Below is an article found on USA Today about a pastor who extended an invitation to whites to attend his church for money. This is not a productive solution to religious integration for a number of reasons.

La. black church will pay whites to attend
By Diane Haag The (Shreveport, La.) Times

SHREVEPORT, La. - Greenwood Acres Full Gospel Baptist Church will pay white people to attend services during August to increase the diversity of its congregation. Bishop Fred Caldwell says he will pay $5 per hour for Sunday services and $10 an hour for the Thursday service. The idea came to him during his sermon Sunday.

"Our churches are too segregated, and the Lord never intended for that to happen. It's time for something radical," Caldwell says.

He is basing the initiative on a parable from Matthew 20:1-16, the story of the workers in the vineyard. A landowner hired men to work in his fields for the day and throughout the day kept seeking more workers. No matter what time they came to work, the workers were all paid the same.

[end of article]

AI Afro Interprtation

Though this is a noble effort by the pastor, it is sad to say that there is not enough money in the world that would get white people to voluntarily and permanently integrate for too long with Blacks, even in the church.

Many people may disagree and claim that their church is diverse but it is guaranteed that the pastor of that church is white. White people are first reluctant to sit under a Black pastor. Second, there are too many white churches where they may feel more comfortable for them to go to Black churches.

Paying people, any people, to attend church totally undermines the power and grace of God. And if the motive is to integrate then the primary will of God is undermined because it does not address salvation, but integration.

The parable from the Bible does not represent his stance completely because if the idea is to reward those who worked in the field then all should be paid and not just the white people.

As stated earlier, the effort is noble but is not the answer.