Churches Shouldn’t Sort Scholarships by Skin Color
The cure for racism is not more racism. Are churches at risk of losing their tax-exempt status?
Imagine a local church advertising a scholarship open only to white students. The backlash would be immediate, and deservedly so. Yet churches and denominations across America openly offer scholarships with racial restrictions or preferences, and few people object.
Leftist activists seek to destroy America by separating people by racial categories to stoke hatred and division. Churches should refuse to join in and teach instead that every person is valued as an image-bearer of God, not diminished by skin color or place of birth or heritage.
The late Pastor Voddie Baucham pointed out that race is a human invention, not a biblical idea. The Bible never mentions race, but it does point out that all humans descend from Adam. Acts 17:26 tells us, "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth."
Favoring one individual over another based on race or ethnicity is the definition of racism. Yet tax-exempt churches across America continue this discrimination. Why is a poor inner-city Hispanic or Black student more deserving than a White student from the same neighborhood?
Jim Crow laws against Blacks were horrific and harmful. New Jim Crow policies and practices against Whites are just as wrong.
Are Churches Violating the Constitution?
Not only is it not biblical to separate based on race, but it’s also unconstitutional. In 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) struck down affirmative action in colleges. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that a student "must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race." Justice Clarence Thomas argued that race-conscious admissions programs divide students and incite "increasing racial polarization and friction."
In 1983, SCOTUS ruled that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could revoke the religious tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University for racial discrimination. In September 2026, citing Bob Jones v. United States, the IRS issued a regulation warning that private institutions could lose their tax-exempt status if they continue using race-based scholarship programs and admissions practices.
Different denominations across America openly discriminate based on a person’s race or ethnicity, likely in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The Episcopal Church offers a variety of scholarships for non-white applicants. For the 2026–27 school year, the church offers $10,000 scholarships for divinity students of African descent and $5,000 each for people of Indigenous, Asian, and Hispanic descent. White ministry students need not apply.
During World Communion Sunday, the United Methodist Church collects an offering dedicated to scholarships for "racial-ethnic minority student[s] pursuing ordained ministry."
The Catholic Diocese of Lansing, Michigan gives tuition scholarships for K–12 education, but the child must be "African-American or Black." They also offer another grant that requires the student be Hispanic.
The African American Scholarship is awarded to students based on race by the Disciples of Christ (DOC) church. The DOC offers several more scholarships for which race is a key determination for the award.
If a student "identif[ies] as Black, Indigenous or person of color," they can qualify for a seminary scholarship from the Mennonite Church USA.
In 2022, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) distributed a “New Blood Scholarship” for seminary students, saying, "there is a pressing need to raise up diverse leaders in the Church across America." The SBC said anyone could apply for the scholarship but "underrepresented minority students are preferred."
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary advertises dozens of "ethnically based" scholarships. All but one of them are intended for non-white students—poor white individuals need not apply.
The Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) doles out a "$2,000 supplemental award for people of color." The PCUSA is focused on "reducing the impact of systems of white supremacy" and brags that over 64 percent of their awards in 2023-24 were to "people of color."
Even the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a conservative denomination, promotes a "Unity Fund Project" that aims to "develop ethnic minority leadership in the PCA." The denomination explains its motivation this way: "We want the church on earth to reflect the glorious diversity of the church in heaven as portrayed in Revelation 7:9."
But that interpretation overlooks the context of the passage that indicates that people from every nation will one day praise the Lord together. Salvation comes through faith in and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter a person’s background. The scripture portrays believers gathered in unity after the tribulation, united in worship rather than defined by racial or ethnic categories. Galatians 3:28-29 makes the same point: those who belong to Christ are heirs of the promise and "one in Christ Jesus."
If a church would be rightly condemned for offering a white-only scholarship, the same standard must apply to every other race. Scripture says all people descend from one man and that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek. Churches should lead the way in treating people as equals, not sorting them by the human-invented construct of race. There won’t be a race or ethnicity box to check on an enrollment form for heaven, and there shouldn’t be one in the church today.
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