A 2022 survey conducted by Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center found that 16% of churches in America are multiethnic.

And this trend seems to be increasing as this is up from 12% found by a similar survey in 2018, Christian Headlines reports.

While churches are becoming increasingly multiethnic, the study found that 67% of churches are predominantly white, 10% are largely black and 4% are mostly Hispanic.

The Refuge Church in Salisbury, NC is an example of this increasing multiethnicity because it saw two churches, a predominantly black church pastored by Derrick Hawkins merge with a mostly white church pastored by Jay Stewart,

The merger took place after Stewart and Hawkins became close friends when Stewart took on a mentorship role with the younger Hawkins, the Christian Post reported in 2020.

Hawkins today serves as one of The Refuge’s executive pastors, and this is similar to the early church that also had mixed ethnic congregations and leadership.

In the book of Acts, we know that at least one of Antioch’s prophets and teachers, Simeon who was called Niger, was undoubtedly black as Niger means dark or black.

13 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,^[a] Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. (Acts 13:1 ESV)

And there is also good reason to suspect, that Lucius of Cyrene, was also black, as Cyrene was located in what today is modern Libya located in Northern Africa.

READ: 16 Percent of American Churches Are Multiethnic, Poll Shows: ‘It’s a Foretaste of God’s Eternal Church’ AND ‘Unity is the priority of Christ’: How a white church and a black church felt led to merge