Hee Sook gave birth to her third child shortly after joining Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in the Durham, North Carolina, area. The Rev. Mark Lykins felt nervous about visiting her in the hospital. After all, he didn't know Hee Sook or her family very well and didn't speak Korean, Hee Sook's primary language. But Hee Sook was weak from the delivery and the serious infection that ensued, so Mark briefly stopped by her hospital room. He told this story:

Upon entering her room, I noticed the heart monitor and the numerous IVs she was receiving. I eased into the room. Hee Sook seemed to be resting. I didn't want to disturb her, so I started to leave. She saw me and gasped with surprise that I had come to visit. Weak as she was, she not only sat up, but stood up in her hospital bed and bowed to me, saying in halting English, "Thank you, thank you, thank you...."

After I helped her get back in bed, there was not a whole lot we were able to communicate verbally. But the concern and the thanks we shared went way beyond words that day! Isn't that always the way with God's Spirit of Love?! God helped us to leap over the barriers of language, culture, nationality, and race through a willingness to be sensitive to each other... because of God's love for each of us.

How do people like Mark and Hee Sook learn to communicate and celebrate each other's differences? How do parishioners build multicultural, multinational, and multiracial churches? These are some of the questions the Rev. Clinton Parker, Jr., is answering as executive staff member for Evangelization and Church Growth at the General Board of Global Ministries.

"It is important for persons engaged in multicultural ministry to know that they are not alone," Rev. Parker said. The office of Evangelization and Church Growth provides support in human, financial, and training resources. Parishioners learn to create church communities as diverse as the neighborhoods in which they reside.

Training events, like the one held at Culmore United Methodist Church in Falls Church, Virginia, May 1-3, 1997, help churches rise to the call of inclusive membership and worship. At Culmore, there are 29 cultures represented in the membership. Many of these members have recently arrived in the United States.

Culmore has a typical immigration pattern. Nearly one-third of new people arriving in the U.S. are from Asian countries, and half are from Latin American countries. Demographers project that early in the next century no one ethnic group will compose more than 50 percent of the total population. Churches accustomed to a homogeneous population have a unique opportunity to enrich their congregation by inviting the new neighbors to gather together at God's table.

Rev. Douglas W. Ruffle, executive staff for Evangelization and Church Growth, said: "By its very nature, the multicultural church is inviting. It opens its door to all persons. Inclusive and hospitable to all, it should have a banner hung above its entrance reading, 'The Church Where Everybody Is Somebody.'"

For more information about materials and training events that can assist your church in growth, revitalization, and outreach, call the office of Evangelization and Church Growth at the General Board of Global Ministries at (212) 870-3715.

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