Greetings all,
If you've been following the site over the last month you'll know that we've been taking a particular look at multicultural ministry, in all its forms. The goal is to prepare church planters, pastors and their supporters for confronting the ethnic shift in Australia's make-up. What approaches have proved effective? What are the pitfalls to avoid?
This month's resources specialty resources include:
Eugene Hor’s keys to multicultural ministry – Eugene Hor, senior pastor of Grace Point church in Sydney, describes the transitions his church has gone through as it's developed its ministry to Chinese migrants and their families. In the process he describes pit-falls they fell into, and the realisation that the key factor for success is the type of leadership you're able to develop.
Unlocking the migrant mindset – In this month's Planter Session webinar Scott Sanders will being interviewing Pete Ko about the kinds of things that migrant cultures have as their DNA – dominant narratives, idols, obstacles to evangelism, and ultimately how church planting teams might address these issues. Sign up now!
Developing a culture that connects with culture – Andrew Heard discusses the importance of understanding the culture surrounding your church, as well as developing a culture that continues to offer the distinctives of the Gospel.
We've also trawled through our archives to bring you the best of our multicultural resources from the past, including:
Traps for ethnic plants – Al Stewart interviews Peter Ko about the traps and trials of planning and planting ethnic congregations.
Multicultural church planting – perils and promise – Ed Stetzer reveals the realities of multicultural church planting discovered by his international research and discusses how to make churches more reflective of the multicultural Kingdom of God – plus Question Time!
Reaching Multicultural Australia – Derek Hanna leads a discussion panel with Ray Galea (MBM Rooty Hill), Peter Ko (South-West Chinese Christian Church) and Richard Hibbert (Sydney Missionary & Bible College) on key lessons in establishing and growing multicultural ministry.
The value of church planting – controlling the diary! – Tim Grant from Grace Christian Community church talks to Mark Hadley about the cultural connections he and Belinda have been able to make because of the control they have over their ministry diaries.
There's plenty there to get you thinking about making contact with the ethnic groups that populate your patch of the field. And if they raise some questions, here's a final plug for our next Planter Session. Put those questions to Pete Ko and Scott Sanders as they tackle Unlocking the migrant mindset live online for your edification!
– Ed.
