Racism absolutely exists in evangelical churches. I am sorry you were treated like that. These people don't just limit their using of people to race, if you are anyone who had any skill that is exploitable, they will find you, use you, and then pretend like they never knew you. I was in I.T.; a computer person. Whenever I came to church it wasn't” hello, how was your day, Jesus blesses you”, no, it was “..hey I got this computer at home, Can you come over after church for lunch and fix my PC?”

I would always do it because I was looking to fit in, and then as soon as I was done, it was “well thanks, we should hang out sometime, well you should be going.”

I was never offered money for my services it was expected, nor could I get people to return favors when I needed my car looked at or to borrow a truck to haul things to the dump. That's just how it was.

Now, when I joined the leadership team suddenly I had access to all of it. I was given a sheet of all the “resources” in the church and who I could contact for certain services. I was dismayed to still see my name as “Computer guy”. Even despite my new role in ministry I was “the computer guy, and because I wasn't born into the church I could never ascend to elder or pastor I would always be a lay leader one of the people who actually did the work, set up for services, visit the sick, and prayed with people. Eventually, though, my Role in the church bottomed out as the person who did the Admin assistant work in the office and managed the church's computer network.

To this day this church and churched like it are under the leadership of a new generation …the sons and daughters granted their positions by nepotism. And they carry on those traditions of racism, hatred of LGBTQ folks, and turning people into resources.