“We must face the fact the church is still the most segregated major institution in America. At 11:00 on Sunday morning when we stand and sing, and Christ has no east or west, we stand at the most segregated hour in this nation.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1963.

Too often this statement remains true today. Yet in a world that is becoming increasingly connected, Mark DeYmaz, Ryan Edwards, Phil Jackson and Soong-Chan Rah believe multi-ethnic ministry has the potential to change this and all those who take part.

A recognized leader in the emerging, multi-ethnic church movement, Mark DeYmaz is the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, a multi-ethnic and economically diverse church. He is also author of the book Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church (Jossey-Bass/Leadership Network).

Ryan Edwards formerly served as the EXP Catalyst at Mosaic Church in California, a church whose name comes from the diversity of its members and the symbolism of a broken and fragmented humanity becoming a work of beauty under the artful hands of God. There, Ryan constantly found beauty in the diversity within his ministry and taught his students to do the same.

A veteran youth worker, Phil Jackson is the pastor of The House Ministries at Lawndale Community Church in Chicago, where he engages youth through hip hop. He is co-author of the book The Hip Hop Church (IVP Books) and is passionate about multi-ethnic and urban ministry.

A leader in the Asian American Church, Soong-Chan Rah also is becoming a voice in the multi-ethnic church movement. He was the founding pastor of Cambridge Community Fellowship Church, a multi-ethnic, urban ministry in Cambridge, Mass., and is now an assistant professor at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago.

Together, their wisdom challenges us and gives us hope.

YouthWorker Journal: Books such as The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart say we seek out people who are similar to ourselves. Is it important in ministry to seek out other kinds of people? Why?

Mark DeYmaz: It’s not only important, it’s biblically mandated for the sake of the gospel…and I’m not simply referring to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). The intentionality displayed by individuals like Philip, the men of Cyprus and Cyrene (Acts 11:20) and, of course, Paul in extending themselves to others of varying ethnicity not only describes but prescribes for us the way in this regard.

Ryan Edwards: When you start gathering around people who are the same, there are not a lot of new ideas. You always need to get outside your comfort zone by networking, reading books and sharing different ideas with people—even if it’s things you don’t agree with.

Phil Jackson: It’s almost a mandate to seek out diverse people. Christ picked a diverse crew of knuckleheads. He put together 12 different types of people and personalities. We need to instill virtue in our students and an appreciation of their culture and of the culture around them.

Soong-Chan Rah: It is important to create a space that is a place of safety and discomfort. American materialism pushes us toward comfort and safety, not discomfort. Therefore, we do not grow. We need a message that challenges the status quo and our assumptions about comfort. That happens when we develop relationships with those different from ourselves—not only cross-culturally but also across socio-economic lines.

YWJ: What does it mean for a youth ministry to be multi-ethnic or multi-cultural?

Mark: These two terms are not necessarily synonymous. A multi-ethnic youth ministry is one that promotes a spirit of inclusion among those of varying ethnic, economic and educational backgrounds; and some use the term “multi-cultural” with this in mind. Others, however, use it to describe a commitment to “multi-culturalism.” Multi-culturalism advocates a society that extends equal status to distinct cultural and religious groups, one in which there is no pervading cultural or spiritual truth.

Ryan: It’s a youth ministry that doesn’t cater to or seek out any one ethnic group. It’s a group that seeks to reflect the people around it. It’s one that’s filled with diversity and embraces that diversity.

Soong-Chan: There are two different streams of multi-ethnic ministry. The first is being color-blind—where we all get along, join hands and are united without dealing with our differences and our history. The other is genuine reconciliation. This is important because youth can smell the lack of authenticity in a multi-ethnic ministry that ignores our history and seeks to create a disingenuous form of multiethnic ministry. We cannot have a multi-ethnicity that is watered down, where the dominant culture is still the main form of expression. When this happens, it deteriorates into a show rather than a genuine reconciliation. If we are playing the game of multi-ethnic ministry, then we will be using the biblical value of multi-ethnicity as a marketing tool and as a means of growing our own Christian empires.

YWJ: What are the biblical and theological models for ministry to diverse people?

Mark: In John 17, Christ envisioned the unity of the church “so the world would know God’s love and believe.” Later in Acts, Luke describes a local church that fulfilled this vision (Antioch), one in which Jews and Gentiles walked, worked and worshipped God together. Finally, Paul prescribes the multi-ethnic church in the book of Ephesians, defining it as “the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:6), i.e., the way of the future.

Phil: The incarnation is the model. Christ coming to earth is the main example of us being multi-cultural, multi-color, multi-class.

Soong-Chan: God’s intention begins with Genesis 3, the image of God. We were created with the intention of reflecting unity in the midst of diversity. Then we see the tower of Babel in Genesis 11. What is the curse in the Babel story? It’s not the creation of different cultures but how sin drives us away from unity into division. In Micah 4, we have the promise of restoration and the hope of all different nations, tribes and people gathering before the mountain of the Lord to worship together. This is a future image we have not yet seen fulfilled. It is the image of reversing the curse of the tower of Babel.

In Acts 2, we catch a glimpse of God’s restoration and reversing the curse, even to the point of unifying the language. The Epistles present the importance of relationships and the tearing down of the walls of hostility and give us guidelines on how to live out the multi-ethnic vision of Micah and Acts. Then Revelation 7 presents us with the future hope. We live between the inauguration of the multi-ethnic community in Acts 2 and the promise of the fulfillment and consummation of that community in Revelation 7.

YWJ: What are the benefits of a multi-cultural youth ministry?

Mark: The presentation of a credible gospel witness. It also provides an environment through which students can develop authentic relationships of transparency and trust among those with varying backgrounds. This leads to genuine understanding of the needs and issues of others unlike ourselves and ultimately to students challenging the status quo (systemic racism) in the name of Christ and for His glory.

Ryan: It teaches students to engage in the world and be aware of how huge the world is. It teaches them there are beautiful things in every culture and people group.

Soong-Chan: By encountering and building relationships with “the other” we learn about the multi-faceted character of God.

YWJ: What are the biggest obstacles to multi-cultural ministry, and how can we overcome them?

Mark: One of the biggest obstacles will be getting beyond what some might otherwise like or want to the wholehearted pursuit of what Christ desires for the look, feel and purpose of the ministry. The challenge is to develop a ministry that becomes authentically concerned for the needs of others beyond one’s own personality, preferences and experience. To overcome these obstacles, you’ll have to lay down your life, redefine success and be willing to labor in obscurity.

Soong-Chan: The consumer society and church wanting easy answers. This causes us to jump to multi-ethnic ministry without dealing with racial reconciliation. It becomes a fad; and everyone wants to do it, but not everyone wants to do it right.

YWJ: How can we help young people value and celebrate cultural differences?

Mark: Help them get comfortable with being uncomfortable around others unlike them. Model a love for all people beyond the distinctions of this world that so often divide. Teach them Christ’s heart for the nations across the street and around the world. Please do not say, “I don’t see color.” You need to see color just as God does! He didn’t just create one fish in the sea or a single flower in the garden. The multi-ethnic vision involves men and women from every nation, tribe, people and tongue worshipping Him with a single voice (Revelation 7:9-10).

Phil: Really it’s about doing life with each other. No program ever can accomplish what will be achieved when we intentionally come together a couple of times of week with people not like us.

YWJ: The world is growing more multi-cultural. What does that mean for ministry in the future?

Mark: In an increasingly diverse and cynical society, people no longer will find credible the message that God loves all people as preached from segregated pulpits and pews. In other words, the homogeneous church unintentionally undermines the very message we espouse! The reformative nature of the multi-ethnic church movement will lead local congregations to pursue diverse others with passion and purpose and to an increasing diversity within the congregation and its leadership. Upon this rests the very hope of the gospel in the 21st century.

Soong-Chan: If we don’t adapt, if we are not aware, if we do not become more multi-cultural—these ministries will die. This is already happening. Churches that are not working to become more multi-cultural or adapting to a changing demographic are dying out.

YWJ: How do you see urban ministry evolving in the years to come?

Ryan: Urban ministries are going to have the same challenges. As cities begin to change, urban ministries are going to have to become more diverse.

Soong-Chan: What happens in the city reaches all parts of society. Recognize the cultural shaping power of the city. Also, recognize that urban/suburban dynamics are changing and acknowledge the role of immigration patterns in impacting that change. For example, immigration does not only come through the city; it is coming through the suburbs and rural communities. How does that change outreach to immigrant communities?

YWJ: Anything else we should know?

Mark: The emerging multi-ethnic church movement is currently in a pioneer stage. One hundred years from now, I have no doubt it will be viewed as the most significant movement of God concerning the local church and leading to the advance of the gospel in the 21st century.