A Christian church in California is hosting a Black History Month event on Friday open to “Black worshippers” while hosting a separate event on Saturday where “all are welcome.”
Resurrection Oakland Church announced two events this week to celebrate Black History Month, including one called the “Black Fellowship Dinner” which appears limited to black congregants. The events will feature talks from Irwyn Ince, a leader in the Presbyterian Church in America who faced criticism last week after the missions organization that he runs encouraged illegal immigrants to mislead federal immigration authorities.
“An evening with our special speaker, Rev. Dr. Irwyn Ince, for our Black worshippers at ResOak and their families. Connect with and encourage one another as we cap off our month long celebration of Black History Month with rich fellowship,” an advertisement posted on the church’s website reads.
The advertisement also encouraged its members to patronize black-owned businesses.
The RSVP page for the event also reiterates that the event is for “our Black worshippers” and their families. It is unclear if the two pastors of the church, who are white and Asian, will be in attendance.
A separate event advertised on Saturday with Ince notes that it is open to all and will focus on a discussion about “race, justice, and theology.”
Resurrection Oakland is part of the Presbyterian Church in America, a conservative Protestant denomination whose members backed President Donald Trump by nearly two-thirds in 2020.
Other leaders in the PCA were upset about the racially exclusive dinner opportunity, saying the event was “hostile” to what the church should stand for.
Pastor Ryan Biese of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, told The Daily Wire that the PCA should repent for having a church that is hosting “a dinner that is segregated along ethnic lines” in 2025.
“The church is not confined to one nation,” he said. “The church consists of all those who profess the true religion together with their children. So why is this congregation putting up a dividing wall between black worshipers and every other sort of worshiper? And why is our MNA coordinator, who is paid close to $300,000 a year, participating in this?”
Another concerned teaching elder in the PCA asked, “Does MNA — or the PCA, for that matter—want to be know for gospel proclamation and church-planting, or for racially segregated fellowship meals?”
Ince runs Mission to North America, a subsidiary of the PCA that is supposed to focus on planting churches. Last week, Mission to North America apologized after it shared a resource page offering legal advice to illegal immigrants and opining on Trump administration immigration policy.
In previous talks, Ince has suggested that black people need to have their own spaces and that black people are uncomfortable when they are around too many white people. During a talk he gave back in 2019, he said being “black and tired” and “minority fatigue” were real issues for black people when interacting with white people.
“So you’ve got to experience some spaces and times where you just don’t have to work so hard,” he said. “There is a grounding and a positive sense of belonging that can come from an ethnic affinity in a world of dizzying diversity.”
He went on to say that churches should consider “the trauma” that black people have from being in a white-majority space when looking to diversify their staff.
“The likelihood is if you’re an all-white staff, you ain’t gonna be enough. Your church ain’t going to be enough. They are going to wear out,” he said.
Mission to North America, which Ince leads, has a number of other ethnic-centered ministries including “African American Ministries,” and “Hispanic Ministries.”
The page for African American Ministries says it’s a negative thing that the majority of PCA members are white.
“The lack of representation in leadership is reflected in our pews,” the page says. “The results negatively affect how we experience the PCA.”
The page for Hispanic Ministries says that the “demographic trend” of mass migration into the United States from Latin American countries is an “unprecedented opportunity.”
“For several decades God has been actively changing the demographic makeup of our nation. Since the United States loosened its immigration policies, people from Latin countries flooded into our land of opportunity,” the page for the ministry says.
The ministry noted statistics showing that the Hispanic population in America will increase by 200% in the coming years while the “non-Hispanic white population” will grow by just 6%.
“In addition, while the average age of the United States population is about 35 years of age, Hispanics are much younger with an average age of around 27,” the ministry says. “MNA Hispanic Ministries sees the demographic changes of our nation as an unprecedented opportunity – orchestrated by God Himself – to continue our commitment to the fulfillment of the Great Commission.”
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