Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

P ART I: D EVELOPING U RBAN C ONGREGATIONS • 39

Because so many people in the city live in multicultural neighborhoods, the multicultural church has a unique opportunity to bear witness to God’s plan for harmony and peace within that setting. Respect for Cultural Groups The urban church must respect people as individuals and as members of a cultural group. The ministry of the church must reflect this recognition of, and respect for, cultural heritage. 45 The traditional American view of cultural diversity is that differing cultural groups should “blend in” with the dominant culture. America is viewed as a “melting pot” where people groups lose their distinctives in a common “American” culture. However, some American cities are more like a stew. The people groups mix, but maintain their identity as separate peoples. 46 Koreans interact with Italians, yet normally both retain their own cultural identity. Churches too often ignore the importance of cultural heritage. “When we do perceive these groups we often do not appreciate and adequately value those things that define their peoplehood.” 47 Multicultural churches must recognize the differences between people groups and minister to each group in ways that balance the conflicting needs for separate identity and common identity in Christ. Alan Tippet advocates the Biblical picture of the church as different folds that are all part of one flock under one Shepherd (John 10:16). 48 Christ is the head of the flock but the flock comprises many different folds, which correspond to different ethnic groups in the church. This image communicates the unity amidst diversity which the multi cultural church allows us to maintain and enjoy. 45 Church planters should acquaint themselves with the culture and history of ethnic groups they seek to evangelize. They should also explore, in depth, the religious history and existing religious traditions within that group. Two recommended books on black experience are: C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, The Black Church in African American Experience (Durham, S.C.: Duke University Press, 1990) and Gayraud S. Wilmore, Black Religion and Black Radicalism (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1989). ________________________________________________________________________

46 See Clifton L. Holland, The Religious Dimension in Hispanic Los Angeles: A Protestant Case Study , (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1974), pp. 115-117

47 Charles L. Chaney, Church Planting at the End of the Twentieth Century (Wheaton: Tyndale Press, 1982) p. 134

48 Tippet, p. 367