Racial Ethnic and Women's Ministries/PW

Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries/Presbyterian Women

Rhashell Hunter, Director

The Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries/Presbyterian Women ministry area equips racial ethnic congregations, develops Presbyterian communities of faith that reflect our multicultural society, builds leaders of every race and gender and works for racial and gender justice.

From the Director

Sharing the gospel in an increasingly diverse culture

When I was growing up, my parents taught me to welcome persons as friends into our home, regardless of their color or their economic class. As we were the only African American family in our neighborhood, it made sense to be welcoming and to have a cross cultural perspective, as everyone who lived around us was very different from us.

Our church was a multicultural Presbyterian church. One of the best parts of church as a child was hearing the adults debate Scripture and social issues in the “Sermon Talk Back" class that was held after worship. There, church members would debate with either the European American or the African American pastor who preached that week (the African American pastor was my father). The dialogue was rich, passionate, engaging, and a lot of fun for younger members to overhear as we passed through the fellowship hall on the way to our own Sunday school classes. Members of our church learned from each other, and we loved one another. Many of these members still gather together and many have remained close; and in some cases, they have maintained long-distance friendships nurtured by their shared faith and connection in a deeply enriching church family.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is richer because of the many diverse people who worship, sing, tell stories, engage in mission and share sacraments together throughout the United States and with our global partners. Most of us are aware that we now live in a pluralistic society and that many of the places where we live and work are becoming increasingly cross cultural. It makes sense that our churches should become more cross cultural as well. Even among racial ethnic congregations that appear to be monocultural, churches are becoming more cross cultural. There are Asian congregations that are becoming Pan-Asian, with members from Taiwan, China, Korea and the Philippines, for example, all gathered together in one church community. And in some Latino-a congregations, there are often many cultures present, including those from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico and Columbia, for instance, in one congregation. I visited an African new church development where many cultures were represented. Members of that church are from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and other nations from the continent of Africa.

I have also visited predominantly European American congregations that have become more cross cultural. Many of them have a strong sense of mission and an appreciation for diversity. Some of them seek to better reflect the communities that surround their churches. Some are reminiscent of the early Pentecost church, where there were folks from all nations participating in the community of believers.

I greatly value cross cultural experiences, and it makes me wonder why my parents, my family, my church community, and I love diversity while others fear it. As the only African American child in both my elementary and junior high schools, I guess I was forced into this love of cross culturalism because of the variety of people who surrounded me. I wonder what it would have been like if my parents had not insisted that I welcome persons as friends in our home, regardless of their race or class. I have loved being with dear persons who have few or no financial resources on the one hand, while I’ve also enjoyed opportunities to visit with other faithful friends who have large homes and many possessions. There are, of course, justice issues involved in living in a society where some receive minimum wage and have no health insurance and others seem to have so much that they can almost throw money away. Certainly everyone does not have the privilege of traveling in different circles, and many are relegated to associating only with those who are in their same economic situations or cultural contexts. But most of us have choices and can determine what communities we will frequent, what churches we can worship in, what mission we will engage in and, fundamentally, who our friends will be.

What I hope some of us will do is risk being around others who are very different from ourselves. Why? Because we may have both the opportunity to learn and discover new things and the opportunity to experience friendship and love for others who we may otherwise have never had an opportunity to meet – unless we step out in faith and just say, “hello.”

While the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is largely European American, the newest growth in the church is among immigrants and in some racial ethnic congregations. And, there are some Presbyterian communities of faith engaging in cross cultural ministries that do not have a majority of any one culture in their congregations and instead have a balance of many diverse peoples. One of these congregations is Old Bergen Church in Jersey City, N.J., where Rev. Jon Brown is the pastor. This congregation was established in 1660 and has been successful in welcoming new neighbors in the Journal Square neighborhood of Jersey City. Old Bergen Church has also made room for new members who expressed their faith and their worship of God in new ways.

Church of All Nations, where Rev. Dr. Jin Kim is the pastor, is another worshiping community with no racial majority. Located in Minneapolis, Minn., Church of All Nations is a relatively new congregation, founded in 2004. When I visited recently, a young Portuguese-speaking visitor was happy to meet others in the church who also spoke Portuguese. There are children in worship and persons from a variety of backgrounds; thus diversity exists in this church on many levels.

Finally, in the Fall 2011 issue of the Racial Ethnic Torch, you may also read about the newest chartered congregation in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Neema Community Church, near Kansas City, Kan. Neema began as a Bible study with six to eight people in the home of Rev. Dr. David Nzioka and his wife, Dorothy Nzioka. In 2008, the church was chartered as a new church development with the help of Village Church, Heartland Presbytery, and the office of New Immigrant Congregational Support in the Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries/Presbyterian Women ministry area of the General Assembly Mission Council. Rev. Tom Are Jr., the pastor of Village Church, later said that only after building this new faith community did they know that they were starting a new church. They trusted in a relationship that was formed with Rev. Nzioka and were seeing where it would lead.

The challenge to all Presbyterians is to open ourselves up to exploring faithful relationships with diverse people of faith (and those who are seeking faith relationships) and seeing where they may lead. We are also challenged to discover how to share the gospel in an increasingly diverse cultural context. This may be just the reason that we need to work toward cross cultural ministries: so that we can get to know other Presbyterians from a variety of races and ethnicities and discover our commonalities and our differences. In doing so, we have a greater chance of living out the biblical vision of a world where the humanity of everyone is valued and where God’s love is spread to every race and class, culture and people.

Click here to download a copy of the Fall 2011 issue of the Racial Ethnic Torch.

Make a nomination for the 2012 Women of Faith Award

The Women of Faith Awards honors women who have courageously transformed and strengthened the church in its witness and ministry in a time of great transition. The 2012 Women of Faith Awards theme is "Courageous Women Transforming Communities of Faith, Hope, Love & Witness." Deadline to submit nominations is January 23, 2012.

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Welcome home

Growing multicultural congregation reaches out to the homeless in Las Vegas

by Kimberly Burge

Eleven new members - 8 who were baptized and 3 who joined by transfer of letter - are pictured here with Rev. Prachuab Dechawan and his wife, Gloria (at far left), following the church’s 9th anniversary celebration service on September 4, 2011. Photo by Elder Somsak Poolperm.

God’s declaration in the book of Isaiah to call God’s house “a house of prayer for all nations” is a charge First Thai-Laotian Presbyterian Church of Las Vegas, Nev., takes to heart as they build a multicultural ministry. But little did church members know that they would welcome into their house of prayer people from a “nation” forgotten in this country: men living on the Las Vegas streets and sometimes in the bushes behind the church.

When the church organized in 2002 it consisted of four families meeting in one another’s homes for prayer groups. Now on any given Sunday those attending the afternoon Bible study, dinner and worship service might include people from a dozen different ethnic groups. Rev. Prachuab Dechawan leads the growing congregation, which numbers 60 members. He has been shepherding the growth of Thai Presbyterian churches in the United States since the early 1970s, when he helped to establish the first congregation, Thai Community Church in Hollywood, Calif. Other churches formed in Fort Worth, Chicago, New York, and San Jose.

"Perhaps this is my season"

African American Executive Leadership Seminar inspires its participants to greater leadership roles in the church

If Moses got a call, Flo Watkins got a phone call.

Watkins – the first woman and the first African American to serve as pastor of the Seigle Avenue Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, N.C. – recently found her sabbatical interrupted by a series of phone calls and email messages asking her to confirm whether or not she would be attending a seminar for African-American leaders. When she learned that the seminar was intentionally designed to strengthen and nurture the gifts of AfricanAmerican clergy and elders to encourage them to seek out executive and senior leadership roles at all levels of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), she wondered how she was chosen to participate. Continue reading

Introduction to Racial Ethnic & Women’s Ministries/PW: Women’s Leadership Development

Following a brief overview of the mission and ministry of RE&WM/PW, this video shows the many faces of women’s leadership development and how the RE&WM/PW ministry area works to equip, empower and connect women leaders across the church.

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Sharing the gospel in an increasingly diverse culture