Why Are Congregations So Divided?

Whether we're talking about race or economic class, most religious congregations in the United States are super homogeneous. This reflects the sociological principle called "homophily," or in simpler terms, "birds of a feather flock together." But why is this? Why are religious congregations so divided?

This video was brought to you, in part, by support from Sacred Writes: Public Scholarship on Religion, funded by the Henry R. Luce Foundation and hosted by Northeastern University:

Follow me on Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry

[a.j.rivera]

Hello! I'm a practicing Buddhist and the temple at 2:12 is definitely a Vietnamese Buddhist temple. The statue out front is that of Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva of Compassion.
Great work on your channel please keep it up!

[GenBloodLust]

Oh my gosh, one of may favourite youtubers was at the college I graduated from interviewing one of my favourite professors! What!?!?!

[bell]

Man you are like the religious knowledge vsauce. Thank you for all the videos I am glad I found the channel.

[fabrisseterbrugghe]

Richard Hofstadter shared the old "joke" about class within U.S. Protestantism. A Methodist is a Baptist who wears shoes. A Presbyterian is a Methodist who's been to college, and an Episcopalian is a Presbyterian who lives on his investments.

[jazzgod]

I was shocked when i found out my town has a pastors association and a black pastors association. My friend who was a member of both said she didn't feel like it was certain churches being unwelcome, but the traditionally black churches offering a certain culture that others did not. I also remember a Harvey Carey speaking at the Global Leadership Summit many years ago .His goal was to start a large multi ethnic church in the Detroit area i believe. He got invited to the Black pastor association meeting, as he was black, and was pretty much told to shut down because no one wanted to see it. He grew the church to be one of the largest in the area regardless (Citadel of Faith Covenant Church)

[ThrowawayAccount]

I am an atheist who loves learning about different religions. Insanely fortunate to have found your channel. Well deserved one-time donation!!

[alhesiad]

A catholic once said: "You got 5 congregations by each 3 protestants."

[missScarlatine]

I'm not religious person myself and I really like your videos. It's a sociological study with the practice of religion at is center. The homophily you talk about can, I guess, be also found in neighborhood, schools and even work.

[DrawnByDandy]

I think you might be interested in looking at the multi-racial and multi-national christian church congregations in the United Arab Emirates :) the country has a very large population of expatriates from different countries. The government mostly allows people to worship according to their own religion, but the setting up of religious spaces is regulated.

[coreartalex]

Caroline Myss touches the point of Homophily on her book anatomy of the Spirit where she explains the 7 main Chakras & their correlation with the Sephirots mentioned on Cabbala & with the christian sacraments, more specific on her comments about the Sacrament of Confirmation which she describes as a "Social recognition" of the teenagers by their congregation; she describes it as the reaffirmation of the social & emotional roots with that congregation. Her explanation on this book came to my head when your guest on this interview mention that us people search congregations that "feel like home".
Awesome video!

[dittbub]

I feel like the element of "choice" is overstated. The neighborhoods form around economic lines because the lower classes don't have much of a choice. only those who can move up can be offered the choice.

[philpaine]

This video clarifies for me a puzzling difference I noticed by living at various times in both Canada and the United States. Canada seems to have much less of the kind of de facto separation on economic and racial lines, and congregations of churches tend to be more mixed. It is understood that recent immigrants will form congregations that will cater to their domestic languages, and also act as centres of advancement. If you are in, say, a Korean Anglican congregation, not only can you hear mass in Korean, but you will be sharing church suppers with board members of the Korean Credit Union who will vouch for your character when you seek a loan to open a store, and the pastor will have the ear of the local Member of Parliament and City Councillor. But after an immigrant community gains a solid foothold, or reaches a third generation, people scatter to whatever church of their denomination happens to be nearby. Canadian city neighbourhoods tend to be very diverse, not only ethnically, but economically. A typical Catholic, United Church of Canada, Anglican, Lutheran, or Presbyterian church will draw its membership from every economic level, because there will be rich, middle income, and poorer people of their denomination living in the same neighbourhood. There are some small enclaves of the wealthy, but most city neighbourhoods include everything from cheap public housing to luxury condos and mansions, jumbled together willy-nilly, and the typical congregation includes them all. When living in the U.S., the idea of racially distinct neighbourhoods stood out to me (and shocked me). In Canada, when we talk about one neighbourhood being "the Greek neighbourhood" or "the Ethiopian neighbourhood", it means that there is a cluster of Greek or Ethiopian stores there, and perhaps noticeably more Greeks or Ethiopians living there, but always within the usual multi-ethnic mix of everybody. It took me longer to grasp the very sharp economic boundaries between neighbourhoods in the U.S.. In a Canadian city they just sort of shmush together, or the houses gradually get fancier from one street to another, or a given block will be mostly well-off professional houses and condos with some cheap apartments and a few crappier houses scattered among them, while another block might be mostly modest houses and run-of-the-mill apartments with the occasional fancy house or flashy condo. But a given wealthy person or poor person might live in any part of the city.

[MrDalisclock]

This is a great channel and it's the kind of religious education I wish I'd had access to earlier in my life.

[kmcfadden]

This topic is very interesting to me because I’m mixed race and I’ve always attended two churches, the majority white church near my house and the more mixed race church in the city with a strong Filipino community.

[allenmontrasio]

This is way more interesting than even the title suggested. Your videos are always compellingly argued and thoroughly researched.

[Sewblon]

4:32 it sounds like by "supply side" economics you mean "monopolistic competition." Supply side economics has to do with the effects of taxes and regulations. The theory of monopolistic competition has to do with multiple firms selling a differentiated product in the same market. Edit: 10:41 I think that she is getting at Lee K Yuan's insight: "In a multi-racial society, you don't vote based on your economic interests, you vote based on your ethnicity or religion."

[ritawing]

"Choosing to drive"...cars seem to be a huge factor!

[Serai]

Tough subject, but you handle it well. Very much enjoying this channel. :)

[samvimes]

1:52 hey, that's 3 miles down the road from my house! There's a little Russian food shop in that complex that I go to all the time.

[tiglathpilesariii]

Hope you enjoyed your visit to Knoxville! I graduated from a private Christian school in Knoxville and when I first arrived I was surprised to find how racially homogenous it was, especially considering the fact that the private school closest to us both charged more in tuition and featured greater ethnic diversity.