■ by SAMUEL ROBEFF
D
ID YOU KNOW that in the
United States there are churches
PROFILE OF A
that have up to five congrega-
tions who use different lan-
guages and come from different cultural
backgrounds?
One of the churches that for years
opened its doors to this kind of ministry is
MULTICULTURAL
the Mountain West Church of God in
Atlanta, Georgia, where in the ’80s and ’90s,
weekly services were celebrated in English,
CHURCH
Korean, Russian, Spanish, and French.
1
Would it be possible to create this
kind of multicultural nucleus in our
churches? Perhaps Dr. R. Lamar Vest
answered this question at the 64th Inter-
national General Assembly in New
Orleans, Louisiana, when he posed this
question: “Who are we?” He answered his
rhetorical question by saying, “The
Church of God is an international church
which will not accept national bound-
aries as walls that divide God’s people.”
Then he added, “The Church of God is a
multiracial body which believes that we
are all created in the likeness and image
of God our Father, and we are all to be
treated as brothers and sisters.”
2
To treat
each other as brothers and sisters, in a
multicultural setting, it is imperative that
we compromise so that we can appreciate
other cultures, maintain unity in the
midst of the cultural diversity, and accept
the reality of the diverse generations that
shape our communities.
3
Appreciate Other Cultures
The word culture can be defined as “the
life, means, and mentality of a communi-
ty.” The dictionary defines culture as “the
result or effect of cultivating the human
understanding; the act of developing the During the period of formation, the are born with similar mentalities which
intellectual and moral faculties by educa- child absorbs the manners, mentality, and represent a culture that, in a way, can be
tion; also, the act or process of cultivating traditions of its environment and social similar to or very different from another.
living material in a nutrient media.” The atmosphere. Then, he associates himself To appreciate other cultures, the multi-
dictionary itself summarizes the meaning with other people who believe in similar cultural church needs to remember, in the
of the word culture by using the terms atmospheres. These people express them- first place, that there is no such thing as
“cultivate” and “nurture.” In other words, selves in a similar way; they like the same just one Hispanic community, for exam-
the process of nurturing a person is similar type of food, and they prefer the same ple. Each Latin-American country is simi-
to the cultivation of a plant. type of music. Eventually, communities lar to others, but at the same time, each is
12 EVANGEL • FEB 2009
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