One pastor is black, an Oakland native with a congregation of African American families in East Oakland. The other pastor is white, an Oakland transplant with a congregation of predominantly white young singles new to the East Bay city.

The two men met a couple of years ago at a community meeting of clergy and became fast friends, occasionally attending each other’s church functions. They saw more similarities than differences.

“One day we got the bright idea and asked what would it look like for us to be one church,” said Bernard Emerson, 48, pastor of the Way church in East Oakland, which he founded nearly four years ago and has about 30 parishioners.

These were “the most unlikely group of people you could find in the same room,” said Kyle Brooks, 31, of the Oakland Communion church in downtown Oakland, which he founded nearly three years ago and which also has about 30 parishioners.

But they dreamed of merging two disparate communities. It was an unlikely dream.

Martin Luther King Jr. said in his final sermon that “11 o’clock on Sunday morning ... (is) the most segregated hour of America.”

Not much has changed in the half century since, with 80 percent of American churchgoers still attending services where 80 percent of the congregants are from one racial or ethnic group, according to a 2014 Duke University Study.

So Emerson and Brooks started slowly, their congregations worshiping together once every two months and on holidays. They talked about the fears and hopes that come with combining a black church rooted in Baptist traditions with a white one that was grounded in the Protestant Reformation.

Then in August, racial violence erupted in Charlottesville, Va., after a white nationalist rally in the college town. One person was killed when a man with ties to white supremacy groups drove a car through a crowd. Dozens were injured.

“When that happened in Charlottesville, I called Kyle and said we’ve got to ramp this up, we’ve got to do something sustainable so the world could know it’s possible,” Emerson said. “That was our protest to Charlottesville.”

On Sunday, Emerson, the lead pastor, will preach the first sermon at the Tapestry Church, the two congregations officially merging into one in a school auditorium in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood.

He has titled the sermon, “What if?”

“It’s not just about people being in the same room on Sunday,” Brooks said. “But it’s about people being able to embrace the reality about the church, which is, as Jesus put it, that we are one.”

Churches, mosques and temples have long been among the most segregated institutions in society, and perhaps change must start there, Emerson said.

“I’ve always believed and said that the only way the world would know we could live in harmony is to model it in God’s church,” he added. “We’re called to it.”

Also: “If it don’t work here, it ain’t gonna work.”

The goal isn’t just for people to gather on Sundays, but for the members to merge their disparate lives together, to embrace as family, the pastors said.

“If we ended up with a great photo but no actual commitment to each other’s causes, to each other’s actual lives, then we have failed,” Brooks added.

Mary King, who has been with Emerson since he started the Way church about four years ago, called the merger “a beautiful thing.”

“I always wanted to be a part of something bigger than just the norm of the church,” she said. “I’ll be there Sunday.”

The creation of such a church is unique, said Jen McKillips, executive director of Project Peace East Bay, which established a network of faith communities to work with nonprofits in community building and service.

“Their mission is based not only on the gospel, but also on dismantling racism via relationships and systems,” McKillips said. “At Tapestry, they are viewing their congregation as family, and working hard to build a church culture to reinforce that effort.”

On Sunday, the first service will include the sermon, singing, praying and a big celebration afterward, with an all-you-can-eat taco bar, the pastors said.

“If you’re welcome with Jesus, you’re welcome with us,” Brooks said, “and if you’re a human being, I’m pretty sure you’re welcome with Jesus.”

On Sunday, the two pastors and the combined congregation will be “living the dream,” Emerson said.

“I think it says something to that person that walks in the door and they see us, and they know it’s a possibility,” he added. “We’re people from different cultures, woven into the fabric of Oakland, to display the beauty of God’s story.”

The first service of Tapestry Church will be 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday at 2035 40th Ave., Oakland.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker