THE CHURCH AND DIVERSITY PASTOR WEYINMI JEMIDE

Transcription

1 THE CHURCH AND DIVERSITY PASTOR WEYINMI JEMIDE

2 INTRODUCTORY PERSPECTIVES INTRODUCTION LOCATION AND NAMES EXERCISE VIDEO GENEALOGY 2

3 INTRODUCTION THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO REFLECT DIVERSITY DIVERSITY OF PEOPLE ONE BODY, MANY MEMBERS DIVERSITY OF GIFTS GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD BE ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN NO JEW, NO GENTILE 3

4 LOCATION AND NAMES EXERCISE ONE PERSON FROM THE IGBO-SPEAKING PART OF NIGERIA ONE PERSON FROM THE YORUBA- SPEAKING PART OF NIGERIA ONE PERSON FROM EDO STATE ONE PERSON FROM AKWA-IBOM 4

5 VIDEO: THE DNA JOURNEY (CARLOS) 5

6 LESSONS FROM CARLOS VIDEO HUMAN DIFFERENCES CAN BE ARTIFICIAL STEREOTYPES CREATE DIFFERENCES OUR DISCRIMINATORY TENDENCIES ARE OFTEN UNCONSCIOUS BUT THEY EXIST THE CHURCH IS NOT AS DIVERSE THAN GOD WANTS IT TO BE 6

7 MY GENEALOGY ORIGIN CLAIMED: ITSEKIRI BY TRIBE AND NATIVE LANGUAGE PATERNAL ITSEKIRI, A SLICE OF URHOBO AT GREAT-GRAND LEVEL MATERNAL LEBANESE, ITSEKIRI/URHOBO BACKGROUND OF BELIEFS: PATERNAL HEATHEN/IDOLATRY, BAPTIST, CATHOLIC MATERNAL - MUSLIM, HEATHEN/IDOLATRY, CATHOLIC 7

8 UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY NIGERIA QUESTIONS THE CHURCH 8

9 DIVERSITY: NIGERIA 520 LANGUAGES 377 TRIBES 36 STATES 774 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS 109 SENATORIAL DISTRICTS 360 FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES 9

10 DIVERSITY DIVERSITY IS ABOUT EVERY SINGLE PERSON EVERYONE IS UNIQUE AND THEIR PERSPECTIVES ARE DIFFERENT, BASED ON LOTS OF INFLUENCES SUCH AS LIFE EXPERIENCES, CULTURE, LEARNING STYLES, PERSONALITY TYPE, EDUCATION, ETC. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US MAKES UP THE MIX AND DIVERSITY, BY DEFAULT, IS NATURALLY AROUND US. 10

11 DIVERSITY: KEY QUESTIONS DIVERSITY IS ABOUT EVERY SINGLE PERSON: DOES THE CHURCH RECOGNISE THIS? EVERYONE IS UNIQUE AND THEIR PERSPECTIVES ARE DIFFERENT, BASED ON LOTS OF INFLUENCES SUCH AS LIFE EXPERIENCES, CULTURE, LEARNING STYLES, PERSONALITY TYPE, EDUCATION, ETC. DOES THE CHURCH TREAT PEOPLE AS UNIQUE? EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US MAKES UP THE MIX AND DIVERSITY, BY DEFAULT, IS NATURALLY AROUND US. IS THE CHURCH PRACTISING DIVERSITY? 11

12 THE CHURCH AND DIVERSITY: EXTERNAL Unreached Church-averse Acknowledging but not acting Religious Needy Bondage/Addiction Food Clothing Shelter Healthcare Alcohol, smoking, hard drugs Prostitution Occultism imprisoned 12

13 THE CHURCH AND DIVERSITY: INTERNAL Financial Status Sexuality Gender Marital Status Rich Middle income Low income Poor Open Concealed Heterosexual Bisexual Homosexual Male Female Others Single Mature Single Young Married Divorced Divorced and remarried Separated Physically married but practically divorced Widowed 13

14 THE CHURCH AND DIVERSITY: INTERNAL Age Tribe/Language Physical Education Children Adolescents Teens Tweens Adult - mid age Adult - elder Nigeria 520 languages 377 tribes Nations Cultures Languages Missions Disabled/Physical ly challenged Deaf Dumb Blind Educated Educated/Informed Illiterate Semi-literate 14

15 GLOBAL LANGUAGE DIVERSITY CURRENTLY 6,909 LIVING LANGUAGES. ABOUT 6% OF THEM HAVE MORE THAN A MILLION SPEAKERS EACH AND COLLECTIVELY ACCOUNT FOR 94% OF THE WORLD POPULATION. 15

16 U.N POPULATION STATISTICS: THE TOP 10 Rank Country Population (2016) WORLD 7.5 BILLION 1 CHINA 1.4 BILLION 2 INDIA 1.3 BILLION 3 UNITED STATES 322 MILLION 4 INDONESIA 261 MILLION 5 BRAZIL 208 MILLION 6 PAKISTAN 193 MILLION 7 NIGERIA 186 MILLION 8 BANGLADESH 163 MILLION 9 RUSSIA 144 MILLION 10 MEXICO 127 MILLION Nigeria: The 7 th most populous nation on eart 16

17 ENGAGING DIVERSITY: JESUS EXAMPLE WOMEN CHILDREN MEN OUTCASTS SAMARITAN LEPERS DRUNKARDS DEMON-POSSESSED SINNERS TAX COLLECTORS/PUBLICANS 17

18 ENGAGING DIVERSITY: EXTERNALLY REACHING THE UNREACHED HAVING A PLAN FOR SOCIETAL OUTCASTS BEING ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN ACROSS CULTURE, ACROSS BORDERS RECOGNISING EXTERNAL DIVERSITY CONNECT INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DIVERSITY DESIGNING OUTREACHES FROM INSIDE-OUT DO MORE OUTREACH MULTIPLE AUDIENCES AND METHODS AUDIENCE-APPROPRIATE 18

19 ENGAGING DIVERSITY: INTERNALLY KEEPING PEOPLE CONNECTED AND ENGAGED HIGHER RETENTION RAPID INTEGRATION REDUCING CHURCH FORMALITY SHIFTING GEAR FOR A NEW GENERATION REACHING THE UNREACHED WITHIN (EVEN IN SMALLER PARISHES) RECOGNISING INTERNAL DIVERSITY 19

20 CONCLUSION JESUS CHRIST LED THE WAY IN ENGAGING DIVERSITY ARE WE FOLLOWING HIS EXAMPLE? ARE WE CONSTRAINED BY OUR BIASES? WE MUST TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE OF BUILDING A MORE DIVERSE CHURCH. 20