|
Many Voices, One People, One Mission:
A Call to Increased Understanding and Appreciation of Our Diversity
The Intercultural Ministries Initiative is a resource designed to encourage and develop Christ-centered, culturally competent ministry and mission in a diverse world by increasing the capacity of American Baptists to accept and embrace our gift of diversity. We seek to facilitate the movement of American Baptists from and beyond an understanding of diversity as a representative process to a missional motivation which anticipates and encourages the full participation and sharing of all.
We recognize and acknowledge that the world is splintered along the lines of age, ethnicity, social class, culture, gender, and language. We take seriously God's call to unity and believe that God calls us to embrace our rich intercultural reality. By doing this, we gain understanding, respect, and appreciation of the integrity and uniqueness of all groups of people. Furthermore, the ministry of Christ and the church is enriched when the contributions of all are engaged in the mission of the Kingdom of God.
We can find this focus and unity only in Christ. We are proud of the rich heritage that American Baptists have in the area of cultural understanding and the intentional representation of a myriad of voices in our ministries. We also know that we need to continue to move forward, toward a more complete understanding of what happens at interpersonal levels in groups, teams, and congregations when cultural differences are brought together in mission and ministry.
This ministry is synergistic, missional, and transformational because we encourage American Baptists to relate to one another as sisters and brothers in Christ. National Ministries is seeking to build bridges of understanding that engage in effective mission and ministry in today's society.
|
|
