RACISM: John Perkins vs. The Episcopal Church

By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org

March 18, 2026

John Perkins, a Black evangelical and prominent civil rights activist, died recently at the age of 95. A legendary figure, he spent his life emphasizing the need for racial reconciliation within the white church while sharply criticizing Christianity's long tolerance of racism. As an evangelical, he was able to speak directly to evangelicals in America at a time when doing so was not only unpopular but life-threatening.

The New York Times captured the duality of his ministry in a headline that read: "Evangelical Minister Espoused Social Justice." For Perkins, social action was never separate from personal faith — it flowed directly from it.

Growing up in a dysfunctional family and enduring years of racial violence, Perkins came to believe that racism is fundamentally a spiritual issue, one that corrupts both Black and white communities alike. True Christianity, he argued, cannot coexist with bigotry. He called on whites to repent, championed authentic cross-racial relationships, and earned his place among the great Black elder statesmen of America.

The Episcopal Church's Approach

The Episcopal Church has pursued anti-racism through a very different path. It has acknowledged its historical complicity in racism and implemented programs aimed at education, advocacy, and institutional reform. Its stated goal is to dismantle systemic racism and build a more diverse community.

The contrast between these two approaches is the difference between chalk and cheese.

Perkins worked from the inside out — personal transformation rooted in the gospel, expressed through relationships and grassroots action. The Episcopal Church works from the outside in — institutional change through programs and policy, largely independent of whether individual hearts have changed. The numbers tell their own story: while roughly 50 Black bishops have been consecrated in The Episcopal Church, only 3.8% of people in the pews are Black. Most Episcopalians have never worshipped alongside a person of color.

Both Perkins and the Episcopal Church affirm the church's responsibility to combat racism and pursue reconciliation. But their methods diverge sharply, and those differences matter enormously. Perkins believed a personal relationship with Christ was the only genuine starting point. For The Episcopal Church, racism is primarily an institutional problem to be addressed through education and structural change. Without personal transformation, however, such efforts risk becoming little more than an exercise in managed guilt.

Perkins saw racism as an attitude of the heart. The Episcopal Church sees it as an attitude of the institution.

A Personal Reflection

Decades ago, I ministered at a Black evangelical church in Montclair, New Jersey — a solid, middle-class congregation that took me in at a difficult point in my life. Their warmth was immediate and genuine. They ordained me, and behind my back, I was affectionately called the "reverse Oreo cookie."

My role was hospital visitation. I prayed with patients, read Scripture, offered communion, and listened. I loved the work.

One of my parishioners — I'll call her Edith — was dying. Week after week I would sit with her, read her favorite passages aloud, hold her hand, and give her communion. Each time, she would look at me with a quiet smile and say, "Don't you think de Lord's got a strange sense of humor?"

After several weeks, I finally asked her what she meant.

"Sit down, boy, and I'll tell you," she said.

I sat.

"I grew up in Biloxi, Mississippi, where my mother and I picked cotton for the white man. We was treated real cruel. Our fingers bled. He would beat us, and we was always hungry. We finally escaped on the Underground Railroad to Chicago, and then came east to New Jersey. Even here, we weren't welcome. Nobody beat us, but white people would cross the street to avoid us. I cried out to the Lord many times, always asking why. And now here I am, lying in a hospital bed waiting to die — and a white man is serving me communion." She paused. "Don't you think de Lord's got a strange sense of humor?"

I turned away so she couldn't see my tears.

A few weeks later, Edith passed into the presence of the Lord.

END