Ken J. Walden. Practical Theology for Church Diversity: a Guide for Clergy and Congregations.  Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2015. xiv+132pp. pbk. ISBN: 13:978-1-62032-379-3. £9

 Reviewed by: Darren Cronshaw 

I read this book on American church diversity as an Australian pastor, but we face a similar increasingly globalized and culturally diverse ministry context. The main growing edge of the church in Australia, as for much of the Western world, are our Languages Other than English congregations, and there is increasing interest in distinctly multicultural models of church. But some of our biggest challenges relate to cultural diversity – how do pastors of culturally diverse churches help different cultural groups to worship and serve together, how do we create spaces of hospitality for cultural diversity – nationally and for churches, how do we connect churches best with second generation migrants, how do we train culturally diverse leaders for mission, how can pastors and churches of different cultural groups serve together and learn from one another? There is a lot we could learn from culturally diverse congregations and leaders in North America. I am intrigued by read elsewhere about the “2040 reality” in the USA that will see the white population dip below half, and cultural minorities become the majority. So I was eager to read Ken Walden’s advice from his experience and snapshot of the North American scene.  

Ken Walden has served as university chaplain, university professor, military chaplain and senor chaplain including various cross-racial and multi-cultural ministries – as an African-American pastor often of predominantly Caucasian churches, or of multiple ethnic congregations in ne church. He offers a practical theology response to the challenge of pastoring in cross-racial and multicultural contexts; that is, what it is like and how can pastors best prepare and serve for contexts where their cultural background is different from their congregation?

Practical Theology for Church Diversity gives an overview of cultural diversity in USA and emphasizes the importance of preparing well for cross-racial ministry with self-examination about ethnicity, discussion with mentors, prayer and carefully constructed conversations with church committee and members. It includes vignettes of what is involved for pastors experiencing a welcome introduction and suggests team building or get-to-know-you activities, and offers good general advice on starting well (e.g., learn everyone’s name, learn the church history, be careful about what you change). The best chapter for me was on church collaborations, urging and modelling how to encourage people of different cultural groups to work together within and across different churches. These are essential skills for churches existing in our global village. A later chapter identifies problems of miscommunication, territorial conflict and identity crisis to watch out for. 

The book is full of good advice, although much of it reads like good general advice for any pastor starting anywhere. So I enjoyed reading it and by the end of the book the author had convinced me of the importance of the topic and encouraged me to think about how to enhance church diversity, asked some insightful questions and pointed me to some extra reading, but I would have loved more “how to” advice about doing leadership differently for culturally diverse contexts. For example, the book refers to excellent diversity training offered by hospitals and emergency services, but I would love to read the author’s analysis of what that looks like or what it could like in churches? It recommends becoming familiar with different religious customs, but offers limited examples of what to look for or how to develop intercultural intelligence. Comments on theological education verge on a rant against institutions for not preparing students well for intercultural ministry but with minimal suggestions of how they could do better. The author has a wealth of experience in this ministry area and I resonated with his heart and appeal for the importance of this topic, but I would have loved to have read more about his experiences and reflection on practical theology implications of how others could learn to do culturally diverse ministry in fresh ways. 

The book is a concise 128 pages and as such is a good introduction to the issues with good questions to ask and further reading for anyone considering or engaged in culturally diverse ministry.  

This review was originally published in Practical Theology 9:1 (March 2016), 95-96.

Source: BUV News

 The Victorian Chin Baptist Church is the largest of our BUV Burmese congregations, but has been without a permanent home, holding services and activities at Mooroolbark Baptist Church, The Salvation Army Mooroolbark and Mooroolbark Anglican. Within excess of 900 members, this vibrant and rapidly growing church community needs its own ‘home’. Members of the Victorian Chin Baptist Church are predominantly those who are persecuted for their faith in Burma and have fled to Australia as refugees. Their faith is central to their lives and they dream of building a home and place to worship here as part of or Baptist Union of Victoria family 

An ambitious, $5million project is underway to develop a site the church has purchased in Croydon, with the church having raised themselves all but the final $1.5 million. They are building and believing!  Currently in the ‘build’ phase, oversighted by Pastor Japheth Lian, some of our BUV team were recently treated to a site visit and overview of this exciting project.

Pastor Japheth Lin, Pastor Mang (from Australia Zophei church), Pastor Peng Thang (from Burma) and Pastor Van Dawt Thawng hosting some of our BUV team (David Devine, Meewon Yang, Marc Chan)

In order to maintain the activities and pastoral care of this large congregation, and continue the building project, responsibilities have been divided between the two Pastors Japheth and Van.

The church is undertaking many aspects of the build themselves, with regular working bees and people contributing skills and resources they have. A particular asset to the project is John Billingham who brings the building project management skills needed, as well as deep understanding of the functionality and heart needed for such a project.

John Billingham onsite

We look forward to watching as this new home for Victorian Chin Baptist Church rises from the ground and becomes a solid base for dynamic and effective mission. Watch this space for updates on the project later in the year!

Source: BUV News

Kerang, Granite and Boort Baptist Churches living out #bettertogether as a region of ‘connected up’ churches.

 How might your church better connect and partner with other Baptist churches around you for more effective mission – together?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cmsVac3yVM]

Source: BUV News

From The Single Thing That Can Change the World, by Rev. Scott Higgins.

A central tenet of the consumer culture in which we live is that by getting more possessions and more experiences we will get more satisfaction. And so we invest our time, our energy and our wealth not in loving our neighbour but in acquiring more possessions and more experiences for ourselves.

If we are to become people who lead lives of love for God and others we need to carve out an alternate way of being.

For Christians, an alternate spirituality must begin with the recognition that the centre of reality is a God of generous love and that we are created to image this God to one another. In light of this, we will seek to shape our lives around love for God and neighbour rather than mere experiential satisfaction. A love-based spirituality does not simply add random acts of kindness to a lifestyle that is otherwise self-absorbed. Rather, we will see our careers, our consumption, our use of time, and our spending of our money as opportunities to enjoy the generous love that God has for us and to serve others.

We will see that our call to love extends beyond the circle of our family and friends, that we are not simply called to avoid harming others but that we are called to do good to them. Where people do not know themselves to be loved by God, we will bring the news of Jesus. Where people are excluded, exploited and oppressed, we will seek to build communities in which they are welcomed and included. Where people are broken and wounded we will seek to help them find healing.

In 2008 a young Australian woman, Hailey Bartholomew, found that she wasn’t enjoying life. She described herself as feeling lost and stuck on a treadmill. It was almost inexplicable. She was married to a man she loved and had beautiful children who held her heart. So why was she feeling so down about her life? 

Hailey sought the counsel of a nun, who advised her to spend time each day reflecting on something for which she was grateful. Hailey began a project called “365 Grateful”. Every day she took a photograph of something for which she was grateful. It changed her life, for it allowed her to see things she had never noticed. Hailey had always thought of her husband as unromantic. One day she took a picture of him serving up dinner, the thing which she was grateful for that day. She noticed for the first time that the largest portion of pie was placed on her plate. She realised that the largest portion was always placed on her plate and that this was one small but profound way her husband showed his care for her. Hailey had found mothering a “boring job”, but as she took photos of her children holding out their hands to her, playing and exploring, she discovered how much joy and wonder there was in her world. Through the art of gratitude Hailey found herself lifted out of her rut and celebrating life.

Scripture is filled with injunctions to give thanks to God for the good things in our lives. This is not because God needs our praises but because we need to give God our praise and thanks. Gratitude causes us to slow down and appreciate the many good things in our lives; relieves us of the notion that they are the results of our own hard work; and liberates us from the consumerist illusion that we don’t have enough. It enables us to recognise that the good things we have in our life often come to us as a gift from others and from God and engenders within us a sense that just as we have been blessed by God and others, so we want to bless others. 

Gratitude is one of the most significant resources for lifting us out of narcissism and into generous love.

This article adapted from Chapters 2 & 3 of The Single Thing That Can Change the World, the new discipleship series from Baptist World Aid Australia. The series launches on Sunday 24 July 2016 in Baptist Churches around the country.

If your church is not taking part in this series, then why not use it to inform your own daily devotionals? 

Scott’s insightful, theological study of what it means to be generous will challenge you to grow your concept of generosity. Discover afresh God’s generous love for you! Get The Single Thing That Can Change the World at: www.baptistworldaid.org.au/TheSingleThing

Source: BUV News

Looking back: 52 years of the Baptcare Community Nursing Service

 Ivy West Baptcare Community Nursing Service, the first nursing service to make house-calls in Victoria, was given its start over 50 years ago, on March 24th 1964.

The service’s founding nurse, Ivy West, initially focused on providing palliative care and urgent night calls to members of the large Brunswick Baptist Church, though more and more patients came forward as word of mouth spread.

During those early days, nearly 2,000 nursing house-calls were made in one year alone and two more volunteer nurses soon joined to meet the ever-increasing demand.

In 1968 the Church Nursing Service, as it was then known, received its first grant from the Health Commission which allowed them to pay the standard nursing wage. Local, State and Federal Government grants, along with support from the Baptist Church and community donations, have continued to fund this service ever since.

Ivy West and her husband, Alan, were known in the community for going the extra mile. Alan sold his business early on to oversee administration of the Church Nursing Service, going on to provide chaplaincy services and organise and officiate at funerals in the community. From 1970 onwards, he also built up a fleet of cars for the nurses to use, which he maintained himself in his home garage.

After the first ten years, demand for the Service continued to grow. Turning her attention to the new generation of nurses, Ivy held training sessions at local hospitals, where she taught best practice in home nursing and new methods of delivering care.

By the 1980s, Ivy and Alan were delivering a nursing service that made over 31,000 house-calls per year, with an average of 606 per week. These days, their good work continues in our Community Nursing Service.

Current Program Manager, Janette Lemish, said of her predecessor, “Ivy was putting an active service model into place long before it was known. She was ahead of her time and innovative.”

Ivy West was recognised for her dedication with a Medal of the Order of Australia in 1984.

This story is adapted from the book Making a Difference: The legends and landmarks of Baptcare, available through Melbourne Books.

Source: BUV News