via Lifeway Research (February 15, 2022)— “Most Pastors See Racial Diversity in the Church as a Goal but Not Reality,” by Marissa Postell:

Most Protestant pastors say every church should strive to achieve racial diversity, but few are achieving it …. There are also differences between what African American pastors are doing to lead their churches toward racial reconciliation and what steps white pastors are taking toward this end ….

Churches aren’t often racially diverse. Most Protestant pastors in the United States say their churches are predominantly one racial or ethnic group (76%). There has been some progress over the past five years, however, as more pastors say there is at least some racial or ethnic diversity in their churches today (22%) than said so in a 2017 Lifeway Research study (17%) ….

White pastors are more likely than pastors of any other race to say their churches predominantly represent one racial or ethnic group. Furthermore, the more education a pastor has, the more likely that pastor’s congregation is to consist of predominantly one racial or ethnic group. Pastors with master’s degrees are most likely to pastor primarily monoracial churches (82%) with the likelihood decreasing among pastors who have a bachelor’s degree (73%) or no college degree (66%) ….

More than any other group, African American pastors (97%) see the need for racial diversity within the church, and they want to see the church striving to achieve such diversity. Meanwhile, 87% of white pastors and 83% of pastors of other ethnicities say the same ….