The Multicultural Leader

rethinking immigration

The Globe & Mail has been doing a feature set of articles about immigration in Canada, entitled "Rethinking Immigration." The rethinking has to do with the necessity of a substantial increase in immigrants from the current 250,000/year to 400,000/year to maintain a growth economy with the kind of standard of living we presently experience. [now, there is an argument for 'why do we need a growth economy, anyway?' but that's another discussion]

So once again, the future of Canada will continue to be increasingly diverse, with more and more friends from non-Euro backgrounds. If this is the case, how will churches engage with the differences in a shalom-like manner?

"institutional completeness"

Had a chance to listen to Ambrose University College sociology prof Dr Joel Thiessen present a paper ("Christianity in Multicultural Canada") to the Evangelical Missiological Society annual meeting in Edmonton, Feb 24, 2012.

He gave me a name for a phenomenon that we notice quite often with immigrant, "ethnic" churches -- "institutional completeness." Here is Thiessen's explanation:

Christian immigrants develop what sociologists call “institutional completeness” whereby most, if not all of their psychological, social, and spiritual needs are fulfilled through their local congregation and/or ethnic group (Bramadat and Seljak 2008; Breton 1964: 194; Ebaugh and Chafetz 2000). For instance, their social networks are concentrated with those they know in their church and practical needs such as language skills, finding a job, or prayer are met through fellow congregants. In other words, their religious community is their cultural and social community.[1] In contrast to many other Canadian Christians, immigrants, especially visible minorities, rely on institutional completeness to provide them with stability in life via a strong Christian ethnic subculture in the face of significant personal transition and upheaval and possible prejudice and discrimination upon immigrating to Canada.

As we discover, Thiessen affirms there are both positives and negatives with 'institutional completeness.'

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[1] This is also true of Christians in general, particularly conservative Christians who seek to remain “pure” apart from the “corrupt” and secular world around. However, this is uniquely true for most Christian immigrants in Canada today.

Transitioning to a multicultural congregation

Thanks to Missio Dei, the online journal of Tyndale Seminary in Toronto for publishing an article I wrote on the process of transitioning to a multicultural congregation.

In the 1980s a new church was ini­ti­ated in the north-​​west Greater Toronto Area. It was devel­oped as an essen­tially white, Anglo-​​European back­ground con­gre­ga­tion. Early on, how­ever, peo­ple from other cul­tural back­grounds began to attend largely because of a per­ceived com­mon denom­i­na­tional her­itage. In the mid-​​90s the con­gre­ga­tion went through a lead­er­ship hem­or­rhage that left the group with a largely Caribbean-​​background mem­ber­ship. For almost a decade they have been led by an Anglo-​​European back­ground pas­tor with a degree of inter­cul­tural sen­si­tiv­ity. Now their con­gre­ga­tion is at a cross­roads and the pas­tor is won­der­ing how to engage his lead­er­ship team in a dia­logue about becom­ing an inten­tion­ally mul­ti­cul­tural com­mu­nity. One leader spelled it out: “we are multi-​​ethnic in com­po­si­tion, but it’s really only one cul­ture group that influ­ences the decision-​​making.”

look here for the rest of the article

the future of Hamilton will not look more and more like me

Here are some opening thoughts from an article published in Urbanicity this month

I’m a white male, in my early fifties, living in downtown Hamilton, born and raised in Ontario with roots going back more than two centuries in Canada. But the Canada I live in will continue to become increasingly diverse, and noticeably so.

From 2001 to 2006, more than 4000 immigrants settled in Hamilton each year. One half of those newcomers to Hamilton were born in Asia or the Middle East. Only 23% were born in Europe. This pattern is true across Canada, particularly in urban areas.

This means that the complexion of “Hamiltonians” over the next decades will continue to change. And the values and worldviews of new Canadians will gradually cause changes and adjustments to what it means to be “a Canadian.”

My first “Canadian” ancestors migrated to Canada from the United States as ‘loyalists’ to the British monarch at the time of the Revolutionary War (1780s). That means they were fleeing as political refugees. The next grouping of ancestors arrived in Vaughan (“Pennsylvania Dutch” 1792) as religious and political refugees, originally from Switzerland, then from the United States.

My Irish ancestors arrived in eastern Ontario in the 1820s as part of the fallout from the Irish Rebellion of 1798, some having only been recently released from prison. Scottish settlers (1830s) seeking the promise of a more prosperous life in Lanark County arrived only to be disappointed with the story they had been sold by immigration recruiters.

Each of those sets of ancestors brought values and worldviews that have shaped Canadian society. The monarchist United Empire Loyalists, the pacifist Anabaptists who were fined for refusing to contribute to the war effort in 1812, the fighting Irish calling for representative government, and the stern Presbyterian farmers from Scotland who eked out a living on the edge of the Canadian Shield.

What can be said of how Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Ukrainian and Hungarian values and worldviews have shaped Hamilton over the last half century or more of immigration?

What will be said of how the values and worldviews of Indians, Sri Lankans, Iranians, Assyrians, Rwandans, Congolese, Chinese, Philipinos and Vietnamese will shape the Hamilton that my children and grandchildren will live in?

For the rest of the article look here... (p.4)

on 'trusting our guts'

David Livermore has another good article about "trusting our guts." He says when it comes to cross/inter-cultural settings -- don't!!

I find this often with pastors who work in culturally-diverse congregations; there is a tendency to trust their gut, their intuition. The problem is our intuition is the sum total of our experience and reflection on that experience. If we have limited experience of real engagement between cultures, or limited reflection on that experience -- we will be making assumptions about common ground that just aren't there. "Working across cultures does not accord with our intuition. People with cultural intelligence deliberately test their intuitions."

another myth he addresses is regarding 'return on investment' (ROI) for the development of intercultural competence -- it's a soft skill with limited value for the bottom line!

I find very few pastors who lead culturally-diverse congregations are willing to invest in developing their intercultural skills.  Church-growth, yes! Small groups, yes! Management by objective, yes! Willow Creek, yes! John Maxwell, yes! Learn how to work on the cultural challenges of leading a diverse congregation -- what do you mean? That won't pay our bills. The development of intercultural skills affirms giftings, values and worldviews that contribute to a diverse congregation being all that God intends. Just as we invest in discerning spiritual gifts (time, training, inventories, materials, releasing), we should give the same energy to releasing the 'identity gifts' that God has blessed a culturally-diverse congregation with.

a third issue Livermore raises is that people overestimate their skill because they have cross/inter-cultural experience. "I did a short-term assignment." "I was raised in multicultural Toronto." "I grew up in an immigrant family." I have met long-time cross-cultural workers with very limited cultural intelligence.

The development of cultural intelligence is related to 1) the depth of our self-awareness regarding differences between our own culture and others; 2) the extent to which we have gained both general knowledge about how cultures functions, as well as knowledge regarding specific cultures; 3) the extent of our personal willingness or motivation to engage with cultural difference; 4) the extent to which I am willing to adjust and adapt my attitudes and behaviours so that others are at ease. 

Anyone can develop these capacities, but they do require development, they are not natural.