Multicultural Ministry : Finding Your Church's Unique Rhythm

by David A. Anderson

• ISBN13: 9780310251583
• ISBN10: 0310251583
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-04-01
• Publisher: Zondervan

Summary

David Anderson writes about multicultural leadership not from the perspective of an ivory tower intellectual, but as a hands-on practitioner who loves and believes in the body of Christ. . . . If you believe there is no solution to the race problem, I urge you to reconsider and to learn from someone who is on the frontlines of making multicultural ministry a reality in the church today. -Bill Hybels, founding and senior pastor, Willow Creek Community Church Multiculturalism isn't a trend, it's a reality. Evidence of this country's rich racial mix is all around us in our schools, our stores, our neighborhoods, our recreational facilities-everywhere except our churches. Heaven may include every culture, tongue, and tribe, but in the United States, Sunday morning remains one of the last bastions of ethnic separatism. It's time to stop merely talking about multicultural worship and start living it. In this groundbreaking book, David Anderson invites us all-African-American, Asian, Caucasian, and Latino-to learn how to dance the dance of multicultural ministry. We've all got different moves, but that's the beauty of diversity: the various gifts we bring, the wisdom of our heritages, the different creative ways we express the same Lord. Think it can't be done? Think again. As Anderson demonstrates, it is being done successfully by more and more churches. Wherever your church is now on the multicultural continuum, you can join the ranks of those moving toward a diverse and thriving ministry. Combining frontline insights with inspiring stories, Anderson takes you and your church into the strategy-level realities of what it takes to make multicultural ministry work in your setting. Do you hear the beat of the Spirit? God is calling your church to the dance of unity in diversity. Don't hold back! Grab this book, get out on the dance floor, and let Multicultural Ministry show you the steps. Includes a Racial Reconciliation survey and six-session Racial Reconciliation curriculum.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Bill Hybels	9	(4)
Introduction: Can You Hear the Symphony?	13	(4)
part 1 THE SOCIAL SWING
1. The Bookends	17	(10)
2. Get on the Dance Floor	27	(10)
3. Movin' or Groovin'?	37	(14)
part 2 THE RELATIONAL ROCK
4. Is Your Dance Floor Safe?	51	(14)
5. The Frustration Factor	65	(8)
6. The Racial Reconciliation Matrix	73	(16)
part 3 THE PRACTICAL GROOVE
7. Grooving with Small Groups	89	(8)
8. The Racial Reconciliation Continuum	97	(6)
9. Groove Strategists	103	(8)
10. Gracism	111	(12)
part 4 THE LORD OF THE DANCE
11. Broken Record	123	(14)
12. Rhythms of Multicultural Evangelism	137	(10)
13. Danceformation	147	(6)
14. Dancing with Both Feet	153	(8)
Conclusion: Crescendo	161	(2)
David's Do-Something List	163	(6)
Appendix 1 Racial Reconciliation Survey	169	(6)
Appendix 2 Six-Session Racial Reconciliation Curriculum	175	(18)
Recommended Reading	193	(2)
Index	195

Excerpts

Multicultural Ministry Copyright © 2004 by Willow Creek Association
Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Anderson, David, 1966– Multicultural ministry : finding your church’s unique rhythm / David A. Anderson.—1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-310-25158-3 1. Church work with minorities—United States. 2. Race relations—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Bridgeway Community Church (Columbia, Md.) II. Title. BV4468 .A53 2004 253—dc22 2003023850
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked TNIV are taken from the Holy Bible: Today’s New International Version™. Copyright © 2001 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book.
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Interior design by Tracey Moran
Printed in the United States of America
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chapter one THE BOOKENDS Or “House on a Cul-de-sac”
THE HOUSE WAS LARGE, THE YARD WAS BIG, AND THE majestic pine trees that lined the back yard reached toward the sky with a sense of grandeur.
My father was so proud as he drove us through the beautiful suburban neighborhood in Adelphi, Maryland.We children sat in the back seat peering out the car windows, making sounds like ooh and ah. Dad explained that the neighborhood we were driving through was going to be ours. The split-level house on Rambler Place that he and Mom had purchased would be our new home. Feeling both pride and disbelief, my mouth open and my eyes as big as saucers, I nervously waited for the “just kidding” punch line. It was hard to imagine that we could live in such a nice home, in such a quiet neighborhood, on a street that ended in a word I had never heard of before—cul-de-sac. Like the Jeffersons in the barrier-breaking television show from the late 1970s, we were indeed “movin’ on up to the east side.” I was ten.
Shortly after the big move, we received a shocking “welcome.” One morning I rolled out of bed, headed to the kitchen, looked out the window, and spotted police cars in our driveway.“What’s the matter?” I hollered. My mother informed me that someone had placed a large cross in our front yard. She also said someone had driven a car across our lawn, leaving skid marks on our green grass and mowing over our delicate Dogwood tree.
I was confused. I could not understand why anyone would drive across our lawn. But the cross was a good thing, right? As the son of a Baptist preacher growing up in a good Christian family, I knew the cross represented hope and promise. However, while Dad was still out with the police, Mom explained to me that this cross was not a sign of hope but a symbol of terror. It was an act of hatred and a federal offense.We were unwanted in this neighborhood. I felt sad. I felt scared.
Within a couple of days, the phone rang very early in the morning. Because the phone was on my mother’s side of the bed, she picked up the receiver only to hear a long period of silence before the caller hung up. There were other calls. One morning a muffled voice strongly suggested that we should move out of the neighborhood before it was too late. Later I asked if we were going to move. Mom stated in no uncertain terms that God blessed us with this home and we were not moving. Although I admired my parents’ strength and courage, I cannot say that I was as certain as they were about sticking around. Someone was turning the neighborhood of our dreams into a nightmare. I felt mad. I felt nervous.
I believe it’s correct to say that many whites in America were not raised to compensate for their whiteness as a liability. They may have been taught that they can grow up to be whatever they wanted to be. So was I. However, I had additional lessons to learn. My early experiences taught me at a young age that being black in America was a liability, not an asset. The determination of my parents to beat the odds was a value that I caught. I admired them then and still do to this day! One of my lessons was that though I could be anything I wanted to be, I would have to work harder and be smarter than my nonblack counterparts. I was taught that the resistance to my success as a minority in a majority culture was a reality that I would have to overcome.
THE PRINCIPLE OF BOOKENDS
Bill Brogan was a white boy who lived on the other side of the neighborhood. Billy and I became good friends as we rode bikes and played sports together. Our interracial friendship was never much of an issue. Billy did not seem to mind that I was black. I didn’t mind his being white.We just treated each other like buddies. I appreciated our friendship.
It wasn’t until junior high school that we separated along the lines of race.We didn’t mean to, but it seemed natural. There were Asians and Latinos at our school, but they were few in number.There were more blacks and whites, and the racial divide between them was wide. Billy and I would see each other on the bus, but by then we were quite segregated. We lost touch. Worse, negative racial talk among the groups seemed to escalate. Blacks would talk about honkies or crackers, and whites would talk about niggers or spooks. I remember chinks and spics were terms used of Asians and Latinos.
I do not have many pleasant memories of junior high school. Blacks and whites were at opposite ends of the spectrum. I call them the bookends.
In the school library we were taught how books are categorized. In my office today I have a number of books on my shelves.Whether in the school library or in my church office, the principle of bookends holds true, namely, that at the beginning and end of each row of books are two books between which all the others lean. No book can stand alone. All of the books rely on each other in order to stand straight in a row. The books on the ends provide the necessary tension to keep upright the books in the middle.
Likewise, in North America tension exists between blacks and whites. I consider blacks and whites as the bookends of the racial debate in America. Consider the middle books as the other races and ethnic groups in North American culture. If the books on the ends move closer, all of the books will come together.
But the middle books also matter. Although Asians, Latinos, and other groups have their own set of ethnic issues, they have an important contribution to make, much like a middle child who is caught between battling siblings. Sometimes the best thing a middle child can do is to stay out of the fight. At other times the presence and peacemaking of the middle child can bring healing.

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Excerpted from Multicultural Ministry: Finding Your Church's Unique Rhythm by David A. Anderson
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