{"id":8246,"date":"2005-12-16T00:35:36","date_gmt":"2005-12-16T05:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=8246"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:29:10","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:29:10","slug":"4643","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2005\/12\/16\/4643\/","title":{"rendered":"Roundtable Offers Support to Multiethnic Pastors"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (December 16, 2005)\u00a0 – Pastors of multiethnic congregations say\u00a0 they are excited and encouraged by a recent roundtable that focused on\u00a0 their unique needs and challenges.<\/p>\n

“It was refueling,” says Anne Vining Pederson, pastor of First Covenant\u00a0 Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. “It was just what I needed. I was\u00a0 reminded that I am not alone in the work that I’ve been called to.”<\/div>\n
Thirty pastors and Evangelical Covenant Church leaders met in Portland,\u00a0 Oregon. The event was sponsored by the Department of Church Growth and\u00a0 Evangelism (CGE) and was hosted by Henry Greenidge, pastor of Irvington\u00a0 Covenant Church.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>“The event was designed to help pastors resource one another in\u00a0 identifying opportunities, strengths, strategies, and obstacles in\u00a0 multiethnic ministry settings,” says Gary Walter, CGE executive\u00a0 minister. Participants engaged in biblical and theological reflection,\u00a0 worship, problem-solving, fellowship and prayer. Cross-cultural\u00a0 accommodations also were arranged.<\/div>\n
Roughly 40 churches in the Covenant are multiethnic, says Walter. “To be\u00a0 classified as a multiethnic congregation, it must have more than a\u00a0 smattering of diversity. It must cross a 20 percent threshold,” he notes.<\/div>\n
“Multiethnic churches comprise less than two percent of all Christian\u00a0 churches,” says Ikki Soma, who pastors Connection Covenant Church in San\u00a0 Antonio, Texas. Churches at the event represented congregations of all\u00a0 sizes and ages, from the newly planted to some more than 100 years old.<\/div>\n
“I learned that multiethnic churches look different in different\u00a0 contexts of ministry,” says Soma. “There are no pat principles that work\u00a0 everywhere every time.”<\/div>\n
“Bringing various cultural perspectives together can create a richness\u00a0 not found in monocultural congregations,” says Walter. “It can also\u00a0 bring additional challenges.”<\/div>\n
“I don’t think they (multiethnic congregations) grow as quickly as\u00a0 culturally homogenous churches since they are not the normal experience\u00a0 for many people,” says Soma.\u00a0 “Also, multiethnic pastors deal with the\u00a0 cultural conflicts and cultural power struggles between ethnic groups.\u00a0 Each culture looks at the way they do church as the ‘right’ way.”<\/div>\n
Linnea Carnes, pastor of Immanuel Covenant Church in Chicago, says she\u00a0 was moved by the words of Donn Thomas of Messiah’s World Outreach in\u00a0 Atlanta, when he told the gathering that their challenge is to embody\u00a0 the reconciliation that Christ has accomplished through his work.<\/div>\n
“Some are more successful than others, but it takes hard work to break\u00a0 through some of the barriers that exist,” says Carnes. Fourteen\u00a0 languages are spoken among the 70 people at Immanuel, she observes.<\/div>\n
Walter drew attention to what he calls “the diversity of the diversity.”\u00a0 Aside from pastors who represented the majority of the people in their\u00a0 congregations, there also were pastors in attendance who did not reflect\u00a0 the majority in their respective congregations. “There were Caucasian\u00a0 majority congregations lead by African American pastors, African\u00a0 American majority churches lead by Caucasians, Hispanic\/Asian American\u00a0 congregations, and plurality congregations (no-single majority).<\/div>\n
Attendance fluctuates between 60 and 80 at Connection Covenant, which\u00a0 had its grand opening November 6. “Sometimes each of the ethnic groups\u00a0 fluctuates between 10 and 40 percent,” says Soma. “Our community is\u00a0 about 10 percent African American, 10 percent Asian American, 40 percent\u00a0 Hispanic, and 40 percent Anglo.”<\/div>\n
The staff mirrors the United Nations. “I am Japanese,” says Soma. “My\u00a0 wife, who oversees our children’s ministry, is African American. Our\u00a0 worship leader is Hispanic. Our treasurer is half Hispanic and half\u00a0 British. Our guest relations director is African American and her\u00a0 spouse, our business manager, is Hispanic. Our worship coordinator is\u00a0 Anglo and his wife, who runs our sound board, is half Hispanic and half\u00a0 Italian.”<\/div>\n
First Covenant was formed in 1874 with an attendance of 250 and is\u00a0 working now to embrace the change in its neighborhood, says Pederson.\u00a0 “We are intercultural, intergenerational and economically diverse.”<\/div>\n
Pederson notes that the 2000 U.S. Census showed that during the prior\u00a0 decade, church communities went from 89 percent Anglo to 49 percent\u00a0 Anglo. Most of her congregation’s newcomers have been Hmong, she says,\u00a0 adding that each of the three generations of Hmong that attend the\u00a0 church have different interests and needs.<\/div>\n
First Covenant had its first “urban musical,” says Pederson, who was\u00a0 excited at how well it turned out despite being “out of everyone’s\u00a0 comfort zone.” The show featured a 14-year-old African American Mary and\u00a0 a 16-year-old Caucasian Joseph.<\/div>\n
Pastors say they intend to stay connected and pray for one another.\u00a0 “Building relationships between pastors of multiethnic churches is\u00a0 helpful to all of us since we can benefit from one another’s experiences\u00a0 – both successes and failures,” says Carnes.<\/div>\n
(Editor’s note: The accompanying photograph, taken during the\u00a0 roundtable, shows, from left, Peter Hong, Kevin Butcher, Joel Oyoumick,\u00a0 Gary Walter, and Promise Lee.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
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Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CHICAGO, IL (December 16, 2005)\u00a0 – Pastors of multiethnic congregations say\u00a0 they are excited and encouraged by a recent roundtable that focused on\u00a0 their unique needs and challenges. 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