Ethnicity in local churches is a beautiful thing. A multi-racial blend of people groups assembling together to worship is powerful. It speaks of God’s sovereignty. It reveals his accessibility, his relationality…his love.
We know that many churches are limited to only reaching people in a particular demographic. The music, teaching style, and ministries all reflect the preferences of a certain group of people. It happens a lot in the suburbs. Critics tend to be overly hostile of this phenomenon- evangelists and church planters were called to reach those in their particular proximity, and usually culture in the burbs tends to be pretty homogeneous. But what happens when a local church specifically denotes what group of people “it’s for?” You know, the Chinese, Polish, Korean, Romanian etc. churches you come across ever so often.
They tend to include their particular ethnicity in the name. First generation immigrants usually founded the church in hope of worshiping in a language and culture they carried with them from their land of origin. Assimilation to first generation immigrants can be a struggle, even a fear. But what started out as a purpose with good intentions can lead to complacency and, dare I say it, discrimination.
It’s a social dynamic worth being written about and studied. By the time immigrants have natural-born children who reach adolescence, they begin to recognize the tension between cultures. What is practiced at home clashes with what is being experienced in the schools. But for some reason many communities choose to insist that the church is a place to promote or preserve their language and culture. In doing so, they are prone to becoming inward focused. The Great Commission stops being a purpose of the church- and one’s neighbor, co-worker, friends, are no longer those whom he/she has in mind to reach with the Gospel. And so the local church slips into routine and goes into survival mode.
Maybe not all ethnic churches fit ino this category. I heard of a Spanish church in downtown Detroit who is growing intensely and becoming diverse. But honestly, when I drive past ethnic churches I never think “Oh, that could be a place for me.” And I’m sure the unbeliever doesn’t either.
That being said, I want to feature a particular church community that recently underwent some major changes. Upon launching a new location, the decision was made to drop “Romanian” from its name. What was “Philadelphia Romanian Church” is now simply “Philadelphia Church”, of Cambridge, Ontario. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first Romanian congregation in North America to undergo such progress.
Their leaders are under the conviction that they need to be a church for anybody. They believe that taking a broader approach to ministry is helping them be more obedient to God’s calling on their lives as individuals and as a community. Reaching Romanians and non-Romanians alike is closer to their heart’s cry. What do you think? Should other ethnic churches learn from Philadelphia’s example? I don’t want to let you do all the thinking; I pray for the day when my church drops “Romanian” from its name too.
