US Churches Grow More Diverse but Preach Less on Race, Study Finds
A Lifeway Research study released in July 2026 shows that Protestant congregations have become more multiethnic over the past decade, but fewer pastors now view racial diversity as a goal and fewer preach on racial reconciliation than at any point since 2013.
American Protestant churches are more racially mixed than they were a decade ago, but pastors are talking about race less from the pulpit. That is the central finding of a new Lifeway Research study published in July 2026.
In 2013, 86 percent of pastors said their congregation was predominantly one racial or ethnic group. That figure has dropped to 77 percent today, reflecting slow but real demographic change in many churches.
At the same time, the share of pastors who believe racial diversity should be an explicit goal for all congregations has fallen from 93 percent in 2017 to 84 percent now. And 17 percent of pastors say they never address racial reconciliation in sermons, the highest level recorded since Lifeway began tracking the question.
Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said many churches remain decades behind the demographic shifts happening in their surrounding communities. He noted that 2017 was likely an outlier, driven by the violence at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, which pushed racial issues to the front of many pulpits that year.
African American pastors are the most likely to preach on racial reconciliation regularly. More than a third do so monthly or more often. Urban pastors also address the topic more frequently than their rural counterparts.
The findings come as 70 percent of Americans say the country still faces significant challenges on race. McConnell said the gap between that public concern and what is happening in many churches is worth examining.
