Evangelical Missiological Society, "EMS Southwest Regional Meeting", April 4th 2024

Ken Nehrbass, California Baptist University

Shared Altars: How Churches’ Experiences with Diversity, Oneness, Multiculturality and Intentionality Form Their Cross-Cultural Postures

Church leaders do not seem to agree on what is meant by a “multicultural church;” but they do agree that achieving such a vision is difficult- though not impossible. Churches’ journeys toward this “elusive dream” (Edwards 2008) are affected by four factors: multiculturality, oneness, vision and ethnic diversity. Churches’ leveraging of these four factors results in six cross-cultural postures: 1) Activist, 2) Shared space, 3) Multiethnic, 4) Reconciling, 5) Ethnic group; and 6) Fully Integrated. Churches with an Activist Posture are deeply committed to addressing issues of racial reconciliation, though the congregation is predominantly (that is, more than 80%) one race or ethnicity. Churches with the Reconciling Posture also have this deep commitment to diversity but have also achieved the goal of becoming ethnically diverse. In churches with a Shared Space posture, different language and cultural groups are present, but they remain separated in terms of vision, finances, events, worship services, and leadership. Churches that have a vision of multiculturality but designate specific campuses or worship times to target specific ethnic groups have an Ethnic Group posture. Lastly, Fully Integrated churches have a single leadership team and budget, reaching various cultural groups who worship together regularly by blending various languages, worship and leadership styles. Here we have developed an assessment tool to help churches measure their experiences in these four areas, providing insight into their current cross-cultural posture and allowing them to identify areas of improvement.