MBC EMBRACING AN INTERNATIONAL IDENTITY Tim Blencowe, Kevin Jin - March 2017 We believe that God has called us to be a united multi-ethnic community, and that our unity in Jesus is key to our mission and witness in Macquarie Park as we reach out in compassionate love to people of all ethnicities, beginning with those who are our neighbours already. Our unity-in-diversity is given to us by God, but needs constant effort to appreciate as we value our differing cultures of origin, and at the same time seek to create new cultural patterns together that reflect our shared Christ Culture. This paper presents key strategies that we believe will honour this calling for MBC. These are presented in terms of four focus areas. (1) OWNERSHIP The first and most important focus area is ownership. The energy to embrace an international church identity needs to come from a membership that is convinced of the vision and feels a sense of ownership for making it happen. And, in turn, the MBC Leadership must drive the vision, and take responsibility for helpfully leading the members through whatever strategic and structural transitions this will require. PROPOSAL 1.1 The MBC membership and Leadership will commit to embracing an International Church identity. It is God s will for his church around the world to be international, reaching out to one another across boundaries of culture, and fully including those who are different without assuming our own culture is superior. God calls us all to work together toward an alternative Christ-shaped culture. Our basis for unity is in sharing and enacting our common identity in Christ, loving one-another as equal recipients of grace and adoption. This unity does not mean uniformity. The diversity of human culture is a part of God s creative genius and appreciation of this diversity is an important part of the way we honour God s love of all people. It is also an exercise in personal humility as we set aside assumptions of superiority and adopt a posture of welcome, and expecting to learn valuable insights from the way others see things. At the same time, we recognise that every culture is in need of transformation and renewal. Through the power of God in the gospel, God s people are called to be radically counter-cultural in their habits
and attitudes, leaving behind ungodly patterns and working together to create a new Christ-shaped culture instructed by God s word, and guided by the Spirit and character of Jesus. MBC will no longer use the terminology of Local International Ministry (LIM) so as to dissuade any sense that people of non-english speaking background are on a separate path of discipleship and fellowship. In place of LIM, we propose a range of targeted measures that address the specific discipleship and integration needs of overseas students, and focussing on seeing people integrated as quickly as possible into a single community and common identity, providing whatever specialised ministry helps are needed to get them to that point. The Leadership Team is responsible to work this change through all strategy discussions. PROPOSAL 1.2 The MBC Leadership will devise a position statement on international ministry for leaders to affirm. In order to ensure long term traction and deep cultural change in our church community, our commitment to international identity needs to be written into the vision and strategy of our church. This will include a position statement that articulates the purpose of embracing a multi-ethnic identity, and which is to be affirmed by anyone committing to an elected leadership role. The Leadership Team is responsible to devise the statement. PROPOSAL 1.3 The MBC pastors will commit to providing Bible teaching on key issues related to the transition. We need to be constantly going back to the scriptures to ensure that our church practice and ministry outlook is motivated and shaped by the gospel of grace. Some will see the transition to international church as an obvious thing. Others will find it a challenge. There are also pitfalls around these issues that we could easily fall into. We need to keep making sure that our discussion and decisions are grounded in God s will. The church pastors are responsible to set this direction. PROPOSAL 1.4 The MBC Leadership Team will establish a committee to advise on issues of community integration. The Leadership Team will look to establish a committee made up of MBC people representing a full variety of backgrounds. The committee would meet several times a year with the aim to evaluate the progress that MBC is making in: (1) reaching and relating to the various cultural groups presented in the local area, (2) welcoming and integrating people of different backgrounds into the church fellowship, (3)
expressing Christ-given unity in a way that values difference, and (4), developing a shared community culture that honours the redeeming work of Christ. The committee would then make strategic recommendations to the Leadership Team. (2) FELLOWSHIP The second key focus area is fellowship. A vision for a consciously multi-ethnic church is, for the large part, all about relationships. (1) Cross-cultural relationships offer opportunities for enriching our collective identity and self-understanding through relating to others who are culturally different, and a key way we demonstrate the peace-making power of the gospel to one-another and to the world. (2) At the same time, same-culture relationships represent networks of familiarity that can allow for the cultivation of deeply-supportive relationships among those with whom we share a common life-experience. A healthy international church will be marked by a rich array of relationships that include both cross-cultural friendships and same-culture relationships. PROPOSAL 2.1 The MBC membership will commit to week-to-week habits of intercultural friend-making. The key determinant to our success in developing an international identity will be the steps made by individual members to embrace a spirit of inclusion, reaching out to one another in Christ-taught love. It takes some determination and effort to consistently reach out to a person who is different to me, resolving to know and appreciate that person as a sister or brother in Christ. Key to this is a commitment Sunday by Sunday to welcome and get to know people who are not from the same background, being especially careful about who we congregate with during the fellowship time. It also includes a commitment to patterns of hospitality and life-sharing with people from other backgrounds, looking to connect and befriend through the week and develop close inter-cultural friendships. At the end of the day, by God s grace and enabling we must each become people who: (1) see the importance of healthy and inclusive relationships in God s kingdom; (2) who therefor desire to make new and deeper friendships; (3) and who then see the need to keep growing in friend-making skills and habits. Those who are especially good at this can lead the way and help the rest of us learn.
PROPOSAL 2.2 MBC will commit to a pattern of integrated gatherings, not separate language congregations. As a Church our default pattern should be to meet in mixed gatherings, learning to appreciate and develop our sense of unity-in-diversity. Targeted gatherings can be valuable, but must have a clear missional rational. We will continue the practice of offering parallel language-based preaching during the sermon time, potentially expanding this to other key language groups (Farsi, or Korean for example) but being careful that this does not develop into separate congregations so that a one-church congregational identity can be preserved. Similarly, we will aim for MBC homegroups to be mixed as much as possible, bringing together people of various ethnic backgrounds, as well as gender and lifestage, and promoting relationships between MBCam and MBCpm. We ll still need some groups to be targeted for reasons of specialised discipleship (eg Youth Group, mothers daytime Bible study, easy- English groups, language-based groups, etc). The key is to be especially careful not to form groups based on a preference to be with people who are like me. PROPOSAL 2.3 MBC will pursue an integrated whole-church strategy for ministry to overseas students. A range of targeted measures are required to address the specific discipleship and integration needs of overseas students as part of a broader strategy to see people integrate as quickly as possible into a single community and common identity. Some specialised helps are needed, including: (1) activating a hosting scheme where church households commit to hosting and befriending a particular overseas student; (2) offering various Easy English and Medium-English Bible study and discipling options; (3) continuing to resourcing the MRC fellowship; (4) encourage students to make full use of FOCUS and other student groups offered as Macquarie University; (5) offer a fully integrated Young Adults Group (proposal 2.4 below) that includes social gatherings and discipleship; and (6) develop translation options at MBCam services. PROPOSAL 2.4 MBC will commit to developing and resourcing a culturally-integrated Young Adults ministry. The young adult years are a crucial time for forming Christian identity. It s in these years that young Christians need a sense that they are part of a cohort of emerging adults, forming a sense of identity that is their own and for their time, and developing friendships that may last a lifetime. Young adults still need to be part of the wider church, learning to love and serve people who are older and younger. But they also need a young adults cohort to belong to. The young adult age is also the most effective time
for people to learn cultural integration. We d like the MBC Young Adults ministry to help bring together the overseas students and locals and help promote the sense that MBC is one international community. University students and young workers are best placed to adopt a ministry outlook that will shape the rest of their adult lives. This is a key time for learning to serve one another, and the rest of the church community, becoming evangelists and disciple-makers. A healthy young adults ministry can create a setting for young people to be inspired and activated in their service of God. A targeted MBC Young Adults ministry would aim to bring together all the students and young workers associated with MBC, including overseas students and young workers and the young people of MBCpm and MBCam, and seek to reach into networks at MRC and Macquarie University. PROPOSAL 2.5 MBC gatherings will feature the sharing of life-stories that help to deepen a sense of mutual regard. Personal stories are a powerful means by which barriers of unfamiliarity and difference can be broken down. Testimonies of God s grace and daily faith can help us connect with each other s every-day world and build bridges of familiarity and mutual care. Sunday services, homegroups and various gatherings of MBC should regularly feature the sharing of testimonies, making the effort to provide translations where needed, and being sure to profile people on the margins of the dominant church culture who might be otherwise overlooked or undervalued. PROPOSAL 2.6 The sharing of international culture and food will be a key part of the MBC community. There s great potential to enjoy the rich variety of language, dress and food represented in the various background cultures of church member, as part of the privilege of belonging together as a multi-ethnic community. MBC should embrace opportunities for sharing of international culture and food, at regular church events and special occasions, and demonstrating this inter-cultural interest to the wider community. PROPOSAL 2.7 MBC will value the closer support relationships that can grow among people of similar life-experience. In our concern to be an inclusive international community, focussed on reaching out to those who are different, we don't want to devalue the importance of cultural likeness and shared experience in the formation of close and supportive friendships. There can be good reasons to seek out fellowship with people who are like-us. Cultural likeness is a natural and God-given bridge for relationships and
ministry. In God s wisdom, we each bear a special responsibility to reach out to our own people, but to do this without any sense of superiority or exclusivity. Closer discipling and accountability relationships often work best along lines of cultural identification, and this is a reality to be appreciated. (3) COMMUNICATION The third key focus area is communication. Globally, a truly Christian unity does not rely on the use of a common language, but rather on the common sense of identity in Christ. The throne of God will be surrounded by every language, declaring the same song (Rev 7:9). This unity is expressed in our minds and hearts in response to God s love and the shared work He has given us to partner in. But at a local church level, common language is a vital means by which we experience our unity week to week. In our context, English is best placed to function as our host language, and the vehicle of communication by which we build a sense of common understanding. PROPOSAL 3.1 MBC will use English as the language of communication, in public meetings and general publications. Visitors and new-comers to the area expect to encounter English as the host language. We may use snippets of other languages to express welcome and inclusion, we may make use of other languages where those we are reaching do not have workable English, and we may make a special effort to translate elements of certain gatherings into other languages. But as a general week-to-week pattern we do not commit to becoming a multi-language community. With a large number of mainland Chinese joining the community we want to be especially careful not to be perceived as a bi-lingual English- Chinese Church, in a way that might make other language groups feel excluded. PROPOSAL 3.2 MBC will commit to make available whatever language helps can be reasonably provided. Language and cultural exclusion can be an incredibly debilitating experience. Often people of non- English speaking background who choose to be part of MBC are making a courageous effort to get involved, especially where their language limits may leave them feeling alienated or appearing stupid. One of the most striking ways that MBC can communicate the loving compassion of Jesus is by making every effort to help. The three main helps are: (1) simplification, working to minimise the use of overly complicated language; (2) explanation, offering extra comments and information that enable newcomers to understand what is going on; and (3) translation, whether through live interpretation of up-front content at public meetings, offered in a closed loop, or through the translation of key
documents, made available to those who need it. MBC cannot commit to providing for every language need. As the church grows, so will our capacity to provide a reasonable and sustainable array of language helps designed to enable newcomers relate to the activities of the church community. PROPOSAL 3.3 MBC will affirm the importance of heart-language for experiencing Christian encouragement. To experience the truths of the gospel in one s own heart language is a fundamental key to spiritual maturity. First generation immigrants will especially need meaningful fellowship with people of the same language-background. The church will encourage individuals to find adequate fellowship and expressions of worship in their own heart language, without assuming that MBC can provide this. Even if it is just occasional, some members will need to seek meaningful Christian fellowship in other Christian circles, and MBC should rejoice in being part of a wider web of Christian community in which every believer may find the help and encouragement they need to mature. 4. MISSION The fourth key focus area is mission. Embracing an international church identity means appreciating the missional significance of both same-culture relationships and intercultural relationships. (1) Cross-cultural outreach represents a core responsibility of the Christian church, whether through local mission or through the sending of global missionaries. (2) Same-culture outreach represents an equally important missionary priority, as our familiar networks of relationship are the first mission field for every disciple of Jesus. A healthy model of international church will account for both of these opportunities. PROPOSAL 4.1 MBC members will be encouraged to look for gospel opportunities in their specific cultural-networks. Our church should embrace and encourage the extraordinary opportunities for gospel mission represented by our diversity of backgrounds and the networks that individual members have into wider ethnic communities in Australia and in their countries of origin. Our church should encourage members to cultivate their specific cultural networks with gospel intention. There is also opportunity to generate missional-networking and ministry support resources for those heading back to their countries of origin.
PROPOSAL 4.2 MBC will seek to actively encourage missionary service, both cross-cultural and within culture. Members of the church will be actively encouraged to consider their role in serving in global mission, considering options for gospel work based on existing ethnic identity and the opportunities that come with cultural familiarity, as well as considering the need for cross-cultural mission workers by those whom God enables. PROPOSAL 4.3 MBC will seek to learn to value the gospel significance of mixed-culture ministry teams. Productive and harmonious inter-cultural gospel partnerships of equality and co-dependence represent a compelling testimony to the power of God in the gospel. But there is also much to be gained in the way of personal maturity from making the effort to work together with those who are different, learning from the perspectives of others, and growing to appreciate the various gifts and contributions of God s people. Every MBC ministry team represents an opportunity to learn serve alongside those who are different, and to grow from the experience. PROPOSAL 4.4 MBC members will commit to appreciate the various neighbours God has given them to love. Our international church identity is not merely a result of the multi-cultural nature of Sydney. We believe it is the gospel itself that leads to our international identity. The inter-cultural mission of God ought to generate local churches that are globally minded, and actively embracing of people that God may bring from other cultures. Commitment to a multi-ethnic church identity is really a commitment to recognise and appreciate the true nature of God s mission work. Efforts to embrace an international church identity should in turn heighten our concern to recognise the various neighbours that God has given in the streets and community groups that we are already part of. Regardless of cultural background, these are the people God has given us to get to know, and to love and serve in the name of Jesus.
A Pastoral Encouragement Tim Blencowe & Kevin Jin As an MBC family, we should be encouraged. We re actually doing really well at becoming a church that welcomes and includes people from many different backgrounds. It is a genuinely friendly and open community, marked by many examples of loving care. God has already made us into an international community, and we hope you are enjoying that very much. A few encouragements for the days ahead (1) No huge changes We are not expecting the resolutions above to radically change what we re already doing. Most of these proposals are to help us articulate the kinds of commitments we ve already been making, but just hadn't really talked about much. It s a chance to make sure everyone is on board and thinking things through in helpful ways. A few of the proposals call for new efforts and initiatives. But we hope you will agree that these are logical steps that fit with the church identity that God has called us to embrace. And this is not the end of the discussion. In this paper we re trying to articulate what we think the next steps should be, but as we go along, we re likely to revise our ideas, and no doubt we ll come up with new and better ways of approaching things together. (2) Valuing Different Types of Relationship It might be helpful think in terms of the following diagrams. Let s begin by representing our church relationships in a big circle labelled CHURCH. In that circle, we need to value relationships with those of a DIFFERENT cultural background, as much as we value those with a SAME or similar cultural background CHURCH DIFFERENT + SAME DIFFERENT-CULTURE CHURCH RELATIONSHIPS Valued for enriching our church fellowship helping me seeing things differently demonstrating gospel unity and love some becoming my dear friends SAME-CULTURE CHURCH RELATIONSHIPS Valued for sharing similar life-experience to me maybe those understand me better often closer discipleship opportunities some becoming my dear friends
Similarly, we can represent our relationships outside of church under the heading of MISSION. In this setting we will also need to value relationships with those who are DIFFERENT and those who are more the SAME CHURCH DIFFERENT + SAME MISSION DIFFERENT + SAME DIFFERENT-CULTURE MISSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS Valued as the neighbours God has given me to love the global mission field we are called to people I may reach better as an outsider SAME-CULTURE MISSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS Valued as the first mission field of every Christian those I m the best person to reach people I can connect with right now So we end up with four main types of cultural relationship. Each needs to be valued equally. However, it s likely that we re not there yet, and that we each have work to do to make sure we are developing healthy relationships with those who are both inside and outside the church community, and that we are valuing relationships with those of different cultural backgrounds as much as we value the relationships of those whose background is similar to our own. (3) Taking the First Steps All four areas need attention. But here s some ideas for getting started. First, in Church community, work especially hard to connect with those who are culturally different. We could say, AT CHURCH, FOCUS ON DIFFERENT. Then second, in our efforts at local mission, let s each embrace the opportunity to reach those who are culturally the same. We might say, IN MISSION, FOCUS ON SAME. AT CHURCH FOCUS ON DIFFERENT IN MISSION FOCUS ON SAME Help make the church as mixed as possible by working hard to connect with those who are different, developing inter-cultural friendships. On Sundays, try especially hard not to cluster with those of the same background. CHURCH DIFFERENT + SAME MISSION DIFFERENT + SAME Work extra hard at cultivating relationships among your cultural group. It s usually those who are within a cultural group who are best able to share the gospel among them. Embrace the mission field God s given to you.
(4) When I Bring a Friend to Church A big part of being an international church is knowing that when I bring a new friend or family member to church, I know that my church friends will make a big effort to connect with them and welcome them, even if they are from a different culture and perhaps may not know much English. Some of our church members are making great efforts reaching into their cultural networks and bringing people to church on Sundays. We all have a role to play in helping those new people encounter the love of Jesus, no matter how they dress or what they look like, or what their cultural background. (5) Small Efforts Make a Big Difference When it comes to reaching out to people who are culturally different, it s helpful to remember that small steps make a big difference. Even if you don t share much language, just choosing to stop and smile and stand with someone for a time, really makes a difference to them. Work at learning names, and gradually expand the things you can talk about, even if it is in very broken English. OUR SMALL EFFORTS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE 1. Stop to smile 2. Say hello 3. Exchange names 4. Share in simple sentences 5. Remember for next time Some people will find it extremely difficult to reach out in this way. And that s OK. We will all be taking steps that are appropriate to us. We re not evaluating or judging one another in this. We re each learning to follow the lead of the Lord Jesus as we explore the "international" aspect of our church. Please join us in praying for the church in these matters. Tim Blencowe & Kevin Jin