Published by the Queens Federation of Churches
U.S. Multiculturalism Is a "Done Deal"

January 20, 2010

Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, professor of church growth and evangelism at North Park Seminary in Chicago, Ill., says church leaders who currently wonder if the United States is becoming a multicultural nation need to know that it is already "a done deal."

In his presentation, Rah offered statistics to back up his assertions that the face of Christianity has changed and changed for good – in the U.S. and around world. His speech was sponsored by Christian Reformed Home Missions.

For instance, he said, almost 70 percent of the Christians in the world lived in Europe and the U.S. in 1900 and they were predominately white. By 2005, that number had dropped to 40 percent, and a large percentage of Christians were living in Africa, Asia and Latin America, said Rah.

Speaking on the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at Calvin College January Series in Grand Rapids, MI, Rah said it is crucial to realize that Christianity is no longer a faith of "white, middle-class people who live in the suburbs."

As result, there has been a collapse in membership among many mainstream denominations whose membership has been largely white.

At the same time, ethnic churches are booming in places like Boston, Mass., a city where he attended seminary "Ethnic minority churches are growing and a significant number of them are non-English speaking," he said.

On one street corner you are apt to see a large mainstream church that is closed, while around the corner there may be a half-dozen multi-ethnic churches that are vibrant and growing, he said.

Rah credits King with helping to change the face of Christianity in the U.S. and elsewhere.

"The sacrifice of King was for all Americans," said Rah. "I think Dr. King was the most influential Christian of the 20th Century. Out of his faith, his life and ministry" came a major, cultural shift and change, opening the way for blacks and other ethnic minorities to become more involved in the church. "He knew Jesus" and that is why people such as Rah have embraced Christianity and based their lives and ministries on making the church multicultural.

While less than eight percent of churches today are multicultural in the U.S., it is the church that can lead the way into a more ethnically diverse future. By realizing that the Gospel calls on a unity of all people under one God, "American churches are starting to become more diverse than society as a whole" in terms of inclusiveness, he said.

What is true of Christianity in the U.S. only reflects a much larger trend, said Rah. The typical Christian today is apt to be a peasant Nigerian woman, a Mexican farmer, or a Korean, such as himself, he said

"We are living in an age where the majority of Christians are non-white," said Rah, author of The Next Evangelicalism, a book that highlights how the North American church is growing more diverse in race, ethnicity and culture. In the book, he says he grieves the fact that many white evangelical leaders are not participating in, or even aware of, the extent of these demographic changes.

Rah estimates, from studies that he has seen, that 80 to 90 percent of the world's Christians will be non-white by 2050. That means, he says, that in 150 years, "we will have seen a complete turnover of the global demographic of global Christianity."

"The more ethnically diverse the denomination, the more likely it is to grow," he said. "We are right on the cusp of some major changes."

After Rah's speech, he met with several pastors and leaders of multicultural churches in the West Michigan area. They met in a roundtable discussion, sponsored by CRHM, at the CRC office in Grand Rapids.

Pastor Denise Poise and Pastor Alton Hardy, who is pastor at a satellite church of Madison Square CRC, gave brief presentations of some of the joys and challenges faced by them as leaders of churches that are growing more diverse. Later other pastors and representatives shared their joys, struggles and challenges.

Hardy opened the meeting with prayer and stated he believes Rah is sharing a prophetic message. He said, "We are embarking on something in the church that is much bigger than ourselves. In order to be truly diverse something needs to happen. We need to go deeper and we need Jesus' help to do it."

Pastor Denise Poise has been the pastor at Immanuel CRC in Kalamazoo for 10 years. Although the road has been difficult for her at times, she believes God has a plan for Immanuel to mirror his Kingdom. Immanuel CRC is growing. It is breaking down social and economical barriers.

Rah shared his excitement to hear what is happening. He himself was pastor of a local church for 17 years. He stated that creating a multiethnic church is not a science, but an art. There is no scientific formula in the making of a successful multiethnic church.

Pastor Hardy asked Rah how to deal with cultural norms that people have. Rah stated there are frustrations and assumptions in churches because people do not understand each others' culture and people need to be aware of other cultures.

Rah said that the church needs to invite a range of people into the conversation of what a church should be and how it should look and operate. He said to ask to receive input from many people of various backgrounds. Change meeting agendas to accommodate more time on prayer and less time on what color to paint the church, he said.

Pastor Sims of Step of Faith Church asked Rah to speak about discerning indigenous leadership in a particularly white congregation. Rah stated indigenous leaders need to be genuinely empowered to be able to lead the way God uniquely created each person to lead.

Pastors and representatives from the following churches were in attendance: Jerome Burton (Coit Community), Carl Kammeraad (Seymour Church), Crosswinds (Jeff Meyer), Dan Ackerman (Kelloggsville)k, Thea Leunk (Eastern Avenue), Stedford Sims (Step of Faith/Sherman Street), Denise Posie (Immanuel/Kalamazoo), Alton Hardy (satellite church/Madison Square), Rich Reinstra (Ionia Prison Church). Also on hand were Albert Hamstra and Victoria Gibbs.

Christian Reformed Church in North America

 

 


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Last Updated January 23, 2010