SPECIAL REPORT: One in Christ

The cataclysm of recent hurricanes opened the doors of Southern Baptist churches to thousands of evacuees who might otherwise have escaped their attention. In offering food, clothing, transportation or jobs, church members interacted with people in desperate need of help. In doing so, racial and ethnic barriers that might have existed before were overcome by simple compassion.

“One of great things about disasters like this is that it allows Southern Baptists to do what they’re the very best at–serving and caring for others,” stated Joe Hernandez, mentoring team director for the Church Planting Group of the North American Mission Board. “Our lay people demonstrated day in and day out a capacity to love and care for folks. When the world looks at us, our behavior matches what our mouths say about saving grace.”

Pastors of every size of church can relate to the way megachurch pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist in Plano described the effect of ministry to hundreds of hurricane victims. Speaking to a recent Pastors’ Conference in Amarillo, Graham said, “Guess what’s happening? Those folks who have seen the love of our church are pouring in and our church is looking a lot more like heaven than it used to in terms of the way we look and respond.”

Shortly after assessing the devastation caused by flooding at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, President Chuck Kelley told the TEXAN, “People are hurting and we’re looking past skin color, socio-economic class to the needs of people. You can’t do that in the church without a pastor first teaching his people from the Bible that this is a biblical model of what a church is. The mission God has given us includes sharing of the gospel while also doing ministry. It has to be taught from a pulpit,” he insisted.
With so many Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches describing the joy their members have found through ministry in the wake of such a disaster, questions are being asked about how the experience could lead churches to be more ethnically diverse. Recent studies reveal the long-standing belief that homogenous congregations grow fastest is no longer true.

Christianity Today reporter Amy Green wrote last year, “Southern Baptists are reaching out to all racial and ethnic groups like never before. They say minorities are drawn to the SBC’s conservative Christian traditions and strong family values. At the same time, church leaders recognize that as the nation grows more diverse, they are obligated to do the same.”

In his book “One Body, One Spirit,” sociology professor George Yancey of the University of North Texas pays particular atntion to multiracial diversity though much of his analysis applies to recognition of ethnic and cultural differences. He hesitates to use multiculturalism, finding it a less accurate term that is often used to enunciate dimensions such as gender, age, sexual preference and regional differences.
Yancey defines a multiracial church as one in which no one racial group makes up more than 80 percent of the attendees of at least one of the major worship services. According to a 1999 study of congregations across America, only 8 percent of all American churches are multiracial by this standard. Through analysis of a 1999-2001 Lilly-endowed research project on “Multiracial Congregations and Their People,”

Yancey identified seven principles of successful multiracial churches: inclusive worship, diverse leadership, an overarching goal, intentionality, personal skills, location and adaptability.

Though the author deals with racial diversity, he noted that multiethnicity has a sounder scriptural basis since different ethnic, but not racial, groups are discussed in the Bible. “Multiethnic congregations of that time likely engendered the same types of difficulties as multiracial congregations face today,” he wrote. He believes racial differences carry more social significance than ethnic differences in today’s society.

“While ethnicity can be a barrier to understanding between diverse groups, especially if we are dealing with first-generation immigrants, usually racial distinctions create the most problems in our society.”
Southern Baptists draw praise from writers like Green who noted that improved ethnic relations is a clear emphasis of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. She also quoted North American Mission Board President Robert E. Reccord as stating, “If you’re going to impact your nation, you’ve got to be multicultural.”

One benefit of the restructuring that led to NAMB’s formation in 1996 was greater attention to reaching minorities. Kelley lauded NAMB for recognizing that ministry and evangelism go together, moving away from an old model of separating evangelism as proclamation from ministry and missions. Missions was once viewed as some type of social gospel whereby liberalism often crept in; Kelley said the integrity of the Bible was at stake and Southern Baptists became nervous.

“I think what God is doing in several different ways is to begin to get that connection between ministry and evangelism back together again. That’s a very healthy thing and if we can take that kind of thinking and shift it all the way down to the local church, it will take some of those attitudes and hostility towards those of different socio-economic levels away and deal with that.”

Kelley doesn’t see a need to change an entire philosophy toward ministry in order to reach the diverse people in a community surrounding a local church. “Just take some small bites. Be involved in disaster relief. There’s this enormous release of energy and a genuine freshness of vision, not by changing or compromising our evangelistic witness.”

He appealed to churches to “recover the conviction that lost people go to hell, saved people go to heaven and Jesus is the only way to salvation.” With that priority, churches will minister to the needs of people and “find their potential audience is a lot larger than people like me.”

The audience that Texas churches are striving to reach is undergoing rapid change, according to census reporting. Data gathered from census reporting for the County Information Project of Texas Association of Counties shows 23 percent of growth between 1990 and 2000 resulted from international migration, 19 percent from domestic migration and 58 percent from natural increase. Over a fourth of the international immigrants are located in Harris County (Houston) while 15.5 percent live in Dallas County.

Examination of the data reveals increased urbanization and ethnic diversity. In 18 counties over 80 percent of residents are of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. The portion of Hispanic residents grew from 25.5 to 31 percent from 1990 to 2000 while whites declined from 60.7 to 54.6 percent and blacks declined slightly from 11.7 to 11.4 percent. The Texas State Data Center projected that by the year 2030, 46.2 percent of the population will be Hispanic, 36.4 percent white and 9.5 percent black.

The reality of demographic change has forced churches in America to make important decisions about whether they will choose to reach out to the people in their community, said Ken Fentress, dean of intercultural programs and assistant professor of Old Testament at Southern Seminary. In the spring 2005 issue of Southern Seminary Magazine he and other professors and pastors serving churches of various ethnicities offered ideas for reaching diverse communities.

Yet that challenge is as old as the first-century church, Fentress concluded, describing Antioch as a biblical model for Christian racial diversity.

“Churches should seek to make new disciples of the people whom God has placed within their reach, even if they are of a different racial background,” he stated in a sermon published in the spring periodical. Otherwise, churches become isolated enclaves unto themselves, he warned, as they ignore the biblical mandate to spread the gospel to all people.

“The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus did not come for a weekend mission trip,” added Charles Lyons, pastor of Armitage Baptist Church in Chicago where the congregation represents 40 nationalities.  Just as Christ did not commute to his place of ministry, Lyons said, “When the pastor lives some distance away and the neighbors see strangers drive in to the church every Sunday morning, the church is doing negative advertising routinely.  In some settings, geography and proximity become very important.”

Lyons added that a church that meets real needs will build real relationships and will, in time, see real life transformation, and those transformed people will become part of that body.”

For Acts 11:19-26, Fentress found Barnabas and Saul to be examples for those ministering today. “The men of Cyprus and Cyrene along with Barnabas and Saul were willing to overcome all barriers n order to spread the gospel.  They intentionally made disciples of Gentiles and Jews.  They crossed racial boundaries in order to reach people whom the Jews considered off limits.  They correctly understood the nature of the grace of God as extending to all people, not only to Jews.

The stakes are high, he said. “Nothing less than the integrity of the gospel and the credibility of the church are at stake in this issue.”  Non-Christians take notice when they see Christians reaching out and reconciling with one another on the basis of the gospel of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, he said.

For many churches in Texas the model for reaching other races and ethnicities has involved staring separate missions.

“The Home Mission Board [which preceded NAMB] and state conventions were strong on the philosophy that came out of church growth leader Donald McGavren’s school of thought. It was the idea of the homogenous unit—that birds of a feather flock together,” Hernandez explained, noting the dependence on sociological arguments instead of what he regards as a more theological premise that focuses on reaching people—no matter what race or ethnicity.

“Church growth experts argue that to spend energy putting together a church of many different racial groups detracts from the church’s main duty—to win as many souls as possible,” explained Yancey in noting objections to pursuing racial diversity. Others citing cultural pluralism fear the dominant group will overwhelm the integrity of minority cultures when integration becomes a goal, he added.

“Advocates [of homogeneity] would say if it enables us to reach more people with the gospel, allowing them to experience salvation within their culture, then it’s right thing to do,” Hernandez explained. “As Southern Baptists we did it and did it well.  I don’t know of any other denomination as effective in focusing on individual cultural groups,” he said, describing what are primarily ethnic and affinity groups as diverse as cowboy churches.

Twenty-five years ago Hernandez developed the HMB’s Ethnic Leadership Development program, an integral part of NAMB’s church planting and church growth strategy. As assistant vice president for Church Extension he developed what is now called Church Planting Process and continues to manage these systems.

“We still have a strong record of starting churches among affinity and people groups—groups of sameness—and it works,” Hernandez admits. Nonetheless, NAMB encourages churches to pursue those in their immediate neighborhood who may differ in race or ethnicity.

“If we follow the logic of the church growth specialist, then we also need churches of only Democrats or Republicans, rich or poor, suburbanites or city dwellers, sports enthusiasts or fine arts lovers, computer nerds or nature lovers, fans of Westerns or science fiction,” Yancey added.

He challenged such thinking, stating, “If creating a comfortable environment is what is important to church growth, then multiracial churches are better suited for twenty-first century Americans that monoracial churches.” Furthermore, he said, new evidence finds multiracial churches are more likely to grow, with 66.1 percent of those in his study reporting growth compared to 57.1 percent of monoracial churches.

“So for the first time it can clearly be said that there is no evidence that monoracial churches grown faster than multiracial churches,” Yancey declared. Reaching multiracial communities, encouraging racial reconciliation and demonstrating racial unity as a Christian witness are among the advantages Yancey cited in multiracial churches.  He also argued that multiracial churches reflect a level of acceptance to all people groups, showing the supreme position that loyalty to Christ had among the early Christians.

“Language churches” aimed at offering the gospel in a group’s heart language have also proven to be effective. In his doctor of ministry project on evangelizing among Chinese, former Texas Douglas Falknor found it is difficult to assimilate students who are attached to their homeland culture and feel more comfortable remaining with other Chinese.

Sociologist Yancey’s book makes a similar claim: “First-generation immigrants are unlikely to attend integrated churches because they have a strong need to maintain the culture of their native countries.  Some evidence indicates that second-generation Asian-American immigrants prefer English-speaking services but still desire churches made up of their own race,” he added.

Falknor’s church allowed a separate Chinese congregation to use its facilities, successfully expanding its witness to the international community in the college town. “We should be active at working with the Chinese seeker, developing positive relationships, presenting the gospel, and being patient as the Holy Spirit woos them to Christ,” Falknor said.  “We should also be actively developing an autonomous core of Chinese—whether it is a Bible study class within a church or by forming their own church.”

Jonathan Kim, associate dean of the College at Southwestern added that Anglo churches with Asians living in the area where they minister might consider employing an Asian minister who can contribute to the life of the church, and organize and lead Asian groups in worship and fellowship.

Even if such a minister is part-time, Kim said, “Asians will respond more readily when there is someone they can relate to. A blanket invitation to join an Anglo church and fellowship with Anglos might not touch the hearts of Asians.”

Kim has found that younger Asians feel more comfortable with other races in comparison to older ones. “The language barrier has a lot to do with the level of comfort, but the cultural difference in general causes reluctance in Asians.”

San Francisco pastor David Gill, a Korean-American, proposed exchanging pulpits, having joint fellowships and combined mission trips, when interviewed by the Southern Seminary magazine. At Concord Korean Baptist Church in San Francisco the sermon is offered in other languages through manuscript and translation.  “I preach in Korean at our church, but we offer a listening device with which people can hear in their language—in this case English.  This offers not only an audio tool, but it also expresses the preacher’s heart as he tries to reach and embrace other kinds of people,” he said.

Hernandez agrees that younger generations will change the composition of churches as they view the world with less attention to color and culture. “When I talk to some of our radical young Christians and let them express what they see church as, they don’t describe it in terms of color other that inclusiveness.

“If you look toward the higher plane of the church being the body of Christ, ministering within its community or geographical area, and if that community is a blended one, should that church make every effort to reflect it?” Hernandez asked. “Yes, of course,” he answered.  “You can’t say a church has no responsibility where God ha placed them.

Instead of finding ways to better reach its neighborhood, churches are often tempted to move out beyond the problems of a transitional community. “What does the typical church do?” asks Harvey Kneisel in his book “New Life for Declining Churches.”  “When the mission field moves in, the church moves out.”  He offers multiple strategies for turning declining churches around in neighborhoods where the race, ethnicity and culture changed dramatically since the church was founded.

Those churches that remain in the same neighborhood without considering how they are viewed by a new demographic ask other questions: What do we need to do to secure what we have?  How do we see that our facilities are kept up?  How long can we maintain this?  Can we still keep good pastoral leaders and afford them?  It soon becomes more that a maintenance mode as unchanging and soon declining congregations question their own survival.

In many small Texas towns, churches have little opportunity for diversity. The majority of Texas counties remain predominantly white with a growing diversity concentrated in metropolitan areas.  Yancey cautions church leaders:  Don’t be too quick to give up on finding members of different ethnicities to whom you can minister.  “There are other cultural dimensions (class, ethnicity, political orientation) in which such a church might introduce diversity into its congregation.”

“While diversity within local congregations is pleasing to God, churches should not seek to diversify their memberships by forcing people of other cultures to adapt to the established church culture,” said Danny Hatfield, vice president for Southern Seminary’s student services and former IMB missionary to Panama. “Instead, believers must move out of their comfort zones and worship in ways that are familiar and inviting to people of different cultural backgrounds,” he explained in Southern’s magazine.

“What’s useful is when believers become mobile and can leave their host culture and can be comfortable in somebody else’s culture and share the worship,” Hatfield said. “I think that’s where the greatest joy occurs.  It’s not when I, as a recipient, welcome someone from another culture into my group, but rather when I go to the other culture and participate with them united in Christ.”

Maryland pastor Robert Anderson, a member of the SBC Executive Committee, finds it ironic that people want to reach people of different ethnic groups but often don’t fully accept them.

“If you are in a community or neighborhood that is thoroughly mixed, I think it almost becomes incumbent upon you that you help create a vision within your church that is an ‘all peoples’ vision. Then, you try to do some of the things that you need to do:  bringing diversity to your staff, having diversity in your worship or your preaching or your music,” he suggested in the Southern Seminary Journal article.

SBCT church planting senior associate Terry Coy added that churches seeking a ministry to people from diverse ethnicities and cultures should ask what has to change in terms of service structure, decision-making, handling conflict and even the kind of food offered at shared meals. “How do you avoid having a dominant culture, which is almost always the case?”

Hatfield added that age and gender diversity are also important—racial and cultural diversity are not the only means of enhancing a congregation, he said.

An anthropological understanding of other cultures is important to Hatfield, but clearly secondary. “The reason we want to understand them is so that they might understand the gospel.”

Whatever the cultural context, remaining faithful to the gospel message and biblical doctrine is essential. Anderson said that priority is made clear through expository preaching.  “When you preach expository sermons, the people understand that the Word of God is larger, bigger than any of our cultures.  That’s where we find the common ground.  That’s where expository preaching lifts us above our culture and says, ‘We are all one in Christ.’”