Congregations Combine, Form Interracial Church

NEW ORLEANS - WDSU .com

Two churches -- one predominantly white and the other predominantly African-American -- united Sunday to form one church in the Carrollton area.

The Central United Church of Christ in the 7th Ward suffered extensive damage during

Hurricane Katrina

in 2005. Since then, its members have attended St. Matthew's United Church of Christ in Carrollton.

St. Matthew's is a predominantly white congregation, and the interim pastor said the churches had very little to do with each other before the storm.

"The interaction was sporadic and it was largely between the pastors," said the Rev. Douglas Moore, of St. Matthew's.

Now, both groups have unanimously voted to become one church -- the Central St. Matthew's United Church of Christ.

"It's a deeply spiritual step that says we've been together now for four years," said Moore. "We have sort of fought and played and learned to really respect each other and also to disagree and we want to be together. We don't want to be two churches. We want to be one church."

Church members said it felt natural to join the churches after everything they had shared together.

"Today is like coming home day," said Marie Weatherspoon. "We feel at home and we've joined together with other brothers and sisters in Christ."

For now, the church has an interim pastor but a committee expects to start looking for a permanent pastor within the year.

The old Central Church building will be used as an annex to create ministries to help the 7th Ward area get back on its feet.

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