Many have noted how the Evangelical CHurch is dying off in our times and less people are going to those churches....yet, as it turns out, what has often been happening is that only one form of it has been dying of while those churches that are multicultural have been thriving. O
thers were of the mindset that it was actually thriving in communities that are minority based (i.e. Hispanic, Black, Asian, etc) and in urban centers because they had battles that many in other parts of the Evangelical world were NEVER concerned with ...and
other have often noted how theological battles are often tied to cultural views and
evangelicism has often been accussed of intentionally limiting the views of other theologians with a multicultural perspective (seen here in
The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah - Internetmonk). One can look up Soong-Chan Rah noting how what others deemed "Evangelical" was often Euro-Centric/Caucasian /Upper Class views in dominance...and those views are not longer at the top as they were in previous eras. As he said:
For more on the man who was interviewed by Michael Spencer:
For so long, they were not in view due to not being the dominant voice....and yet, because of the shift in mindset and others going toward more of a "social justice" mindset when it comes to getting involved in Urban/Street Ministry and things common in minority cultures, the increase is happening there. A really excellent book I've been blessed to read on the matter is ..and its entitled "Many Colors"
The other one that's solid is entitled "The Next Evangelism"
Interview with Dr. Soong-Chan Rah
ThinkFwd: EP015 Soong-Chan Rah - White Captivity of the ...
For more info, one can go online/investigate the following under their respective titles:
- Soong-Chan Rah White Captivity of the Church Pt 1″ ( //theooze.tv/thinkfwd/soong-chan-rah-white-captivity-of-the-church-pt-1 )
Growing up going to a multicultural church, Soong-Chan Rah is one whom I admire for his work and the vision he brings. He is one of the main leaders within CCDA, an organization aimed at aiding others in ecomonically deprived communities/lower-income areas....
He understands what it means to come from a multi-ethnic background and has given unique perspectives when it comes to views on church growth. Soong Rah once noted why Asian communities find commonality with African-American ones..discussing how Theologian James Cone makes this assertion in the commonality of suffering that is found in the black church experience and the experience of the Korean community. As a Korean American, Soong-Chan Rah thinks there is a powerful common thread in both the Korean and black communities in the stories of tremendous victory amidst great suffering and persecution. For both communities have experienced oppression (slavery, Jim Crow laws, racism, conquest, persecution, etc.), but both communities have experienced God in very deep ways in the context of great suffering.
Soong-Chan Rah also relates to the black community in light of how his own father was absent as is the case for numerous black men. For most of his life, his father was absent, having abandoned his family when Soong was in elementary school. As the majority of his work has been in urban settings and working alongside other black leaders, I think he has much to say as it concerns credible ways of how to improve black families. What has happened in many black communuities at an alarming rate is that others are growing up in multi-cultural settings and the integration dynamic has literally changed the face of what black church/family looks like..............and many often miss that when focusing on one form of that.
Some of it hits home for me personally, For in many ways, differing cultures have intersected with the the black community and have created entirely new dynamics that many blacks are unaware of
.be it with Black Hispanics, White/Black mixes ("Mulattos" ) or various other variations. One of my co-workers at the youth rehabilitation facility I work at is mixed with Black and Korean
.and it was interesting to hear from him what his views were whenever it came to black culture or why its not doing well. His views were very much different from others, due to him growing up and feeling as if he was a child of 2 differing worlds, with the larger culture ignoring his views when it came to critiques of blacks.
This is something that has been arising for awhile when it comes to those in Afro-Asian communitiesand Of course, historically, theres an entirely different side of black culture thats often left out in discussions whenever it comes to issues in regards to Afro-Asian interactions
.as it concerns historical interactions between black and Asian communities during the period of abolition, free labor, imperialism, and decolonization.
This is one of the main factors of change/newness I see at play
One of the biggest shifts I see with Evangelicalism is the fact that there are stereotypes that are now being broken extensively...
Some of this can be seen in what MANY believers called out when it came to Lifeway Christian Bookstore having an "Asia Day!!" advertisment with every kind of stereotype on Asians that could be developed - and many Evangelicals were bothered by the ignorance of the actions as well as thinking it was all good because the goal was the Gospel...
tensions on Ethno-political lines over theological lines. It may not be the tension of the past but it could be possible that people will fill niches into forming identities around religions. I think there might be possibly be even bigger rifts between "white Christianity" and "non-white Christianity", exacerbated by the explosive growth of Christianity in non-white nations.
Gxg (G²);64972911 said:
I forsee identity being a problem more so among ethnic lines than anything else..
A lot of these difficulties have come due to the dynamic of attempting to intergrate within White communities and yet not having enough realization of the issues that Asian Americans deal with and what their actual culture is like - much of that being remnants of the 19th century in how others were seen...and thus we see shifts happening today that try to correct some of the problems that came with intergration.
Integration can and does have some downsides, especially when it comes to seeing whether or not schools that tended to have groups focused upon more so end up being neglected and agreement is forced rather than sincere. The ways that
battles over Intergrationism and Seperatism/Nationalism have intermixed is something many need to remember, especially as it concerns what occurred prior to others such as Dr.Martin Luther King and Malcom X in the ways they debated on how much others need to either unite or diverge....
The issue also tends to extend into the realm of religious experience, as it concerns the ways that churches arose to deal with the needs of neglected communities who struggled with many things (from education to economics)---as
seen frequently in the Black Church and its rising to address social problems and have a prophetic voice as an historic institution. Many have noted that there's no need for a Black Church as it concerns the diversity today---and yet, for others, they've often noted the ways that there'd be no need for having a Black church that's predominately black if the needs of black communities were addressed adequately by other non-black groups.
Others have been of the mindset that it's promoting racism to seperate and not being welcoming toward non-blacks---and others who have gone to multi-cultural churches have noted the need to promote them more so as a means of bringing healing. Others who are white have noted that they want to have a black church experience and be involved in aiding others in the black community....although many have noted that something's off when that's said by others and churches with predominately black demographics are consistently led by a predominately white leadership staff----all of it in the claims of being multicultural.
Others have noted that for them as whites, it's odd that many whites say that want to be involved in a black community/church and yet don't want to be under the leadership of black ministers.....and others have said that many whites don't want to see united churches due to reasons of whites not being in dominance rather than any real legitimate reasons. For many, it's a matterof not promoting paternalism...and seeing the ways things get complicated is interesting.
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