A study by researchers at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles found differences in how people perceive the reasons for racial inequality depending on the size of the congregation at the church they attend regularly. The study found that people in churches with congregations of more than 2,000 tend to believe that racial inequality is not due to discrimination.
Kevin Dougherty, a sociologist at Baylor University and a co-author of the study, notes that “large congregations are more likely than smaller congregations to attract members of multiple races. Our research suggests that bigger congregations do little to challenge prevailing views on racial equality. The larger the congregation, the less likely a congregant is to accept discrimination for the economic gap between Blacks and Whites.
The article, “Congregational Size and Attitudes Toward Racial Inequality Among Church Attendees in America,” was published in the journal Religions. It is available here.
