The issue of racism has been brought up in most churches since the death of George Floyd, a new survey by Premier Christian News has found.
In the poll of nearly 500 Premier listeners, three quarters (74%) said their church had mentioned racism following the unarmed black man's death in Minneapolis last month.
Only 18% said their church had not mentioned it at all and eight per cent said they did not know.
The survey also revealed that many churchgoers want their pastors to discuss the issue. When asked "Do you think church leaders should intentionally speak about racism from the front?", the vast majority of respondents (85%) answered 'yes'.
Among the Christians who said they had heard racism mentioned by church leaders in the past few weeks, the majority said it was through a prayer or statement. In some cases, churches had held a discussion on the issue or interviewed a black member of the congregation.
When asked what action, if any, churches had pledged to take in response to racism, survey responses included being encouraged to pray, listen, learn more, read a book and petition the Government.
The poll comes as anti-racism protests continue to be staged across America and further afield, including Australia and the UK, where statues of former slave owners have been toppled.
The Church of England and Methodist Church have both this week admitted failings in their response to racism and treatment of BAME Christians.
Dr Joe Aldred, who is responsible for Pentecostal and Multicultural Relations at Churches Together in England, told Christian Today he felt that repentance for racism by Christians "has been half-hearted".
He called for more concrete action from Churches.
"Western Churches could start where some universities have started recently, by researching how much of their 'wealth' has been based on stolen or exploitative gains; quantify that, say sorry and negotiate settlement with your victims," he said.
"If in restoration one side doesn't lose anything and the other side doesn't gain anything, restoration has not happened. Action that costs speaks much louder than words."
