Posted on May 24, 2010

Sugar Land Church Leader: ‘Am I Too White to Be Your Pastor?’

Courtney Zubowski, KHOU-TV (Houston), May 20, 2010

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That’s the question Pastor Patrick Kelley of River Pointe Community Church in Fort Bend County is asking in a bold new ad campaign.

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Kelley said he wants to diversify what he calls the most segregated hour of the week: Sunday morning church services. He said, right now, 65 percent of the members of his church, located in the 5000 block of Ransom Road, are white.

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So far he said the feedback has been good, but no one has answered ‘yes’ to his question.

“My real hope was people would tell me you are too white to be my pastor and here’s why,” said the pastor.

Kelley said he would take that information and incorporate it into his church to attract people of different racial backgrounds. He’s going back out on Friday with his sign in hand.

Meanwhile, River Pointe High School Pastor Terrace Clayton, who is African-American, says he will be carrying a sign of his own, but he’ll be posing a different question.

“Am I the wrong color to be your pastor?” said Clayton. “I think it’s a sign that makes you think, and it’s a question that makes you go, ‘Well, would I go to a white church or would I go to an all black church.'”

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