In 2014, the Pew Research Center conducted a Religious Landscape Study, surveying more than 35,000 Americans. The study found the Seventh-day Adventist Church to be the most racially diverse religious group in the United States, with 37 percent of its adult members identifying themselves as white, 32 percent as black, 15 percent as Hispanic, eight percent as Asian and eight percent as another race or mixed race. Students in the Interactive Journalism class at Southern Adventist University will look closer at the church demographics – analyzing the data, researching the background and documenting the trends, using interactive tools for an online audience. We will tell the stories of people who represent church diversity based on race, ethnicity, culture and gender. And we will explore what diversity really means in today’s society, as well as the nuances of unity versus uniformity. The project – led by professors Alva James-Johnson and Ryan Harrell – can be viewed online.

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