On Sunday, Rev. Richard Rieves and Terrance Young put aside their segregated pasts and joined 160 others at the new Downtown Presbyterian Church (EPC), a nondescript building a block from the Mississippi River.

Richard spent much of his childhood in East Memphis, insulated from the rest of the city. He attended private schools and a white church where Jesus preached good news to the privileged. He almost never thought about race or class.

“Most white people of privilege don’t have to think about it,” he said. “I never had to deal with it, I was so secluded.”

Terrance spent much of his childhood in Foote Homes, isolated from the rest of the city. He attended city schools and black churches where Jesus preached good news to the poor. He didn’t dwell on race or class.

“I never really knew that many white people till I went to high school,” he said. “I lived in my world; they lived in theirs.”

On Sunday, Rev. Richard Rieves and Terrance Young put aside their segregated pasts and joined 160 others at the new Downtown Presbyterian Church, a nondescript building a block from the Mississippi River and two from the Lorraine Motel. They sat together, prayed together, praised Jesus together, then ate together.

It’s the latest effort to get black and white Memphians to build a community of faith together. Rieves and Young believe God is broadcasting in full-color, high-definition digital, and too many of us still are using our old black-and-white sets.