeFilledRoom.com OFelixCulpa
    
    David,
    
    I understand that you were not directly accusing anyone of racism, sorry if my response seemed to imply that you did.
    
    I know that many of those who enjoy the conference seem completely unable to accept any sort of critique of it. That is not a problem for me; I spend more time giving critique than challenging it. But the critique you offer (that something is wrong because the color count is off) is really problematic.
    
    The problem is that the kind of color counting and ratio adjustment you are encouraging requires people to make judgments (in this case about a conference) based on nothing more than race.
    
    I’m certain we agree that it is right to proclaim the gospel to every creature (no matter what race). But I think it is very wrong to make some notion of ideal color ratios (a.k.a. “diversity”) a part of that message; we appear to disagree on that.
http://thebreadline.wordpress.com David Bissett

David, you pose a worthy question, one that should move us to pray….
db
Dan

Perhaps, if T4G is planned from the ground up as “everyone’s” conference with commensurate representation and leadership, we won’t need to think in categories of “our” conferences vs. “their” conferences. Maybe 2012 WAS intended to be such an “everyone’s” conference but didn’t end up looking that way in racial/cultural terms. Nevertheless this is an opportunity for the organizers to regroup for a post-mortem discussion.
Pingback: T4G Debrief: Where Were All the African Americans? – Pure Church by Thabiti Anyabwile
Will Robinson

David,

I really wanted to attend this year and was actually registered and planned to bring my daughter and a couple of brothers from our church, African-American and others. I have been greatly helped by yourself, Dr. B from PRTS and other godly men and want others to be so encouraged as well. I had a work situation come up and had to cancel. But I love the time spent with my brothers (not my brothers of any particular ethnicity, just my godly, wise and giving brothers).So, I guess we can only invite as many as possible,pray and continue preach the great gospel of the God who is building a holy mosaic bride, beautiful in her diverse flecks of colored image. Grace and peace to you brother.
“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” Romans 1:11-12
- http://headhearthand.org/blog/ David Murray
  
  Will: Great to hear from you again. I was looking out for you at T4G, as we usually bump into one another at these events! Sorry you couldn’t make it, but I know you’re balancing so many things at the moment. Hope you and your daughter are doing well and that your studies are getting nearer the finish line. I need to speak to you about something else that we’ve talked about before, so I’ll probably be in touch within the next few weeks. I hope our mutual longing to see one another again will maybe be satisfied sooner rather than later. Praying for you, brother.
DeWayne Wright

I think a lot of blacks didn’t know about the conference. I am a black pastor and I attended T4G this year. I came alone and enjoyed every session. I didn’t really connect with anyone. I felt like some of the men didn’t know how to connect with me. If there were more African American men at the conference would they had experienced what I did. I don’t know but I do believe even among the Black reformed camp that many didn’t know about the conference.
Pingback: A Good Question « Insomniac memos
http://Www.yankeerev.wordpress.com Rod Phillips

David…he was with me!

I’m from California and have a ton of pastor friends who could not attend T4G but who have attended in the past – all different ethnicities out here. The same is true of many I know from Michigan where I used to minister. The economy has hit many pastors hard and so T4G, which happens to be an expensive conference, is out of reach if they want to go to more than one.

The Elephant in the room question is a good one from the perspective of “is a Reformed Soteriology embraced and growing in the African American churches?”. And when I talk to my African American pastor friends they usually say that the problem is both theological as well as cultural.

So, the elephant is present, but not necessarily the fault of, result of or neglect of T4G…

And I did bring an African American brother with me that loved the conference…
dave

Hello,
just to respond to some of the comments above… I want to say I am appreciative that this conversation did take place. To the user Matt…I want you to know as an asian who is reformed, I along with many other asians/hispanics feel much in line with David Murray, who wrote this blog. I don’t really know what the answer is and I wouldn’t be quick to point fingers at anyone. I just know that something is wrong. It feels wrong. But because of fear, we choose not to meddle in an arena where we feel have no influence. Not that position matters, but in many SBC churches or Acts 29 churches, you’ll rarely see any of us put in staff even if we love the Lord, have passion for ministry, or are gifted in leading a pastoral role somewhere. Its just never gonna happen. We don’t even have an avenue for that. But I don’t expect too many to understand this. but if you were in my shoe, you’ll understand. ANYWHOO, we love our churches and the fundamentals that it teaches, so we stick around. Because we rather serve the Lord in truth and not have any active role in staff than to be in other cultural churches that have poor doctrine and theology. This is not a white/black issue anymore. its very offensive to hear that…there are other races that feel the same way.
ursonate

I am not religious by any means so I didn’t understand half of what anyone said, but the same situation exists in tech and design conferences. It’s an intriguing question the answer to which is likely extremely complicated.It makes people nervous, which is usually an indicator that it’s the right question to be asking.
Pingback: “T4G Debrief: Where Were All the African Americans?” by Thabiti Anyabwile
Anthony Griffin

Who cares, frankly, about diversity! That is not what the conference is about! You missed the point entirely because YOU focused on your race and being a minority. Being a believer in this world is being in the minority! Did it ever cross your mind to stop and think hey maybe there are not any black people here because they’re just not interested in going? Even though this was highly publicized? This has nothing to do with race or diversity. This has to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ and taking it to all nations. I think your problem is you have this sense of entitlement in your mind. And frankly I’m offended by your article. I have plenty of black friends who would totally disagree with you and thank that you’re focusing on the wrong things. I would encourage you to read scripture and maybe go and not worry about whether you’re black or white or green or whatever that’s not what it’s about.

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