[James] Meeks [pastor of Salem Baptist Church in Chicago] hopes to persuade African American and white evangelicals to work together. And he's willing to start small—say, by getting together for dinner.

"I want my children to see that," Meeks says. "Most black children grow up never having had dinner with white people. Most white people grow up never having had African Americans in their homes. So we view each other as 30-second sound bites on television."

Meeks says he'd like any church, anywhere, to take Salem up on this offer. "We can do it with ten [families], do it with five, do it with those that are willing. It has to get started somewhere. The world will never see how colorblind Jesus is until they see how colorblind the church is."