14:39
Unknown
I have reached a point where I will now blog about my own blog. At least, in my own mind I have.
While hanging out in Twitterville, I eavesdropped a tweet from Anne Jackson to Pete Wilson talking about diversity in church leadership.
This blog was initially started to talk about the cultural challenges of serving in ministry. As a black man in the south, this is especially poignant; toss in the added battle of serving in predominantly white churches, and you get a pretty interesting picture.
So, I feel led to write an article about this albatross. Is diversity really all that necessary in church leadership, or is it just another PC-motivated man-made talking point? What does diversity bring: true cultural awareness, or just the facade of acceptance?
I am looking for thoughts from both sides of the aisle, from both ends of the spectrum.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Sent via my BlackBerry.
9 comments:
I believe leadership diversity is vital in churches which are located in diverse areas. That church (the overall congregation and leadership) should strive to reflect the reality of the community.
I do not subscribe to the church growth model that says "pick a demographic and stick to it" because that is decidedly unbiblical.
Churches striving to reflect their community is difficult if that church has a homogeneous leadership team. How can I, (as a white man, living in a culture where minorities look at me with a measure of distrust already) effectively minister to minorities if the leadership team in my church is also white?
"Come and check out our church because we love people from every ethnicity" sounds a bit insincere to people if they come and see that the only people on the stage or teaching the classes are white.
I do not believe desiring diversity in church leadership is some form of ecclesiastical affirmative action either. I believe it is what God desires from our churches.
Oh yeah, one of the passages I use to support my contention that churches should seek to reflect their community is in Revelation 7:9:
"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb."
If the church is to attempt to reflect heavenly realities and if the reality of heaven is diversity, then that is what we should strive to be.
One of my favorite statements is: "if we're all going to be worshipping together in heaven, then we may as well get used to it on earth first."
Brian: thanks for the comments. Loved them!!! Wish I had an email to contact you...
I believe diversity in church leadership is critical. It is very easy to claim acceptance of all people in a church. Diversified leadership is a simple way of practicing what you preach. When people of various backgrounds enter a church for the first time, they are comforted by seeing others who look like them. When they see it in leadership, I believe it creates a beautiful picture. We will all be together in heaven, so why not practice leading and following together on earth. This is our audition for the hereafter.
I am not sure that diversity just for diversity's sake is necessary.
I'm not saying that diversity isn't beneficial.
I do think that we all should work together and look to understand different cultures and backgrounds, but if the question is about church staff or leadership, I agree with Brian about trying to reflect the community.
Thanks for asking my thoughts. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've put any thought into this topic.
It is definitely something worth exploring.
Have a Merry Christmas.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I think you've asked an important question, one that has a lot of perspectives from which it can be answered. Diversity, in a very real sense, and on this side of the veil, is in the eye of the observer as to whether or not it exists in any satisfactory way. There are obvious places of injustice, and places where people fail at loving their neighbor as God loves them, but those most difficult places are not in my experience in the church. That isn't to say they don't exist, those radical instances of racism and sexism and whatever-else-ism, I'm sure they do. But, I, personally, have not experienced that sort of blatant discrimination in the church.
The local church, from this earthly observation point-of-view, is probably pretty segregated both in terms of race/ethnicity and in terms of gender in leadership positions. In my years in ministry, I have seen some of that change - more churches ministering to a broader range of people racially, culturally, economically, etc and also with more women in pastoral roles - in favor of objective equality. I think that's a good thing, but not necessarily for the "more diversity is good" reason. My heart tells me, that while we probably have a long way to go, that the changes in church culture related to diversity I've seen reflect a change of attitude, a healing, if you will, in terms of acceptance of people who are different from the established or expected mold - be that of gender, race, ethnic background or, to a different extent, socio-economic class. I think we want the end (diversity), and I think it's a worthy, godly hope to want look like the "every tribe and tongue" picture of heaven. But, I don't think we've always got the right drive - that picture is one of unity that comes from single-minded, single-hearted devotion to Jesus Christ, and it would have to be after the restoration of all things. It's a picture of the people of God reconciled and the creation restored - which, of course, happens now only insofar as our fallen selves allows... So the bigger question, to me, is are the various expressions of church which in total comprise the Body of Christ all together reaching all those various people groups, with intentionality about crossing man-made lines and expectations? If the big picture is a diverse one, and people are moving away from ugly biases, serving people regardless of skin tone or accent, gender, age or paycheck, AND seeking justice in those instances where the various "isms" are occurring, then I think we're moving in the right direction! The destination is yet far off, I think, but it's a worthy goal.
Tre,
I love your thoughts and your dedication to get comments on them. I always desire comments on my blog, (positive and negative) but I don't have the passion and practical purpose for wanting commentary...that you do! Because of that...I figured I'd finally answer one of your calls for commentary!
I first have to say that I hate the word 'diversity'. I go to a school where diversity is pushed at any cost.
People are so concerned with being diverse, that any shred of diversity is usually applauded to the point of their appearing ignorant, and, in other cases diversity is completely manufactured to make the school appear better.
So, to me, diversity is peace and coexistence gone wrong.
I believe that God made all people equally, and I also believe that we should all live in ways that respect and encourage each other. However, God made each one of to be individuals. In the sense that God is the creator of all things, he certainly must have been the author of all races.
We should obviously be able to live, worship, and serve alongside each other, but do we need to forcibly partake in cultural festivities, move to diverse areas, hire staff based on race, or even just make an effort to make our circles of friends more diverse?
At what point in planning all of this out and manipulating all of the variables, does the issue change from biblical respect and brother/sisterhood to "diversity"?
I'm not saying I have the answers, but I'm just trying to live my life in a way that respects both others, myself, and ultimately God.
Does God want us to love or be pc?
I think we should educate people (mostly kids) about differences, and address disputes, but ultimately just live our lives with respect for each other in the encounters we do have, not force those encounters.
Sorry for any typos, all of this was via bb browser.
I also welcome criticism because I know I'm not all that smart or experienced. Lol
It seems that the diversity of the leadership should reflect the diversity that is being sought after in the body. Here in Mississippi, such diversity is RARE! I'm not just talking about racial, but also socio-economic. Rich white people tend to attend churches led by rich white people. And I have no idea how to combat that. I am just learning to love the people God puts in front of me. That's a big enough challenge for me.
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