The New England Challenge: Multicultural Cities and Multicultural Churches

Within the last few decades, ethnic churches have emerged across New England, dotting the ecclesiastical landscape of its major cities. In noticeable contrast with older established churches with growth profiles that have plateaued, ethnic churches have witnessed significant growth both nationally and throughout New England. This article seeks to rethink our approach and theology for the existence of ethnic churches. It will also explore the missiological phenomenon referred to as reverse missions and what contributions it can make in responding to the urban challenge of mission in the cities by the Baptist Churches of New England. 

The multicultural church in urban contexts is a theological and practical necessity. The kind of churches planted in urban New England should be multiethnic to reflect the community's ethos. If there is too little identification with the culture, the church becomes a subcultural ghetto. If it assumes too much of the culture’s perspectives and values, it domesticates and tames the gospel.  It is in multicultural churches that the miracle of unity in diversity, a testimony of the divine power and presence of God, is reflected (John 17:20-23). For it is only through the mighty working of God that ethnic, social, and other biases, which raise barriers and walls, can be overcome. At the heart of the issue of ethnic churches are the twin demons of pride and prejudice, which limit factors to the church's evangelistic mission.

Understanding The Role of Ethnic Churches 

Ethnic churches nevertheless do have a critical role to play in ministry to the immigrants found in the bustling urban centers. Among the functions ethnic churches serve are providing a sense of community and belonging, bestowing a support system for needy immigrants, reinforcing communal values, establishing a forum for learning local languages for second generation migrants, and a base for launching mission programs to the homeland. Thus, the church provides spiritual and socioeconomic support systems to help migrants assimilate into their unfamiliar environment. To facilitate assimilation and adaptation Brazilian migrant churches provide four social functions: (1) fellowship, (2) maintaining tradition, (3) social services, and (4) social status, thus serving as “a home away from home for many generations of immigrant families”.

Making an Evaluation of Ethnic Churches 

Clearly ethnic churches have an indispensable missionary role to a growing segment of urban America such as no other agency can provide. What is more, such a ministry is strategic in winning people who in their homelands would never have access to Christianity; for instance, Chinese people. 

Ethnic churches also play a stabilizing and preservative role for migrant Christians who could get lost in their struggle for financial survival in the cities of New England. Ethnic churches also have a noteworthy influence beyond simply retaining or reaching out to people of their own group. Despite the marginalization they experience, due to accent, culture, and worldview differences there is a lot of prejudice.

Ethnic churches also constitute a vital revitalizing and renewing force that can nurture American Christianity, presently exhibiting a decline in vitality, attendance, and membership.

Unfortunately, although ethnic churches play a significant missionary role in witnessing to migrant communities, and in stimulating spiritual renewal among indigenous Western peoples, they still can only be found along the fringes of church life and mission in North America. Some of the smaller ethnic churches find great difficulty in being accepted into the organization and structure model of leadership that they usually have due to lack of cultural contextualization. Immigrant pastors working with such churches often find themselves confined for the rest of their ministries to a particular local church unable to relocate to any other type of church.

The question that needs to be answered is, what can be done to harness the missionary potential of ethnic churches in the cities of America? In other words, what model of church would be most effective in fulfilling the mission objectives of the Church in New England? Theologically, the model of church I wish to propose for more effective mission in urban America is multicultural churches that have taken ethnic churches under their wings to partner with them in mission and ministry. This is because the eschatological church of the end-time will be a racially diverse church whose ethnic diversity is reflective of the character of God and the worship due to him.

History teaches us that the center of Christianity has always been in a state of flux. At the heart of this constant movement are migrants who have born with them in their displacements their faith and missionary passion. Since migration and globalization have produced significant challenges to how mission can be conducted in the cities of contemporary North America, it is therefore of extreme importance that new paradigms be sought to respond to the rapid changes that are evident in contemporary missions. A new paradigm that is emerging under the direction of the Holy Spirit is the emergence of ethnic churches and the phenomenon of reverse missions. The church in New England should be ready to embrace ethnic churches and the missiological opportunity migration provides. It should also with intentionality establish strategic collaboration with ethnic churches and agents of reverse missions to coordinate a more comprehensive and effective mission partnership for witness to the cities. 

Understanding Reverse Missions

Reverse mission starts with a deep sense of gratitude from those who have benefited from historical European & North American mission activity, either in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America or Asia. It is this sense of gratitude, combined with the understanding that Europe & North America also has need of missionaries, that has led to missionaries being sent to New England from across the majority world (that is, Africa, Caribbean, Asia and Latin America).

Some are sent intentionally from churches or mission agencies across these continents to be missionaries to the US. But do people from these places who are referred to as economic migrants, or refugees, or those who’ve come to study here, also count as reverse missionaries? Yes, some of them do, because while they may have come to New England as a refugee for example, they may at the same time have the sense that God is calling them to be on mission in America.

Are reverse missionaries welcome in New England?

The idea that America does not need missionaries is ridiculous, because the need is obvious. We only must look at how many people are not Christians, the number of churches who’ve declined in the last 40 years, and how our values as a society have changed. Besides, if New England is a multicultural multi-ethnic society, then it’s important that the Church that’s reaching that society is also multicultural and multi-ethnic.

There are New England churches that have invited and welcomed reverse missionaries. Many national bodies are also recognizing the contribution of Christians from all parts of the world, but while I’ve personally been welcomed, I’m also aware that there are cases where reverse missionaries have not been accepted or valued.

There are ongoing conversations to better understand reverse missionaries. The mission field has become a mission force. We've just started to help facilitate such conversations, so that we can all work together for God’s kingdom.

After all, we all need each other!

Lierte Soares serves the Baptist Churches of New England as the Vice President. He is a pastor, educator and missionary with a passion for evangelism & discipleship. A graduate in Theology and Law, he also holds a master's degree with a concentration in Cross-Cultural Missions from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, and is currently working on his doctorate in evangelism and missions at the same seminary.