happy martin luther king, jr. day.
educate yourself today. here are a few stories to look at and listen to.
question of the day - what are you doing to facilitate racial reconciliation?
and why is almost everyone in the "emerging church" culture white?
posted by amy @ 1/17/2005 09:30:00 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
It would seem that the "emerging church" follows more patterns than it breaks. Many scholars argue that pastors will draw congregants who are similar to themselves. In other words, congregations tend to look a heck of a lot like their pastors in terms of race, ethnicity, social standing, education, etc. Most of the pastors involved in the "emerging church" are white. Hence, their congregations are mostly white, too.
Although many of the leaders in the "emerging church" would prefer not to call themselves 'pastors,' it seems that they fill said role as much as their more classically trained and ordained counterparts in mainstream Christianity. There are still those who lead and organize, and there are those who follow. It would seem that not much has changed.
I think you are right....pastors tend to draw those that are similar to themselves. That is the natural tendancy. However, I think if you went into the inner city, or bigger cities, there are "emerging churches" that are more diverse. (although I am not sure what is meant by the term "emerging churches" - pardon my ignorance. :) ) Living in Clintonville, Grandview, Westerville, etc. is not going to draw diversity. I respect efforts by Vineyard Columbus and its main pastor Rich Nathan, who only went to African American churches in a previous sabbatical in order to try to bridge the gap, and who meets regularly with diverse ethnic and theological leaders in the community in order to breed a culture of cooperation. Since efforts have been made, Vineyard Columbus has in fact become more diverse. But it takes effort. Whole churches need to come together, and it starts with the leadership. There are diverse efforts out there, like International Friendships on OSU campus (who are looking for Bible Study leaders by the way for Asian groups that meet). There are efforts out there, only most of us tend to stay within our comfort zone. And part of it is just the practicality of being in "community" with those who live in the demographic community that we live in. Our churches probably reflect the larger community as a whole. There are probably some in the larger African American Churches out there asking, "Why is it that the emerging churches don't have more white people in them?" :) -- Heather Linhart
when you say, emerging churches, i take that to mean, home-group-based organic communities in many cases without a strong pastoral or leadership at the head and many times without church-service-like gatherings. so, in a sense vineyard columbus, while notably taking strides in racial diversity, doesnt necesarily fit into what i would understand to be an "emerging" church.
but to get back to the question (like I'm supposed to have some kind of answer); i think that church means different things in different cultures. I think that in many ways, an emerging church model is our generations (and a number of other generation's to some degree) model for at-home-missions.
let me explain. as much as we hate to admit it, the emerging church movement was birthed out of a cultural context, it was birthed in some minds as a reaction against other models deemed less effective or less "1st century". with that in mind, it should be noted that the culture it reacted against was mainly white evangelicalism.
why don't we have more racial diversity? well my not-so-thought-through answer is that the tennants of reformation did not place a high value on racial diversity. our movement has a history in white evangelicalism, we came of age, and re-defined it, why should we expect people of other cultures to embrace our reformation as they were not a part of the original church context, and the problems we have strived to solve in the "emerging" church model, are very likely not even on thir radar screen.
i know it would be awful nice to be imperialist about us having a through-and-through, 1st century, biblical model, but the truth is, we probably don't, and i think other cultures and races "not getting what we're doing" is probably a testament to that.
Well said, Dan. I agree.
-fez
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