A small church becomes deliberate about being multicultural

Story by Carmel Palmer
Photos by Tom Price

Six-year-old Lexi burst in the back door, yelling, “Mom! I have a new friend in the house behind us! She wants me to come play!” Wendy looked down at her beautiful biracial daughter. With excitement and dread, she agreed to meet the child’s mother, Ellen. Knowing the stigma biracial couples still carry in the South, Wendy worried that, “like many times before, when she saw I was white her whole attitude would change. Instead, when she opened the door, I immediately sensed something different about her. Later I realized it was the Holy Spirit.” The girls and their mothers became close, but when Ellen invited Wendy to church, she replied stiffly, “I think I’m done trying church.”

When Wendy had married Reggie Gilliard, an African-American, their families were mostly supportive. South Carolina churches were not. After Reggie drank from the shared communion cup his first Sunday at Wendy’s grandparents’ church, members decided that outsiders were unwelcome in Sunday morning services. Reggie became embittered toward church; the family stopped attending. They hoped moving to Columbia would help, but, Wendy reported, “In all the white churches I tried, people stared at my eldest white daughter and my two biracial children, but no one talked to or welcomed us.” They began attending Reggie’s mother’s Catholic Church, where Wendy was the only Caucasian. Her family was more accepted there, but some of the teaching troubled Wendy. She confessed, “I knew it wasn’t right; I just desperately wanted a church home for my kids.”

Ellen’s gentle coaxing eventually convinced Wendy to visit Calvary Chapel Northeast Columbia (CCNE). She rejoiced, “From the moment I walked in, I knew I was home. There was some diversity there, but more than that, everyone there genuinely loved the Lord. They saw people, not skin color. When Pastor Michael Frisina started preaching, the Bible suddenly made sense to me.” Wendy and the children soon accepted Christ. Months after, Reggie did also. Twelve years later, Wendy declared, “Reggie says he’s never leaving this church. The Lord used CCNE to save our marriage. We had difficult times, even after we were saved, but Michael taught Reggie so much about being our family’s spiritual leader. Reggie said, ‘I can respect Michael because whatever he tells me to do, he does.’  CCNE is our spiritual family. When new people come, we love them like we were loved.”

The complete article is published in issue 69 of Calvary Chapel Magazine.