multi-cultural church « daveingland.com

multi-cultural church

In the church, lack of diversity can be good

The title of this post needs some immediate clarification. It’s strictly in the context of segregated churches that stand on their own for a particular reason, such as ethnic churches (Russian, Chinese, Spanish) or fringe churches (Biker, Hip-Hop, Urban).

I wrote two previous posts here and here that had to do with the apathy of being a diverse local church and why I feel it is important to embrace and celebrate cultural diversity more so than ethnic or socio-econimic diversity.

Having served in pastoral ministry in an ethnic church, I find it very awkward to not be part of the group. Many people will immediately think that me being Asian means I must be comfortable around others Asians. However, I was a Japanese American in an almost exclusively Korean American church and it was not very comfortable for me. I had to learn an entirely new culture and how I could transcend that at times for the sake of communicating effectively. To come in from the street and connect during a Sunday gathering would be great. On the surface the only difference would be that the congregation was Korean in appearance, yet not much would seem different. However, if you kept coming back every week, you’d begin to notice the context of the sermon illustrations were very Korean, some of the words in a sermon were Korean because there really wasn’t a good English equivalent, and the people seemed to have an unspoken communication that outsiders wouldn’t quite get. Many days were spent with me feeling like such an outsider. Many days I felt like those I was serving in the church didn’t appreciate me being different.

As uncomfortable as much of my time in ministry with my Korean American brothers and sisters was, I can’t tell you how much I learned from them. How I could have been (and probably was at times) judgmental of them, before learning of certain things that are taught and seemingly inherent in their nature and personalities. A small thing that ended up being a big thing was the use of titles. Even as a youth pastor intern, I had to be referred to as pastor by the teens in my group. I hate titles and don’t like the formality of being referred to as “Pastor Dave.” However, if the teens just called me Dave it was a sign of disrespect. I was okay with it, but their parents were not. On top of that, I was not really an official pastor in the church since I was not ordained at the time. So, I was referred to differently by adults in the church. I was the jundosa and the senior pastor was the moksanim. It had everything to do with respect and hierarchy. A tough pill for me to swallow at first, but once I grew to understand the culture more, I knew it had to be that way.

In the same way, there is culture that surrounds a church of bikers. As much as we in the suburban local church like to say that we welcome everybody and encourage anyone to “come as they are,” I can assure you that in most white, upper-middle class suburban churches, if a few bikers came in on a Sunday it would freak people out. If they chose to come back several Sundays in a row, it would cause some people to leave for another church. Being surrounded in a church with people that understand the biker culture may be much more positive for them than being around a bunch of accountants and soccer moms sharing stories.

Not just cultural differences that cause a lack of diversity to be a positive thing in a church, but language itself is a barrier. If people immigrate from Spain and only speak Spanish, having a church where they can worship in Spanish would be a good thing, whereas English-only may make it impossible for them to gather in the name of the Lord. Having a church where people of Vietnamese, Russian, or Mexican descent has a place in the community. They serve a particular need that an English-only church cannot. Language, more than culture, can determine diversity sometimes--even if that language is from being a biker or Hip-Hop.

At some point I have to believe that there will be blending of cultures in America. As we make the shift very soon to caucasians being the minority in the US, things are going to change--like it or not. My hope is that rather than continue segregating churches that we will someday be able to celebrate the diversity of cultures in America and embrace them and learn from them. What makes me who I am is a conflict of being a Japanese American with certain traits inherently Japanese, yet feeling fully American. I hope you’ll want to learn more about me as a person so you can understand me and others like me better. I want to learn more about you so that I can relate and celebrate those things that are unique to you and your culture that I may not know or experience had I not come to know you. That makes the world a better place and converges our cultures into something far more beautiful than if we just kept it to ourselves. Don’t just show me your skin color, but take me on a journey with you and let me hear your story and get to know you. We’ll both be better people as a result of our time together.

church / diversity / multi-cultural / multi-cultural church — No Comments
20
Sep 11

In the church, diversity is mostly a misnomer

[This is a continuation of a previous post titled "In the church, ethnic diversity is meaningless," which you can read here.]

Continuing with my perspective on church diversity, let me start off with the three positions the local church takes on diversity (or lack of):

The church should be racially diverse because heaven is diverse.
The church should be relevant to one’s own culture where people can explore the context of their culture relative to the context of Jesus’ culture.
We want to be a church to all people, where everyone feels welcome.

These days it’s hard to escape diversity. We find people of different races and economic levels in the: workplace, school yard, and suburban neighborhood. Yet, in the local church, diversity is tough to come by. Should our local church reflect of the demographics of our neighboring community? I think it should. That goes along with points 1 & 3 above. So, for the purposes of this post, I am going to save point 2 for a third post and focus on points 1 & 3.

We are led to believe, as Christians, that heaven is a place where we will find people from all nations. As we walk out our driveways and look down the street we will probably see people of various ethnicities and varying income levels. So, if we are called to see heaven here on earth the local church should be diverse in its makeup. If we are to be a diverse church in our community, then we have to strive to make all people welcome. Makes sense, right?

I argue that diversity, for the sake of being a colorful congregation is just a facade. It’s something put in place to make congregants feel like they are being cosmopolitan and for ministry leaders to put a feather in their cap. I won’t say that it is all done in the name of vanity, but if you really break down the effect of diversity on the church, what do we accomplish by encouraging it? If everyone in your Sunday church service closed their eyes, would the effect of diversity really have any meaning?

You see, I am not a fan of diversity. What I am is an advocate for infusing culture into the local church. I believe that when we are in a church gathering and we were to close our eyes, that we could feel culture--and its influence on our lives--regardless of the skin color or job title of those around us. To me, beauty is not skin deep. In fact, I contend that our true beauty can only be realized when we get to know what lies under ones skin.

Not only is understanding other people’s culture relevant when it comes to ministering to them, but I say that it is more important for us to take the opportunity to learn their culture for the sake of making us better people. Offering different styles of music or having colorful faces in leadership in the church has no bearing on who the church it is. It may influence some to come so they don’t feel like standouts, but it doesn’t have much impact on us as a gospel community.

If we use the epistles as a reference, we can easily see that each church Paul wrote letters to was praised or admonished differently. They each battled different idols and ideals and were written to differently as a result. We don’t just align ourselves with one of the churches in the New Testament and then say that we will only learn what Paul taught from that particular Epistle. We take each Epistle into account and learn the context of each church and therefore understand why Paul wrote to each individually. We should do the same thing when it comes people of other cultures. Only when we get to know people deeper than what we see on the surface, can we truly be connected and stand alongside them. Only when I see you reach out to me to learn about my culture, will I truly believe that you care about me, rather than desire to see my Japanese face added to the mix of your congregation to confirm that you have your good deed. It is culture, not diversity, that will cause us to grow and become more beautiful as people.

church / church relevance / culture / diversity / multi-cultural / multi-cultural church — 4 Comments
15
Sep 11

In the church, ethnic diversity is meaningless

I’ve made many, many attempts to engage people in a continuing dialog about racial diversity and cultural diversity within the local church. There seems to be three camps within church circles these days:

The church should be racially diverse because heaven is diverse.
The church should be relevant to one’s own culture where people can explore the context of their culture relative to the context of Jesus’ culture.
We want to be a church to all people, where everyone feels welcome.

The problem with scenario number 1 is that diversity for the sake of coloring a room to give it the appearance of heaven, isn’t really heaven. Think about it. When you walk into a church gathering and see a lot of races represented, is it truly any different than if you walk into a room with only people that look like you? Is the music any different? Is the perspective of the message any different? What do you take away from a room filled with people of different races vs a room filled with only your own? Maybe pride that you’ve done a good thing? Aside from that, you have gained--nor learned--nothing.

Scenario number 2 is most often used in the context of an ethnic church such as: Spanish, Chinese, Russian, etc. However, it does apply to the White American church as well. Growing up in Mexico, China, or Russia comes with a different set of cultures than growing up in America. Certain practices/customs/viewpoints/taboos are going to be different than here in the United States. As people migrate to our nation, should we force our culture on them from day one? Do we make them feel unwelcome in the land known as the melting pot of people? Not only do these issues conflict with culture, but they also conflict with faith. One’s faith as practiced in Korea is probably not going to look like ones faith as practiced in Tennessee. Gathering in this manner can lead to exclusion, which leads to inclusion. That’s he problem with this scenario.

Number 3 is like the Disneyland of churches. Most conversations I’ve had with pastors and church planters describes their ideal view of this scenario. A church of diversity, both in race and social/economic class. A church where the alcoholic can worship next to the millionaire and everyone can experience love and grace. I know churches like this do exist in some communities, but what can one learn from such an experience? Just because you enter a room with people that do not look like you, that can afford more or less than you, that speak different languages than you, what difference does it really make?

We’ll never escape any of these three scenarios. Each has some merit and will have those people drawn to gather within those contexts. As I continue this topic in my next blog post, I will argue that what we want to gain from each of these can only truly be found when we get past race and learn to embrace culture. It’s what the first century church did, and I believe it’s what the twenty-first century church must do.

church planting / missional / multi-cultural church — No Comments
28
Jul 10

We replicate what we celebrate

I’ve been staying away from a lot of reading material regarding the church and leadership this year. It all began sounding the same and it was rehashing things I’ve already learned in previous books. However, an excerpt from Ed Stetzer‘s newest book Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers has gotten me excited.

In regards to multiplication of the missional church, here are some snippets from the post over at Foursquare News:

“People will need to consider church planting as one of their ministry’s core values. Church planting cannot be an afterthought, someone else’s ministry or a department. Churches will live, eat and breathe it. The widespread expectation that people will be sent out must become normal rather than exceptional.”

“Churches will always have a scorecard…With our emphasis on a multiplication movement, a new scorecard will lend itself toward opening relationships and dialogue between church leaders. Let’s cross the proverbial aisles to help those in varying denominations, networks and methodologies celebrate how God is multiplying churches. Then our members will do the same.”

“We replicate what we celebrate”

“Multiplying churches are going to do a better job of disciple making. This is due to their determination to emphasize the transformation occurring in small communities and to simpler church structures that give more time to personal formation.”

“Future churches will be less tied to the construction of buildings…Multiplication movements are built on the principle of easily reproducible models, and facilities must follow suit.”

“…it is time to for us to assume a position of learning from the global Christian community. We can learn much, for example, from the worldwide church planting movements.”

“Here in the United States, the majority of church growth continues to come from immigrant and non-Anglo congregations. They may take a leadership role in this country’s church multiplication movement, because their congregations may be willing to multiply sooner and faster than others.”

“Saints persevere, but their institutions and facilities are temporary. As new congregations are formed in the multiplying movements, we will view church facilities as kingdom assets. Church buildings are like an inheritance to pass along rather than a living trust to keep.”

Finally, I’ll end with a quote from Stetzer’s book credited to Bill Easum: “Historically all movements have begun because of the charismatic efforts of one lone individual who touched a nerve among a host of people. Who will step up to be that person?”

See all the quotes in context from Foursquare news here: http://www.foursquare.org/articles/1382,1.html

3rd culture / church / culture / multi-cultural church — 2 Comments
7
Jan 10

3rd Culture Thursday: Why bother?

diversity The real question is why wouldn’t you? The church tends to follow patterns that have clearly led to growth and decline over the past 2,000 years. Trends change, people change, cultural influences dictate change…eventually the church changes as well. Unfortunately for the church, we tend to be reactive rather than proactive. It leaves us playing catch up and going through a lot of pain in the interim.

With all sociologists in agreement, the United States will have no majority ethnic culture/race by the year 2050. However, here in California, the expectation is that Hispanics will become the majority population by 2020…that’s just 10 years from now! We can look amongst ourselves and see the predominant culture in our churches and believe we are poised to be healthy, large and growing forever, or we can step back and realize that at least in California, by 2020 we won’t be the majority culture in our cities.

In addition to the rising population of Hispanics, did you know that 40% of all Asians in the United States live in California? For those of you not in California, it still means that 60% of all Asians in America live in other states, so they have or will have some impact on the cultural makeup of your city.

Here in Sacramento, one of the big influences I have been seeing is that of Russian culture coming into the city. Recently this group of caucasian people have really begun shaping a lot of the culture here. There are many large Russian congregations and we even have Russian food restaurants. To go with the change, I’ve noticed that at least 1/3 of the items stocked at the local Asian grocery store are now Russian. While these people may blend in at the local church because they are white, culturally they are not your average Sacramentan. They have a different cultural heritage and are bringing its influence into our city unlike anything I’ve experienced in the past 39 years I’ve lived here.

You see, with everyone around you coming from a different cultural background, it’s easy to go about being the church of the majority while you’re the majority. When the day comes that you are not the majority, what do you do? When the mantra of being racially diverse in your church never materializes, yet you see new churches all around you that are not just diverse racially, but diverse culturally, do you move to join them or hang onto to your dying ways as the new minority?

To repeat Dave Gibbon’s definition of third culture (which i use solely for the standpoint of the local church): “Third culture is the mindset and will to love, learn and serve in any culture even in the midst of pain and discomfort.” there is pain and discomfort that comes with being a third culture church. You have to set aside some things you like for the sake of experiencing other cultures. Without pain and discomfort, rarely is growth possible. We all chant about how Christ has transformed us and that we love everyone because he first loved us. However, when we are an inclusive group of people trying to invite others that looks like us to our party, yet we play only the music we like, only serve the food and beverages we enjoy, talk about the suburbia which we worked hard to obtain, how can we expect others to connect with what we are selling? Yes, when we talk about reaching other people yet do not change to make room for them, we are selling them a bill of goods that isn’t very tasty. We are the salt that has lost its saltiness.

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