First – Let me say – I did not plan or intend to plant a multicultural church. When we started we were wanting to ‘reach’ a young Caucasian Canadian community with the gospel. We started in the most ‘Caucasian’ community, we had a white leadership team, everything was in English, that was all I knew. However, God has knitted us into the most beautiful, multicultural body of Christ you could possibly imagine – and I am delighted to be part of it.
5 Nationalities / 4 Languages - all Friends
I have learned so much through this extraordinary experience. It has broken all the molds of what some might think you need to have to start a multicultural church. It has gone against the sociological church growth model that ‘birds of a feather flock together’, that people desire to be with others like themselves. We do not have a homogenius bone in our body, there is likely no one like you at this church and yet people come. They come because they want to be there. I think there are several reasons for this that I will discuss later on, but to give you a better picture of what we look like check this out…
On any given Sunday, There could be 50-75 people gather who come from 15-20 different nationalities. We have people from Canada, US, First Nations, China (HK (Cantonese) and mainland (Mandarin)), Korea, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Iran, Afghanastan, Morroco, Germany, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Mexico, Paraguay, Brazil, Ukraine. In addition, we have had people from Trinidad, France, India, Iraq, Russia, Nicauraga, Uruguay, and Texas part of our church for significant time periods, but have moved on (part of the urban experience).
In that group on any given Sunday, there could be 12 or more mother tongues with varing degrees of proficiency in English. I will never forget leading a Bible study one evening and watching a man from Paraguay translate the gospel to another man from Iran using German because it was the common language between the two of them.
Multicultural today is more than ethnic and language distinctions. There are more cultures than that I have discovered that also cross nationalistic lines. In addition to the different nations and languages, there are big distinctions between education, economy, and lifestyle that are also cultural issues as well. In our small church we could have an addicted destitute to highly affluent, we have every educational level and bikers to bankers. That is multicultural!
Some have said – “Well you are only reflecting the community you are in” because Vancouver prides itself on being a very multicultural city – and it is. However, you do not go anywhere and see this much interaction between the cultures on such a personal level as religion, anywhere in the city. Most people spend time with others from their own culture, they live around, spend time with, shop, entertain themselves with others like them, with a common language, values and experiences. What is happening at The Bridge is truly unique, beautiful and exciting.
This much diversity has some very positive aspects, and some significant challenges to deal with. Cultural values, language, food, time, relationships are all impacted. The way people relate to one another, genders, authority, issues of respect are affected. Security is a concern, some nationalities are very aware of who is around them. Security for their children is an issue.
Not everyone can deal with it, not everyone can lead it, but when it happens it is extraordinary.
A Caucasian Canadian young man recently told me that one of the reasons he loves coming to The Bridge is because it has helped him deal with his own racism. Racism is a real issue in his family. Behind the privacy of their family unit, family members openly express their intolerance towards other particular races, but, when he comes to The Bridge he meets and talks to people of those same races and it is changing him. He is realizing individuals from other races have a lot to bring to his life and he is beginning to enjoy it. That is exciting to see and it is only because Christ is building this wonderful, unique body.
church planting notebook 