The Kingdom Way – Part 2

Review

• The way of the kingdom often goes against what we think is wise, sensible, rational or beneficial.
• Jesus used parables to test people’s readiness for a more intimate understanding of the truth.
• John 6:66-67 (ESV): ⁶⁶ After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”
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• “All ministry is contextual” –Dr. A.R. Bernard
  • 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 (ESV): ¹⁹ For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. ²⁰ To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹ To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. ²³ I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
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    • Ministry requires strategy.
• Proverbs 4:7 (NKJV): ⁷Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. The term “black multiracial church” is specific to a church that becomes multiracial when it starts off as a black congregation.
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How Latino and Asian American Churches Navigate Racial Diversity

• Challenge # 1: Churches led by immigrant communities must overcome tension between first- and second-generation populations.

The Following excerpts are from Estranged Pioneers: Race, Faith, and Leadership in a Diverse World by Korie Little Edwards and Rebecca Y. Kim:

• “Asian American churches are immigrant ethnic congregations that function much like ethnic enclaves.” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 46)
  • Ethnic Enclave: A strong concentration of a particular ethnic group in a particular geographical area where there’s a distinct culture and economy separate from the surrounding community.
• “[Asian American Churches] are primary spaces where immigrants can worship in the language and culture of their home country and find comfort and support as they struggle to adjust and ‘make it’ in the new land.” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 46)
• “All but one Hispanic American pastor in our study grew up in predominately Hispanic, Spanish-speaking contexts. And most were born Latin American, Spanish-speaking countries and maintained active connections to those countries.” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 30)
  • The majority of Asian and Latino churches are immigrant focused.
  • “The literature on Asian American congregations, particularly Korean American, which predominates studies of Asian American congregations, reveals intergenerational strife between the first and second generations.” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 88)
  • “The immigrant Korean church is in many ways viewed as a church for the first, not the second generation” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 88)
  • “The services are held in Korean; the congregations support Korean culture and traditions. . .and they are led by first-generation Korean Americans.” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 88)
     
• Challenge # 2: Churches led my immigrant communities must settle the question of language.
  • “Asian American pastor. . .Pastor Hurh, had a uniquely positive relationship with this home church, an independently second-generation Korean church. This church was born out of a Korean immigrant church as an ‘English ministry’ for the children of immigrants.” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 88)
  • “In time, it became a separate independent church that attracts latter-generation young Asian American adults who want a ‘church of their own.’” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 88)
  • “Support for [Asian American] church plants, if there is any, tends to come from white religious networks and denominations.” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 88)

• Challenge # 3: Churches led by immigrant communities must create mainstream versions of their cultures.
  • “Lacking racialized multicultural competency is not a problem for white pastors in their leadership, nor is it a barrier to gaining or maintaining their position as a pastor of a multiracial church.” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 116)
  • “A white pastor could be fluent in only one culture (their own) and have no awareness of the historical and sociological implications of systemic racism and white supremacy and still be a pastor of a multiracial church.” (Estranged Pioneers, p. 116)
  • “[White pastors of multiracial churches] have the privilege of looking like the normative pastor. They have the privilege of having their preaching style considered to be the standard for all pastors, including pastors who head multiracial churches” (Estranged Pioneers, p.125)

The Following excerpts are from Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations by Brad Christerson, Korie Edwards, and Michael Emerson

• • “One woman who grew up in the Philippines expressed it this way: Filipinos avoid people who are too direct or too offensive, so those people who offend them feel invisible” (Against All Odds, p. 52)
  • She continues: “I’ll give you an example. When Lynne [a white woman] was leading the Sunday school ministry, she would ask me, ‘Can you teach Sunday school this week?’” (Against All Odds, p. 52)
  • “Whereas a Filipino would say, ‘I know you’re busy and tired, so if you can’t that’s OK.’” (Against All Odds, p. 52)
  • “So Lynne asks me that question and I say that I can’t because of work or I’m tired or something, then I feel bad because I’m the one saying no.” (Against All Odds, p. 52)
  • “And then if I say no, she’ll say ‘well how about next week?’ For a Filipino that’ an awful position to put someone in, because it makes them feel bad for saying no.” (Against All Odds, p. 52)
  • “Filipinos have a hard time saying no. You have to give people an out. So after someone does that to you, you just avoid them, and so Lynne feels invisible to Filipinos.” (Against All Odds, p. 52)
  • “Another obstacle to social connection at the church between Filipinos and non-Filipinos seems to be the tradition of hierarchical social relationships. Non-Filipinos referred to it as the ‘kuya ate thing” (Against All Odds, p. 20)
  • “Yes, the whole kuya and ate tradition. I can relate to it, because in Africa if someone is older than you, they are like your uncle or aunt, but it creates a distance and protocol to the relationship. If I need support from an older person, I wouldn’t know if I could share anything too deep with them.” (Against All Odds, p. 20)
  • “One particular aspect of the church service that was frustrating to many white members was the issue of time.” (Against All Odds, p. 26)
  • “In the early years of the church white members frequently complained of the lack of punctuality in the way the service was run.” (Against All Odds, p. 26)
  • “Typically, the service would start five to ten minutes after the official starting time, and even then most of the church would be empty, except for a few white members of the church.” (Against All Odds, p. 26)
  • “The church had no ‘ending time’ at that time and could end anywhere from 12:00 to 12:45 depending on what activities went on during the service.” (Against All Odds, p. 26)
  • “Both Filipino and non- Filipino members joked that the church runs on ‘Filipino time.’” (Against All Odds, p. 26)

• Challenge # 4: Churches led by immigrant communities must convince their congregations that becoming racially diverse is beneficial.

The Definition of a Black Multiracial Church

• • A black multiracial church is a black church that has opened itself up to the world while effectively ministering to black people.
  • A black multiracial church is a multiracial church with black culture at the center of it and black people significantly influencing it.
  • A black multiracial church is a diversity party that black people are hosting.
  • A black multiracial church is how black Christians do diversity

The Strategy

Keep This in Mind 

Read the Story of Joseph

© Joshua D. Smith, Ph.D., 2025