by Douglas Ruffle, Multi-ethnic Net Circular

Is your multi-ethnic church “rooftop” or “rain barrel”? Or a combination?

There are many ways that a Multi-ethnic congregation can be organized. Some churches see themselves as “rooftop” organizations. Under the same protective covering, different cultural groups are housed. This kind of church might have separate worship services according to language or ethnicity. The Community United Methodist Church in Jackson Heights, Queens (New York City) holds four different language-based worship services each Sunday: English, Chinese, Spanish and Korean. One church houses four separate worshiping units under one administrative structure.

Another way to organize Multi-ethnic ministry is more akin to a rain barrel than a rooftop. Rather than hold different units under one roof, it catches everyone together. Culmore United Methodist Church in Falls Church, Virginia, is home to persons from more than 32 different nationalities. They hold one Sunday service incorporating expressions of worship from a variety of ethnic groupings.

Between the rooftop and rain barrel forms of organization are many other models and combinations. We do not consider a church to be Multi-ethnic simply because it shares facilities with another congregation of a different culture. Multi-ethnic ministry infers intentionality at being one body, whether that body is divided into multiple cells or is one unit.

Rooftop or rain barrel? What type of multi-ethnic congregation is your church?

	See Also... Topic: Christian love |  Communities |  Evangelization |  GBGM programs |  Geographic Region: United States |  Source: Evangelization and Church Growth
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Date posted: Aug 30, 1999