Baton Rouge-based Heritage Choir is turning 50 and that calls for a celebration. Heritage, a nonprofit professional choral ensemble, will present its 35th annual Festival of Negro Spirituals at 3 p.m.

There’s a well-known saying that the most segregated hour in the U.S. is 11 a.m. on Sunday. That aphorism reflects the longstanding reality that 86% of churches lacked meaningful racial diversity as ...