wfn.org | Church of the Brethren holds Cross-Cultural Round Table

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: Sept. 29, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V:  847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com) 
 

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN NEWSLINE
Sept. 29, 2005
 
Church of the Brethren holds a Cross-Cultural Round Table
 
Sept. 29, 2005 (Elgin, IL) --  To the question, "Are we here because  we are 
committed to a multicultural church?" came the resounding answer, "Yes!" 
This 
emphatic response arose from a group of Church of the Brethren members and  
leaders convened first on April 24-26, and then in a follow-up session Aug.  
30-31, in Richmond, Ind. The Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership  
sponsored and called the round table meeting.
 
The underlying concern was how to train leaders and assist congregations in  
being a multicultural church in which biblical life, theological integrity, 
and  spiritual vitality reside, said Sonja Griffith in her report from the 
meetings.  Griffith is pastor of First Central Church of the Brethren in
Kansas 
City.
 
Participants included many who have been working at cross-cultural issues  
for years. At the meeting were pastors from non-dominant groups in the Church
of 
 the Brethren, a representative from the Annual Conference Intercultural 
Study  Committee, persons on the Cross-Cultural Steering Committee, the
Annual	
Conference moderator and moderator-elect, several district executive
ministers,  
General Board Congregational Life Team and Office of Ministry staff,  and
Bethany Seminary faculty and administrators.
 
The multicultural church vision has been a long time in the making,  Griffith

reported. The group at the round table recounted the history of efforts  
toward this vision. From separate associations
representing the interests of  various ethnic groups, to these groups 
beginning to coalesce under the banner of  urban ministry, to the present
time when 
the cross-cultural movement has become	a sign of hope, the whole movement
has 
been guided and inspired by the Holy  Spirit, she wrote.
 
The unfolding story includes the pain of unfortunate instances when the  
church does not welcome or even, wittingly or unwittingly, drives away people
 
whose skin color and language and ways are "different." The story also
includes  
confession, healing, forgiveness, and recently a joy and fellowship expressed

in  the worship and work of the yearly Cross Cultural Consultations and  
Celebrations, which have been held from 1999-2005. At the most recent 
celebration 
April 20-22, more people attended and worshipped together than ever  before.
 
Round table participants posed a number of questions regarding the needs of  
the church for training leadership in cross-cultural work. These were on 
topics	including perceptions of pastoral authority; educating for cultural
and 
ethnic	differences; developing ongoing self awareness of those differences
and 
how they  affect all aspects of church life; educational resources sensitive
to 
language,  ethnicity and cross cultural uniquenesses; gifts, skills, and 
spiritual  formation; ongoing nurture for pastors of multicultural churches;
n
etworking,  partnering, and shared teaching in
multicultural churches; and responsibility  for leadership formation. Small 
groups considered responses to these questions. 
 
As the round table re-gathered in August, participants felt that naming  
barriers to cross-cultural leadership and church life was important in the  
ongoing discussion of leadership development. A
long list emerged. "Some of  those barriers are the very nature of `church' 
as people might conceive of it,  how often and easily `culture trumps
theology' 
in church matters, and what  systems in church structure, thought patterns, 
and relationships keep members	focused on comfort, tradition, finance, and 
status quo without recognizing	opportunities and imperatives for change,
growth 
and transformation," Griffith  reported.
 
Participants identified essential gifts, skills, and attitudes needed by  
leaders in a cross-cultural church. They also identified resources needed to 

develop leadership equipped for moving the
church into a cross-cultural  vision and reality. Opportunities for action 
were highlighted: the potential of  the TOGETHER conversations and
encouragement 
of diversity in them; development  of practical ideas to share with churches 
and districts; review of the work done	by the round table in Bethany faculty

curriculum discussion and in shaping  alternative training programs; ongoing 
relationship building with Brethren  Press, the 300th Anniversary Committee, 
General Board staff, and other church  agencies; sharing identified barriers 
with the Annual Conference study  committee; and developing resources and 
networks for cross-cultural  training.
 
"As the round table began and ended, the group's passion had not subsided  
and the commitment was even stronger than at the beginning," Griffith said.
"The 
 cross-cultural church is coming
alive with hope for new life and a new	day!"
 
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to  
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its
faith  in 
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith  
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its
 300th 
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United	
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the  
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
 
# # #
 
For more information contact:
 
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the  Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
847-742-5100  ext. 260
_cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org_ 
(mailto:cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org) 
 
*****************************************************************
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 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board. 
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