2 Mississippi churches transcend racial barriers after arson

Bishop Clarence Green, overseer of Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, left, and Pastor James Nichols of the First Baptist Church of Greenville laugh together inside the chapel that First Baptist offered as a temporary home for the members of Hopewell, Tuesday, Nov 22, 2016, in Greenville, Miss. Hopewell was burned three weeks ago and spray-painted with "Vote Trump." An investigation into the cause of the fire continues. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) (The Associated Press)

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Crime scene tape outlines the perimeter of the Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Miss., on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, after the church was burned and spray-painted with "Vote Trump," three weeks ago. The First Baptist Church of Greenville has offered congregants of the burned church a new place to worship. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) (The Associated Press)

Boarded windows align Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Miss., Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, after it was burned and vandalized three weeks ago. The First Baptist Church of Greenville has offered their church to the Hopewell congregation. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) (The Associated Press)

GREENVILLE, Miss. – Back in the 1960s, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. observed that Sunday morning is the most segregated time of the week in America, a fact that remains true in many communities today.

But three weeks after a church in the Mississippi Delta was mostly destroyed by arson and someone spray-painted "Vote Trump" outside, its African-American congregation has been welcomed into the church of its white neighbors.

The bishop of Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, Clarence Green, says the generosity of First Baptist Church of Greenville demonstrates that "unlimited love" transcends social barriers.

The Hopewell congregation is holding services in the First Baptist chapel, a space used for small weddings and funerals. It's just steps from the church's larger main sanctuary. Green wanted Hopewell to maintain its own sense of community as the arson investigation continues.