When Michael Martin left the corporate world of human resources in 1995, he was comfortable living as a black man in a multiethnic world. So when he sensed God’s calling to plant a church in Southern California, he expected that it would be a multiethnic one.
As soon as he and his family of four started on their adventure, good things began to happen. God answered prayer. People came to faith.
So how was it that, 10 years later, Learning to Live Fellowship was a 100-member, mostly black church with an all-black pastoral staff and an all-black worship experience? What had happened to his multiethnic dream?
As with many churches, the answer involved changing demographics. In its early years, Learning to Live was offered a church building for a reasonable price, in a neighboring community. The move took them out of multiethnic Westchester and across La Cienega Boulevard into the black and Hispanic community of Inglewood. Soon, they were an all-black congregation.
Fast-forward to 2008. The original calling—to be a church of multiple ethnic groups—kept nagging at Pastor Michael and others. So after much consideration, Learning to Live put its church building up for sale and moved into the multiethnic neighborhood of Marina Del Rey, holding its first services on Easter 2009.
Pastor Michael estimates that Learning to Live lost 15-20 percent of its congregation as a result of all the changes. Those who stayed are battling two different emotions: excitement—already, 20 percent of their church family is now from other ethnic groups; and fatigue—many original church members spend all week being the minority in their work setting, and they were accustomed to the church being their comfortable place.
Yet as Pastor Michael puts it: “In order to be multiethnic, we have to be intentionally comfortable being uncomfortable.”
Being uncomfortable
The idea of embracing discomfort isn’t limited to any one ethnic group. EFCA leader Ryan Kwon recalls a church he planted in 1997 that soon became 90-percent Asian and couldn’t seem to get past the like-attracts-like. Ryan eventually left that church because he, too, believed in a multiethnic expression of the body of Christ.
“There’s an institutional force in all of our churches today called comfort,” he says, “even though the gospel speaks against such things and Jesus is our prime example.
“Although we had in our documents that being a multiethnic church was a preferred value, I wasn’t clear enough in my own vision, nor were we ruthless enough in our mission to push back against the institutional force that was overtaking it.”
Ryan recently planted Resonate (EFCA) in Fremont, Calif., with a core team that’s 30-percent Asian, 40-percent Caucasian and 30-percent other ethnicities. From 1997 to 2010 he had served at another multiethnic church—Bridges Community Church, outside San Francisco.
Ryan is clear about his primary lesson learned: Pursuing a healthy multiethnic church requires persistent intentionality on the part of church leadership.
In the Midwest, Gerald Stigall and his church are at the front end of this journey toward multiethnicity: More than 95 percent of Grace EFC (Fridley, Minn.) is still Caucasian, but the church is on the move.
In their worship, they’re deliberately representing ethnicities that might not even be represented in their congregation yet, with the intent of being a welcoming spirit for everyone as the community around them continues to change. And last fall, Grace EFC leaders also invited Dr. Alvin Sanders, the EFCA ’s executive director of reconciliation, to facilitate their learning on the biblical emphasis on reconciliation.1
“We’ve got miles to go before we sleep,” Gerald says. “We understand that we are on a journey.”
Language and Culture
Cultural differences create their own challenges in a church. But when the surrounding community speaks a different language as well, then uncomfortable becomes a daily reality as the languages combine within one church building.
Back in the late 1990s, the face of rural Willmar, Minn., began changing as more Spanish speakers moved in to work in the poultry- processing plants. Willmar EFC , however, remained thoroughly Scandinavian in its makeup. Until 2006. That’s when Willmar EFC ’s senior pastor, Mike Gibbons, and bilingual church planter Ben Green began talking about reaching their changing community.
In 2009, Samuel Rodriguez joined their staff, and together they pursue a model known across the EFCA as “Church in a Church.”2 In this model, youth and adults share space whenever possible but usually separate for language-specific worship and teaching.
At Willmar EFC, the children from both congregations meet together, since the Spanish-speaking children are learning English quickly, in the schools. Both congregations share finances as well.
Both blessings and challenges are many. “There was pushback,” Mike admits. “There still continues to be at times. I’ve had people complain that ‘those people’ are in our church and this isn’t their place.”
“The challenge is hard for both sides,” Samuel adds. “But when the Holy Spirit is an important part, He breaks through. Even though there are clashes, we’ve had high moments where we have seen the tangible, visible expression of our unity. And then the people know, The Lord is here.”
Some other EFCA congregations that started with the Church in a Church model have now combined even their worship services—on their way to completely merging into one body. Hearing songs and prayers in two languages isn’t easy for those who aren’t bilingual, but those at Bensenville (Ill.) Bible Church, for example, are committed to trying: “I learned we could feel the prayers of others, even if we did not know what they were saying,” says lay leader Marion Bell.
Battles on the Journey
Refereeing complaints about language differences or outright losing church members (and their financial giving) are just some of the challenges involved in pursuing multiethnicity. Other leaders must daily slog through a slow, persistent resistance. Undeniably, it’s a spiritual battle (see “Beautiful Havoc and Precious Blessings”).
Simply put, no one likes being uncomfortable, and change can be uncomfortable. “But we can’t become diverse and remain the same,” warns Glen Kehrein, director of Circle Urban Ministries, an arm of the Rock of Our Salvation EFC , in Chicago.
“We won’t change our doctrine, but the cultural expression of it will change. It becomes, in my opinion, much more glorifying to God; it changes for the better with its richness.”
Back at Michael Martin’s church, Learning to Live Fellowship, the adventure of rich change is well underway. The church’s next intentional step in its new home—a rented movie theater in Marina Del Rey—is to build a multiethnic leadership team.
Pastor Martin realizes that his story is not everyone else’s story. The pursuit of multiethnicity is a different journey for each church. Yet even those churches in ethnically homogenous communities can link arms with a nearby church of a different ethnic mix, he says—reaching across the divide to learn from each other and to better reflect God’s heart of reconciliation.
As Learning to Live Fellowship member Vanessa Punché puts it: “My best guess is that heaven doesn’t have little sections of worshipers based on your ethnicity.”
Step by step, EFCA leaders across the country are intentionally embracing discomfort and engaging in spiritual battle—all for the beautiful goal of a congregation that reflects the heart of God and His call to unity.
1To learn about facilitating a Good Samaritan Retreat at your church, contact Alvin Sanders (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) or call Paula Pust at (952) 853-8492.
2To learn more about the Church in a Church model, contact George Klippenes (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) or Dr. Alex Mandes (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), 612-296-5232).
To learn about the challenges and necessity of forming a multiethnic leadership team in your church, read the fall 2006 article “Accomplishing More Together” (www.efcatoday.org/accomplishing-more-together).
