Assimilation vs. Accommodation

Often, I am asked to explain the difference between assimilation and accommodation as an attitude that drives the multi-ethnic church. This is dealt with at greater length in my book, but here's the short answer ...

Assimilation says, “I will help you change to fit in.” Accommodation says, “I will change to help you fit in.” Assimilation suggests, “You need to check your minority culture at the door to become a part of the majority culture of this church.” With accommodation, the onus is on the majority culture of a particular church to change and/or adapt itself so that others will feel welcomed and included, a significant part of the whole.

This is a crucial point to understand if you hope to build a healthy multi-ethnic church.

Many well-meaning people will say, “Our church welcomes anyone to come and join us.” But, frankly, they haven’t thought it through. In most instances, what such a statement really means is that we’re open to anyone attending, as long as they like the way we do things.

However, I am not suggesting that we should accommodate theological differences. Only that we should openly accommodate everything else: forms, food, the color of dolls in our nurseries, the language on our signs, anything that comes with people’s culture. You cannot nor should you seek to divorce culture from the diverse people coming in to your church.

Comments

[dk]

Thank you for this post. I never understood how much assimilation didn't work until I, as an african american joined the staff of a predominantly white church. They said they wanted to become a multi-ethnic church, but after coming on board I soon discovered that who I was as a person was not really welcomed. I was invited, but my culture was not, and it was VERY difficult - it never feels good to have to be someone that you are not in order to be accepted....

So than you for writing this.... I am now on staff at a multi-ethnice congregation, and I appreciate being part of an authentic multi-ethnice community more after having my former experience! We don't have it all together, but people are allowed to come and be who they are culturally without feeling like they need to be someone that they are not and I find it refreshing!

[Robin Harris]

I attended a Mosaic Church in LA when we lived there two years ago and my eyes were really opened to the importance of multi-ethnic music and worship. I'm involved in a network for people involved in music and other arts in multi-ethnic and cross-cultural contexts. It is called ICE - the International Council of Ethnodoxologists. We are putting on a course that will have a "global song" component and I thought I'd let you know about it. If you'd like to spread the word through your church channels, we'd be grateful. Here's the press release:
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LOOKING FOR TRAINING IN USING MUSIC IN CROSS-CULTURAL CONTEXTS? -- The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary offers a new, interactive workshop May 31-June 6, 2008 in ethnodoxology, the cutting-edge field integrating ethnomusicology and the arts with worship applications. The course “Introduction to Ethnodoxology: Connecting Global Worship to Global Mission” will be taught by a team of scholars and global song experts from the International Council of Ethnodoxologists (ICE). The course equips students to cultivate culturally appropriate, biblical worship in international or multi-ethnic contexts. Early registration fee for the Workshop (postmark by May 15) is $375.00, postmark after May 15 is $475.00. Workshop Fee is noncredit. Graduate credit (3 hours) is also available. See
http://www.sbts.edu/ethnodox
For more information, call 1-800-626-5525 (extension 4115) or email ecrookshank(at)sbts(dot)edu
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Thanks!
Robin Harris
ICE Coordinator
www.worldofworship.org