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AEC2000 A Gospel Invitation in a World of Many PeoplesArt McPhee Assistant Professor of Missions and Evangelism, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana IntroductionRecently, I was invited to the 15th anniversary of a Mennonite church that began in our living room, and which I pastored for ten years. When we finally got around to building, we built a joint worship center with Messianic Jews and Southern Baptists. All three groups raised money together and provided volunteers for some of the work. I am happy to report that nearly a decade after the building’s completion, all three groups still have a strong friendship—and, also, that an Assembly of God Church now meets there on Sunday evening. Friday evenings are still open, which I think would be perfect for a Christian mosque. Recently the Messianic Jewish rabbi told me he had changed his mind and would now welcome such a mosque too. Worship can be exciting at the Greendale Worship Center. Mennonites, for example, have been known to dance at Succoth. On Resurrection Sunday, with coincides pretty closely to the Jewish Feast of First Fruits, the Mennonite pastor and Jewish rabbi often preach a joint sermon—perhaps on "Christ, the First Fruits of the Resurrection." On the communion table, symbolizing the occasion is a huge glass bowl of fresh fruit brought by members of the congregations. After the service, the two groups will have a time of fellowship and fruit. Both Mennonites and Southern Baptists have found the Purim service to be great fun, and they have joined in heartily with their boos to Haman. Its hard to see how one could ever describe that service as "the bland leading the bland." Our attention has been focused this weekend mainly on multicultural churches, of which there are two basic types: multicongregational-multicultural churches (i.e. largely homogeneous groups and ministries within a larger church "unity), like the churches I’ve just described; and multiethnic-multicultural churches (i.e., churches that are designed to promote heterogeneous fellowship), like Mosaic (formerly the Church on Brady) in Los Angeles. We have also talked about churches that meet the needs of indigenous cultures—that gladly take their place in the larger church, but are fearful of compromising their cultural identity. And we have talked about bi-racial and multi-racial churches, which may or may not be multicultural. The title assigned to me suggests a slightly different direction. The title is "A Gospel Invitation in a World of Many Peoples." My understanding is that I am to explore how existing monocultural churches can become involved in sharing the Good News cross-culturally. As a backdrop to my remarks, I’d like to begin by calling your attention to two brief scripture passages. The passages I have in mind describe the church’s very first cross-cultural missionaries and are found in the Book of Acts. Acts 8:4-13:
Acts 11:19-21:
______________________________ What does it take for a church to faithfully and effectively communicate the gospel cross-culturally? Point 1 - A Clear-Eyed Look at the Implications of the GospelPoint 2 - A Clear-Eyed Look at the Cultural Mosaic Point 3 - A Clear-Eyed Look at Whether the Church is Relational or Programmatic in Its Orientation Point 4 - A Clear-Eyed Look at the Church's Own Cultural Assumptions and Attitudes Point 5 - A Look at the Most Effective Way to Communicate the Gospel Cross-Culturally
Art McPhee, assistant professor of missions and evangelism at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, is the former "friendship evangelism" speaker on the Mennonite Hour.
Taken from A New Humanity: Anabaptist Ministry Among Many Peoples (© 2000 New Life Ministries). Permission to reproduce for local church use only is granted. Provided by New Life Ministries, 6404 S Calhoun St, Fort Wayne, IN 46807, through its web site at www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org This and all presentations from the council meeting, along with a record of the proceedings, are available in booklet form for $10.00. Use the online order form (product code AEC00).
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