When Two Churches Became One

Abstract

On August 23, 2009, the predominately white Shively Heights Baptist Church and the predominately African American St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church merged to form St. Paul Baptist Church @ Shively Heights. The merger of the two Louisville, Kentucky, congregations garnered much local and national media attention. “Why?”, “How?”, and “Will it work?” were oft-asked questions. In this article, an attempt to answer these questions is made.