As an acorn grows into a mighty oak tree, there are signs of a growing movement of churches seeking to become multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. The Nineteenth General Synod of the United Church of Christ adopted the resolution “Statement of Christian Conviction of the Proposed Pronouncement Calling the United Church of Christ to be a Multiracial and Multicultural Church.” The North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church writes:
Multicultural Ministry is a vision of God’s diverse human family becoming a reality in The United Methodist Church. It is a vision of the church becoming a community of faith where all equally belong. It is a longing for a new spirituality; a new way of being, where all persons, regardless of race, ethnicity, or culture, can give and receive trust, forgiveness, love, support, empowerment, acceptance, and radical hospitality. It is more than simply making space for one another to exist, and it is more than tolerating differences [http://nccumc.org/multicultural/].
Yes, the acorns are sprouting and shooting forth their roots, but are churches and denominations willing to act to become more culturally diverse in their churches, or is this merely talk.
It remains disturbing to me that the visible church staff is nearly always the same race. Consider this scenario as you sit in church this Sunday. Four guests enter the worship center and take a seat near you - Robert White, Robert Black, Robert Latino, and Robert Asian. Your pastor preaches a dynamic sermon and the Spirit of God is moving throughout the congregation. The four guests seated near you all respond to the Gospel during the invitation. Which Robert has a Minister or Counselor of the same ethnicity to receive, discuss, and pray with him concerning his spiritual needs or the commitment he wants to make? Why has the church staff become the last stand for church separatist?
The lack of diversity among ministerial staff is one of the major hindrances to urban church growth. With more than two hundred language groups in the United States, the majority of which live in the major cities, it is crucial that urban churches be intentional about diversifying ministerial staff. Corporate and nonprofit boards seek a broad range of diversity, believing that it adds to their strength. Why then do so many churches believe that their church staff must all be of the same ethnicity?
As president of New Life Theological Seminary, I often ask our students if a builder can build a house using only wood. I remind the students that early American homes were called log cabins and were built entirely of wood. They had log walls and wood shingles, and were held together with notches and wooden pegs. They were neither attractive, efficient, nor comfortable. Today, we use a range of building materials to build homes - concrete, brick, stone, steal, wood, fiberglass, tin, glass, various cloth fibers, et cetera. We find that by using various building materials we have a much more comfortable and esthetically pleasing home. We enjoy having glass windows and fiberglass shingles. We find that homes are more decorative with stone, carpet, and paint. By incorporating the variety of building materials modern houses take on their owner’s personalities and become better places to live.
In the same way, you can establish an ensemble with all trumpets, but the sound will be very limited. However, if you add Violins, Violas, Cellos, Basses, Flutes, Piccolos, Oboes, English Horns, Clarinets Bass Clarinets, Bassoons, Contrabassoons, French Horns, Trumpets, Trombones, Bass Trombones, Tubas, Harps, Keyboard/Piano, and Timpani and other percussions instruments you have a effervescent orchestra. God wants a full orchestra of worshippers, and yet our churches continue to be an ensemble of trumpets.
This past week Pastor Steve Wang, Pastor of the Charlotte Chinese Baptist Church, visited with me in my office at New Life Theological Seminary. The church is starting an English speaking service. As he explained to me their reasoning, he reflected that God had shown them that they could not fulfill the Great Commission if they only ministered to the Chinese people of our city. The English speaking service is not just for English speaking Chinese; it is for all English-speaking people of Charlotte. I am so exciting and hope to help them in this venture. I do not know of another ethnic congregation in Charlotte with such a vision. This church is attempting to go where very few have gone before, and their pastor is asking if I will agree to preach on multiple occasions to help them reach non-Chinese English speaking residents in their area of the city. He has even asked if I will administer Communion; I am so amped!
This bi-lingual Chinese pastor could easily preach the English service, but he understands the need to have a minister who is not Chinese preach and visibly participate in service. I pray that older well-established single cultured churches can learn from the Charlotte Chinese Baptist Church!
The urban face of North America is changing as the peoples of the world rush to claim greater prosperity in the United States and Canada. For urban churches in North American to survive, they must diversify their staffs and reach people of multiple ethnicities and cultures; this is also true of urban churches of all countries around the globe, although the challenges of doing so may differ slightly. So how do you help move your church to diversify its ministerial staff? First, let me be very clear, you do not terminate ministerial staff to bring about diversification. This may take some time to accomplish, but remember that Church staff members leave for a number of reasons, and when one leaves, the church should be deliberate in seeking a person of a different race or culture than the majority of the membership. Second, the church should seek a staff member that is representative of the next largest demographic within the church community. Cities are alive and neighborhoods change and shift demographically. Churches must change with the demographics of their area or cease to be effective in their community; ineffectiveness usually leads to the death of the church within a quarter century. Third, the church should be prayerful in seeking all new staff persons. Race or culture should never be the main priority. If you need to hire a Latino, seek a Latino that will be the right fit. We are each more than our ethnicity and to be a good fit in ministry we must have a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ, a deep love of people, and the education and training that properly equips us to perform the required job. Fourth, when the church calls a new staff member, love and accept him and encourages others to accept him. You will witness God’s mighty hand at work within your congregation, as God builds a mighty orchestra and multiple cultures learn from each other concerning the Sovereign creativity of God. Fifth, praise God for the many new truths you learn through experiencing a greater diversity in your church as you worship God together.
