worship in the city

In our church we have some foreign immigrants and refugees. Most of these people are from an African or Latino culture, many speak English only as a second language, and some do not speak or read English at all. I would suggest that these people have by necessity had to sacrifice almost all of their original culture. Although they can often find enclaves of people from their culture in St. Louis, they are forced to become 150% people in order to receive employment, buy groceries, and go to church.

In our church we also have American minority groups. These people are Black, Asian, or Latino people who have grown up in the US, grew up speaking English, and have for most of the history of the US been marginalized and expected to melt into the melting pot (i.e. become white). These people have the freedom to remain 100% in their original cultures, but many have to find employment outside of their cultural network. In addition, the ones who choose to become a part of NCF are leaving their culturally specific church and giving up even more of their original culture. These people are willingly becoming 150% people by choosing to leave the comfort of their original culture and by the fact that they are minorities in a Anglo dominated context.

(Please do not misinterpret the above paragraph to mean that minorities at NCF are somehow “less Black” or “less Asian” or “less Latino.” I am simply acknowledging the fact that attending NCF will never be the same as attending their culturally specific churches. So, when people come to NCF they are making a conscious decision to leave behind their comfort zone in order to participate in a multi-cultural environment.)

Finally, there are people in our church who are Anglo. These people are from European ancestry, speak English, and come from families who have been in the US for several generations. These people are very comfortable in most contexts in St. Louis (employment, shopping, eating out, going to ball games, etc.) because their culture is the dominant culture here. Many of us take for granted that the Anglo way of life is the “normal” way of living in St. Louis. As a result, many of these people have not had to sacrifice any of their culture to live in St. Louis and have had to sacrifice very little of their culture to go to NCF.

Bearing all of that in mind, here is the point of all of this. Sometimes people have made comments like this, “If we are supposed to be multi-cultural, then shouldn’t we try to music in the style of our European heritages as well?” I would say, “No!” Why? ? If we were all starting out from the same position I would say, “Yes”, but the fact is that Anglos have given up so little in comparison. If Anglos are going to reach out in love to our siblings from other cultures, to be incarnational in our ministry, to lay down our lives as living sacrifices to the Lord, we have to recognize that our siblings who are minorities have given up a lot to leave their cultural enclaves to worship with us and our siblings who are immigrants have given up almost everything in order to live in the US. How much should we be willing to sacrifice in the name of showing love to each other? Jesus gave up everything for us, even his life. In the same way that Jesus became a baby in the Jewish context, we have to relate with different cultures as an infant, with humility and a sponge-like eagerness to learn.

In the end, New City Fellowship must become a 150% church. We begin to share our cultures in a way that the natural and comfortable culture here becomes one where different cultures are allowed affect the larger church culture. Our children will grow up singing, “Oshe Baba Oluwa, Oshe” and learning conversational Spanish. They will treasure African-American spirituals as well as Presbyterian hymns as their tradition. NCF will become a unique culture that begins to affect the greater culture of St. Louis, the PCA, and the heritage of the generations who will come after us.

Why does NCF say "Anglo" when it means "white"? "Anglo-" is a prefix that means "England". Last I checked, there are very few white people in the US who truly are from strictly British background. It would be like saying "Sino-" for everyone of Asian decent.

I know it's not on topic, but I've wondered this for a while. I'm sure there's a particular reason and I just don't know what it is.

I don't know either. I just used it because that seems to be the way the wind is blowing. Whatever happened to Caucasian? or how about the pigmently challanged? Euro-trash? Long-nosed devils? Gringos?

Personally, my ancestry is from England, Scottland and Ireland. To quote a classic Simpson's line, "My roots go back to when the Anglos met the Saxons."

I agree with Aimee on this one. Last week, rather cheekily, I asked at house church whether a German would be considered an Anglo. Even more pointedly, would a French man be considered an Anglo? Ouch, them's fighting words. It is an easy, but problematic choice, but perhaps it refers to the language i.e. anglophone. That would not work either as there are parts of Africa, which are called Anglophone and they are not the white South African parts.

On the larger topic, the pemise of 150% people is intriguing. One thing is clear, that minorities do have to shed a lot more of their cultural norms, patterns to be part of the national culture, at least the work culture. A certain amount of this is unavoidable and everyone has to do it, though white folk may have to do so to a lesser degree.

I am genuinely confused about culture, being a bit of a hybrid myself (American and Pakistani). Honestly, for emotional reasons I have more or less chosen to be "American," and that I largely mean white American. I still have Pakistani flava and some cultural tendencies but I do not necessarily feel strongly identified with being a Pakistani. In fact, if a friend refers to me as his "Pakistani" friend, I am genuinely puzzled and feel a bit misunderstood.

Relating to church, I think our church is full of similar mash ups, to borrow a term from popular music culture. And the blend that couples make for themselves and that their children experience are unique to each family. That is pretty cool to me. It can be a challenging place to live.

Another question, I have is whether all the church is called to such mash-ups, not necessarily literally as in an interracial marriage, but in the church setting at least. At the risk of being and NCF heretic, I think the answer is "No," though I would not say that definitively. On the flipside, perhaps really reconcilliation demands it.

And honestly, sometimes I miss the the things one has to give up to be a part of a congregation such as New City and these things don't absolutely correllate with race, but more with liturgical style, and every church has a liturgy no matter how informal or inarticulated it is. I think this "sacrifice" that everyone at NCF makes, coming from every which denomination and liturgical tradition, is worth it, I am just not sure it is absolutely mandatory and some times I get homesick for more straight up, higher church liturgy with confession and creeds and etc.

Complex discussion. Thanks, Kirk.

I believe Anglo is short for Anglo-Saxon. While this can be traced back to the Germanic tribes, the term in America (I think) is more associated with English descent. Since England controlled the 13 colonies, I think it just became habit (recently) to refer to people who were white as having Anglo-Saxon roots. Or Anglo is easier to say than "white non-hispanic" which is used on most applications/documents.

Regardless, I believe it is also important to remember that our ultimate identity is in Christ as sons and daughters. Ethnic identity and cultural definitions are made by humans. While they are a reality we must deal with, I find great comfort in the words of Jesus when he reminds the disciples that they no longer "belong" to the world. I am thankful I do not belong to (even though I am a part of) my white non-hispanic heritage.

VERY interesting, Kirk. 'Course, when you get to writin', things like this often come out. I'm writing this listening to the "Luna" station on XM radio - they play some SERIOUS (no pun intended) Latin jazz on this one. At any rate, I would agree with what you are saying. Often in multi-cultural churches the thinking at least is that there is more of a "burden" on whites to be more flexible (by the bye....saying "white" is perfectly alright to do at NCF. I think Barry will tend to do that as, kinda like Kirk said, the wind is blowing in the direction of Anglo-American, African-American, Asian-American and other such hyphenated definitions of people and where we will stick them because of how we think they look (ahhhhh, PC). For me, having done a chunk of becomming "aware" during the 60's, I'm STILL more comfortable sayin' Black - and will, too). And, while that burden may well be there (and, music team members, we are some of the main people who will hear about the difficulty of the stretching), indeed, we all are not doing it exactly as it would be done were we worshiping, etc. in our own tradition bound homogeneous race/culture groups. However, I would add for consideration that the concept of the multi-cultural church and are we called to do it in the "mashed up' (I like that, Neil) style, that the answer is "Yes", but NCF has nothing to do with it. Could be a matter of interpretation, but, as I see it, the Jewish presentation at the time of Jesus and before could proooooobably have been called the one true Church - with reason, I would think. I mean, when the Lord Himself says that His children are the people of Israel, well.....And, then His Son comes along and blows the whole thang enTIREly up!!!!!! Gets to sayin' TOtally wild stuff, like, in essence, 'my Jewish brethren...it ain't just about us anymore'. 'Because I say so, from here on EVVVVVerybody is welcome in my Fathers' house!!" Can you imagine??? Well, we don't have to imagine, we can read it for ourselves. But, as we know, these words were, what shall we say....not exACTly warmly welcomed. And, we know what happened next, what is happening now, and what we look forward to in his timing. But, the multiculturalism approach and the accompaying wrestling, I would believe, got started then and we continue it until today. 'T'aint easy for any of us, but that's why we do what we do.

This is a very good discussion. I don't know if you have heard of John McWhorter and agree or disagree with him, but here is his take on why he prefers to be referred to as "Black." I realize this is only marginally related to our topic but it has some bearing, I think.

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_latimes-why_im_black.htm

Um, sorry to be dumb, but what's wrong with "White"?

I know I am not white like paper, but Black folks are not black like a Sharpie marker. Yet the terms are there.

Here I am answering (possibly) my own question: it's too easy of a term, and Black people are all different shades, none of which is truly black. Whites are all different shades (though with less variation than Black people), but no White person is truly white. I am writing this, by the way, while looking at the blog colors down here at the bottom: black, white, and Microsoft gray for the scroll bar.

Sigh. What a complex issue, indeed. And although I answered my own question, can I please hear others' second and third opinions? Thanks so much.

Before I write anything else, let me first type, "AMEN!".

Without boring you with the gory details of my Christian formation in an all white Southern Baptist Church, I became drawn to Paul's observation in Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." while a very new believer. But at Duncan Road, it was VERY clear I certainly wasn't white and no one was accomodating to my "needs" as a Black worshipper. To be honest, I had little experience in an all black worship setting, so I was just as happy to sing and worship with what was presented. Oh, in fact, the only time we ever sang black gospel was ONE Christmas for our program. We sang "O Happy Day", and I had the solo, though I am NOT a great singer. Then they had me sing the song while being lowered to the stage by a pneumatic lift. I can't believe I agreed to sing that under those circumstances ,and Kirk I will not agree to play my violin in that manner. But I digress. . .

When I left for college, my heart ached because I still wasn't culturally connected to "my people". So during undergraduate school I swung to the opposite end adopting a radical Afro-centric world view, cutting my hair into a rather large fade thanks to my pops, wearing every chance I had my African Queen sweatshirt, and growing as an active member of a Church of God in Christ, ironically named "Monument of Grace" (Hints, perhaps of my later move to Presbyterianism?)
I learned that I could be both embrace my cultural and spiritual heritage as a black woman and still successfully navigate the white world. Problem? None of my white friends visited my church. When they did, they thought it was "entertaining".

So where does that leave me now? To borrow Neil's verbage "a mash up" of a woman in every since of the word. I wear an Afro. I play a mean violin. I like some rap music. I desire a closer walk with Christ. I'm Black. I'm a sinner saved by God's grace. I have yearned for many years to be a part of a body that wrestles deeply witih reconciliation and who authentically embraces the messy, nasty business of mashed up people in every sense of the word. I pride myself on defying racial stereotypes of black womanhood, but it is costly, my friends. Costly. So I certainly appreciate NCF for encouraging that struggle.

Are we perfect at NCF? No! Imagine, if you will, me opening a ministry moment in this manner:

"Yo what's up! The Freedom School Concert is going to be off the chain, and we about to blow it up in the Sheldon!"

If I did that Darwin and Suzanne would collectively gang up on me on the spot! But is that not a part of black cultural expression? Now to be fair, I don't think many black preachers in their right mind would speak in that manner to their congregations, but if I was anything BUT super refined as a speaker, I'm not so sure folks would even hear me for the stereotype screaming at them.

Okay. . . this has become a tome and it's the end of a long week at school. No worries y'all, I'm handling my business at Freedom. . . Just needed to share a bit. . .

I hope that I wouldn't be surprising anyone by saying that NCF is still rife with problems that have their roots in prejudice and cultural ignorance. The difference is simply that we're willing to work on it.

I get asked fairly regularly "where I'm from". When I say that I am American (the most accurate answer, for that is what I am), that statement is usually met with a dismissive gesture of the hand and further probing about foreign countries rather than asking questions that are actually about my life. What am I? I'm Aimee. I'm a child of God. I am who I am, I do what I do, I like what I like. That's it. I am not the result of a mashing up of cultures. I am a result of God's intentions. I do not feel a need to talk about countries to let people know what I'm truly about. Now, no one would dream of asking a black American where in Africa "home" is. Why then must I justify my physical appearance by invoking the name of some Asian country? People seem to feel a need to assign that particular label to me before they even get to know me— even the "politically correct", "racially sensitive" people of NCF.

While people at NCF may try very hard to celebrate what is unique and different about other cultures, they may be ignoring the more important commonality to our identities: our membership in the body of Christ. Don't you feel like you know someone better when you have something big in common? I believe it is much more important to welcome someone to NCF by identifying with them and celebrating the things we share, for those things are spiritual truth and our true identities as indicated in the Galatians verse that is being invoked over and over in this comment thread. By doing that we can celebrate the incredible work God has done in bringing people from across the world together under His banner. Instead, what is the first thing we do? We try to see and point out how they're different culturally, to put them in a box with a label on it so we feel that we know how to relate them appropriately. I know it's just because we are excited about diversity, and no harm is meant. It is indeed important to recognize some of those cultural differences in order to minister to people more effectively and even to know them more deeply. It would, however, be an exercise in growth to focus first on what we all share, and then to share the things we do not.

Color words? I believe the accepted terms ARE "black" and "white". Why all the extra syllables that only make for LESS accurate terms (i.e. Anglo-American)? The terms "black" and "white" both seem to be acceptable to the people they are used to describe, and shouldn't be perceived to have a pejorative tone. However I would prefer not to be called "yellow," thank you very much. If you think about it, black and white are the only two races to which Americans commonly refer by their color. That's because of America's specific history. I've heard brown, red, and yellow used in passing but they really do sound unusual, don't they? (Hahaha, a Sharpie marker, that's funny...)

And Odetta! Being lowered down onto the stage on a pneumatic lift! That's awesome. Talk about highlighting differences...

I really enjoyed the comments above. It reminded meof the background of the Galatians 3:28 passage. The Jews used to thank God for not making them: a Woman, a Gentile or a Slave. Paul attacks that view and shows us, as Aimee thankfully pointed out, what makes us one or the greter common areas we have.
It is very interesting to live and work in the last few years with people who have a different cultures than mine. When you live in your own culture it ir possible to be blinded to the sinful areas of your won culture. I am outside of my own culture and see where the failures in my culuture are. Belive me I am very thankful for that. But the same time when I see my friends from the settled culture fail to see where they are failing to see me as a person who is saved by the grace of God it makes reconciliation a very hard work. There are conflicts that happened just because cultural differences. But God, in his grace, called us to this privilage and I am committed to live in it with all my cultural and sinful nature mess.

But God is "mashing us up" for his eternal purpose. My prayers is that we will learn to look at each other through the eyes of Christ as people who belong to him. I hope we will see each other as a body and as real persons with the need of grace. We will see each others as people than projects. Then we will know we all are sinners and in need of a saviour who has reconciled the two in one.

Thank you Lord Jesus for starting to make Isiah 2 a reality with in the NCF community.