January 12, 2002, Don Ng
On Monday, the new ABCUSA general secretary, Roy Medley will begin his ministry. A promise he made is to help create a “color-affirming community where we can celebrate the kaleidoscope of God’s creation and relish the rich hues of humanity.” (The Christian Century, Dec. 12, 2001)
1. A Case Study (Law)
A regional church group sponsored a spirituality retreat where the planners wanted to have participants representative of the various groups making up the region. As a result of their effort, one-third were people of color and the other two-thirds were white or European Americans.
At the sessions, the white members did all of the talking and the people of color rarely participated verbally. The silence was loaded with anxiety. The planners tried every trick in group processing to get the people of color to participate verbally. After a while, they started to stop coming to the sessions. Two of them stayed in their rooms because they didn’t feel well. One of them said that she felt so useless in the group that she might as well not come back.
*Why did the people of color withdraw from participation?
*What would you have done differently?
2. Bible Study—Isaiah 11:6-9 (NRSV)
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like an ox,
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
3. Power Distance Cultures (Hofstede from Law)
Powerful Upper
Elite Class
Large Middle
Class
Majority Lower
Limited Economic
Access to Class
Education
High Power Distance Culture Low Power Distance Culture
The triangle and rectangle represent the total population of a society. The shaded areas represent the proportion of people who believe they have power and the clear areas represent the proportion of people who do not believe they have power. The major difference between the two cultures is that in the Low Power Distance culture there are more people who believe they have power. They are the expanded middle class. Power Distance is not only a cultural variable, but it is also a variable based on economic classes and education.
4. Bible Study—Acts 2:1-12(NRSV)
When the day of the Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappodocia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power. All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
The powerless received the “miracle of tongues” and the powerful received the “miracle of ears.”
5. First Chinese Baptist Church, San Francisco Mission/Vision Statement
The First Chinese Baptist Church, San Francisco is a multi-generational bilingual bicultural church. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are called to be a people so transformed by God’s gracious love in Jesus Christ that we joyfully commit ourselves
in worship, witness, discipleship, and ministry.
6. Four Catalysts for Embracing Differences (Foster)
1. Quest for Survival
2. Gospel Commitment
3. Hospitality
4. Theological Vision
Resistance to Multiculturalism
1. Denominational programs and strategies
2. Education and reward system for lay and clergy leaders
3. Preferences to win/lose strategies
4. Fear of losing cultural identity and heritage
7. Closing Prayer & Thoughts
Helpful Resources on Multiculturalism
Eric H.F. Law, The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb, A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural
Community, St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 1993.
Charles R. Foster, Embracing Diversity, Leadership in Multicultural Congregations, Washington, DC:
Alban Institute, 1997.
Charles R. Foster & Theodore Brelsford, We Are the Church Together, Cultural Diversity in Congregational
Life, Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1996.
Kathryn Choy-Wong, Building Bridges, A Handbook for Cross-cultural Ministry, Valley Forge, PA:
Judson Press, 1998.
Anne Leo Ellis, First We Must Listen, Living in a Multicultural Society, New York: Friendship Press, 1996.
Ella Kikuno Campbell, et al., Hand in Hand, Helping Children Celebrate Diversity, Grand Rapids, MI: CRC
Publications & New York: Reformed Church Press, 1997.
Barbara Wilkerson, ed., Multicultural Religious Education, Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press, 1997.
David Ng, ed., People on the Way, Asian North Americans Discovering Christ, Culture, and Community,
Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1996.