GLUE

Connecting Global Worship to Global Mission

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.

For more information, call 1-800-626-5525 (extension 4115) or email ecrookshank@sbts.edu.

On Race, Church and the American Future

The following is an excerpt from the book, Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church (Jossey-Bass/Leadership Network, 2007, pp. 183, 184). It is worth considering in light of U.S. Senator Barak Obama's recent speech on race and the subsequent conversation it has generated. Please forward a link to this post for others you know who may be interested.

"Although government and educational programs, together with the efforts of countless individuals, groups, and agencies, have long sought to eliminate prejudice and the disparaging consequences of institutional racism still deeply embedded within society, it is time to recognize that such a dream cannot be realized apart from the establishment of multi-ethnic churches that intentionally and joyfully reflect the passion of Christ for all people of the world. For it is not the institutions of government or of education that have been ordained by God to this task; rather, it is the local church, the bride of Christ—we who are his people (John 17:1–3, 20–23; Acts 11:19–26, 13:1, 16ff.; Galatians 3:26–28; Ephesians 4:1–6; Revelation 5:9–10).

Concerning the movement of American Christianity toward racial reconciliation in the 1990s, author Chris Rice wrote the following profound words in his book, More Than Equals:

'Yes, deep reconciliation will produce justice, and new relationships between the races. Yes this will lead Christians to become a bright light in the public square. But I have become convinced that God is not very interested in the church healing the race problem. I believe it is more true that God is using race to heal the church.'

Through the biblical transformation of our minds and wills, we will be able to emotionally engage the concept of a multi-ethnic and economically diverse local church. Indeed, we will not only come to understand the passion of Christ for local church unity, as I have described throughout this book, but we will desire to pursue it for the sake of the Gospel. Yes, it is Christ’s will that we become one with believers different from ourselves so that the world would know God’s love and believe. As a by-product, society will be affected, 'racial-reconciliation' will occur, and the church will be restored to a place of prominence in the minds and hearts of those outside its walls.

Indeed, this is the power of unity.

This is the Gospel of Christ."

MLK Day ... An Afterthought

This past Sunday - well, now that I think about, this past weekend was an extremely busy one for me. My daughter, Emily, who plays on the Varsity basketball team at her school, had an away game Friday night - one that was nearly three hours away - and consequently, I was involved from 4 p.m. - 11 p.m. On Saturday morning, my son, Will, had two basketball games, one at 8 a.m. and another at 10 a.m. And then later that afternoon, my youngest daughter, Kate, played in two games herself at 2 p.m and 4 p.m - and I'm her coach! Needless to say, by the time Sunday morning rolled around, I was thrilled to go to church just to get some rest.

So somehow, with all the activity of the weekend and an already packed Sunday morning agenda, I failed even to mention or otherwise publicly recognize the Martin Luther King holiday this year. In fact, it wasn't until Monday evening that I was reminded of this as I watched the news and reviews of remarks made earlier in the day by presidential candidates anxious to recognize (before a viewing public) the truly significant impact of MLK upon North American society.

Now, throughout the years, we have often recognized such holidays and the otherwise special months or occasions that are important to varying people groups at Mosaic. In so doing, it's not necessarily that we feel obliged, it's more just something we just like to do in pursuit of cross-cultural competence. So when I realized that I had missed the moment this time, it's not so much that I worried about reaction or that I felt any measure of politically correct guilt, etc.; it's just that I would have mentioned it had I been more proactive than reactive throughout the weekend.

With this in mind, I was having lunch with a member of our church today. And while reflecting on the growing interest in the multi-ethnic church throughout North America, he reminded me that such statements of personal endorsement or holiday recognition are too often made by those attempting only to show respect from a distance, that is, those who are not otherwise influenced or invested in the very persons and/or causes they seem to celebrate.

He then said, "On the other hand, we live the dream every day at Mosaic, Mark. And who we are speaks louder than words. Who we are is our statement!"

Wow, I thought, what a good word.

So in the future, we'll continue to recognize the contributions of MLK and to recognize the holidays and otherwise special months or occasions that are important to the people of Mosaic. Yet, in those times where less is said, for whatever reason, those of us engaged in multi-ethnic churches will do well to remember that who we are and still striving to become, indeed, says it all.

Start Strong!

Welcome to the New Year and to a new season of faith, hope and love! Like many of you, Linda and I, together with our children, were out of town for the Christmas holidays. In fact for the first time in five years, we literally traveled “over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house” in Washington state where more than 18’ of snow made for a very white Christmas – one in which we were at times without power and ate too much food; but most importantly, enjoyed time with extended family, including Linda’s grandfather who is now 99 years old! And while it was great to be there, we have both returned to Little Rock and to Mosaic with renewed enthusiasm and great expectations for the coming year in Christ.

Along this line, did you know that increasing numbers of North Americans who identify themselves as Christians attend church only once or twice a month? Yet, the strongest and most vibrant churches in North America are those in which members see faithful, consistent involvement each week not only as a privilege, but a personal responsibility before God, others and their families. Of course, mere attendance on Sunday mornings does not guarantee a vibrant walk with God; but it does tend to validate it. And the vast majority of devoted Christ-followers understand the personal importance of the weekly large group gathering, as well as its biblical significance - the church, a visible witness of the love and body of Christ, appealing in His name to a lost and dying world.

To be clear, it is the goal and promise of everyone involved in Sunday morning planning to do all we can to ensure a wonderful experience each week for you and your family, as well as for others you invite to come. With this in mind, I want to encourage everyone of you to start the year strong with a renewed commitment to faithful Sunday morning involvement - both in worship and service - wherever you attend.

NY Times Features Multi-ethnic Church, Movement

On Saturday, September 22, the New York Times ran a front page article entitled, The World Comes to Georgia and an Old Church Adapts. The aritcle tells the story of Pastor Phil Kitchin of Clarkston, GA, and his successful efforts to revitalize a dying church around the multi-ethnic vision. Beyond this, the writer (Warren St. John) eludes to the growing fascination with diverse congregations of faith - namely, the emerging Multi-ethnic Church Movement. Here in bold is an excerpt:

"When the Rev. Phil Kitchin steps into the pulpit of the Clarkston International Bible Church on Sunday mornings, he stands eye to eye with the changing face of America. In the pews before him, alongside white-haired Southern women in their Sunday best, sit immigrants from the Philippines and Togo, refugees from war-scarred Liberia, Ethiopia and Sudan, even a convert from Afghanistan.

'Jesus said heaven is a place for people of all nations,' Mr. Kitchin likes to say. 'So if you don’t like Clarkston, you won’t like heaven.' ...

"The transformation of what was long known as the Clarkston Baptist Church (now known as the Clarkston International Bible Church) speaks to a broader change among other American churches. Many evangelical Christians who have long believed in spreading their religion in faraway lands have found that immigrants offer an opportunity for church work within one’s own community. And many immigrants and refugees are drawn by the warm welcome they get from the parishioners, which can stand in stark contrast to the more competitive and alienating nature of workaday America.

"Indeed, evangelical churches have begun to stand out as rare centers of ethnic mixing in a country that researchers say has become more culturally fragmented, in part because of immigration."

If you read the article, you will see that I, too, am briefly quoted (and Mosaic mentioned) on page 2; and after contacting Pastor Kitchin to inquire as to how I had come to be interviewed, he responded with "the rest of the story." Here's what he had to say ...

Hello Mark,

Good to hear from you. I met you two years ago at the Multi-ethnic Church Conference at Rehoboth Baptist Church here in Atlanta. Like you, we have numerous people groups within one mile of our church. Warren St. John came to our community last year to do an article about the Fugees Soccer program here in Clarkston. Although his article was not about our church, he referred to us as a Christian Church who uses basketball as a guise to do Muslim evangelism. I called his hand on that and suggested that he come down and find out what we really do. He accepted the challenge and was astonished to find so many different people groups worshipping God in one place and not killing each other. That’s when I mentioned your name and the pioneer movement going on in the US to have true, multi-ethnic churches. I hope that was alright with you.

I love your work brother, and I have already ordered your book.

In the love of Christ,
Phil Kitchin

Of course, it was alright with me:-)

More importantly, I want to congratulate Pastor Kitchin for his bold vision, leadership and well-deserved recognition that has led to hundreds of thousands of people (in March 2007, the paper reported a weekday circulation of roughly 1,120,420) being exposed to his heart, the vision of his church and, indeed, the movement that will literally change the face (and, more importantly, the heart) of the American church in the 21st century. For as my book will make clear, it's not about racial reconciliation, but rather about reconciling men and women to God through faith in Jesus Christ and reconciling the local church to the pattern and practices of the 1st century church so the world will know God's love and believe (John 17:20-23; Acts 11:19-26; 13:1; Ephesians 2:11-4:6).

On a related note, Mosaic was also cited this week in the Christian Science Monitor in an article entitled Little Rock Marks a Civil Rights Victory (9/26/07), and, as well, in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette in an article entitled, Multi-ethnic Church Thrives in Little Rock (9/22/07). This article is available only via purchase through the Arkansas Democrat Gazette's online archives.

Segregationist Rhetoric and Christian Jargon, 1957

On Wednesday, September 25, the nation will commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the integration of Little Rock's Central High School, the second major milestone (following Brown v. Board of Education) in the American Civil Rights Movement. Mosaic was chosen to host one of the main events surrounding the commemoration, a town hall meeting to discuss race and education entitled, "Character and Courage: Where Have We Been, Where Are We Now, Where Do We Need to Be," on Thursday, September 20. One of the "Little Rock Nine," Ms. Minnijean Brown Trickey will be part of the distinguished panel gathering that evening for the discussion.

Along that line, Mark Sweeney at Leadership Network recently forwarded me an article published in the ABP News entitled, "Baptists Active on Both Sides of Historic Arkansas Integration Battle" which chronicles the reaction - both pro and con - of white, evangelical churches and their leaders in those days surrounding the Central High integration crisis. In stark contrast and some fifty years later, the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas - located only three miles from Central High - is increasingly recognized as an epicenter of the emerging Multi-ethnic Church Movement. Interestingly, Mosaic also met for approximately one year (6/02 - 6/03) in one of the churches discussed in this article, Lakeshore Drive Baptist Church.

Here (in bold) is an excerpt for your consideration ...

"The story of Lakeshore Drive Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., encapsulates the little-recounted role that white Baptists played in many episodes of the civil-rights movement -- both for good and for ill ...

(Speaking of the days and events immediatley surrounding Central High's integration in 1957) The pastors of Little Rock’s wealthiest and most prominent churches and synagogues - including two of the city’s three largest Southern Baptist congregations - spoke in favor of obeying federal court orders and maintaining law and order. But many pastors of smaller, more blue-collar Southern Baptist churches and independent, fundamentalist Baptist congregations were far more outspoken in defense of segregation.

One example was (Wesley) Pruden (who became one of the most vocal segregationist leaders in Little Rock during the month-long integration crisis in 1957). In an October 1957 advertisement he bought in the Arkansas Democrat - the more conservative of the city’s two daily newspapers - Pruden said Jesus never spoke up against segregation even though he 'was born into the most segrated [sic] race the world has ever known.' On the basis of that and other biblical evidence, he concluded, 'segregation has Christian sanction, integration is communistic.'

The segregationists’ rhetoric was suffused with evangelical jargon. In archival news photos from a pro-segregation demonstration on the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol, protesters hold signs that say, 'Stop the race-mixing march of the Anti-Christ!'

The Berean Baptist Church, a congregation in North Little Rock, took out an advertisement in the Sept. 27, 1957, edition of the Democrat that reprinted the text of a telegram from the congregation to President Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower’s order to send troops from the 101st Airborne into Little Rock days before had enabled the integration to proceed, breaking the stalemate he had with Faubus.

'If we have the privilege of freedom of speech left, we wish to lift our voice in strong protest against the unholy invasion of the customs, rights and privileges of the citizens of Arkansas by federal troops,' the church's telegram read. 'It is our sincere conviction that if you had been spending as much time on your knees in prayer as spent on the golf course, you never would have sent troops into Arkansas.'

It continued: 'May God have mercy on you for it. A great many Baptist churches in Arkansas feel as we do.'"

Of course, there is absolutely no Biblical basis to support the claim that "segregation has Christian sanction," whether in society or in the church. And in an increasingly segrgeated, sectarian and cynical society, we who are the followers of Christ must recognize the Biblical mandate both to pursue and promote the genuine path of peace - namely, Christ, our Lord - through the establishment of healthy multi-ethnic churches.

Need the book? Order Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church today.

The Death of Diversity Signals the Rise of the Multi-ethnic Church

On August 16, 2007, Daniel Henninger published an article in the Wall Street Journal discussing the findings of an extensive study on the impact and effects of diversity, one conducted by Professor Robert Putnam (Harvard) and recently published in a journal called Scandinavian Political Studies. Here's an excerpt ...

"The diversity ideologues ruined a good word and, properly understood, a decent notion. What's needed now is for a younger black, brown or polka-dot writer to recast the idea in a way that restores the worth and utility of assimilation. Somebody had better do it soon; the first chart offered in the Putnam study depicts inexorably rising rates of immigration in many nations. The idea that the U.S. can wave into effect a 10-year "time out" on immigration flows is as likely as King Canute commanding the tides to recede. Here, too, Robert Putnam has a possible assimilation model. Hold onto your hat. It's Christian evangelical megachurches. 'In many large evangelical congregations,' he writes, 'the participants constituted the largest thoroughly integrated gatherings we have ever witnessed.' This, too, is an inconvenient truth. They do it with low entry barriers to the church and by offering lots of little groups to join inside the larger 'shared identity' of the church. A Harvard prof finds good in evangelical megachurches. Send this man a suit of body armor!"

While there is some internet chatter re. the reporting of these findings, it should not at all be surprising to those of us who believe that apart from Jesus Christ and the local church, "beloved community" cannot otherwise be achieved. Read the entire Henniger article as published in the Wall St. Journal on August 16, 2007 and let me know what you think.

Fall Speaking Dates and Info

August 14, 2007 / Forum on Faith sponsored by the Nehemiah Group and Little Rock's Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission, Little Rock, AR
September 20, 2007 / Town Hall Meeting – A Discussion of Race and Education sponsored by Central High's 50th Anniversary Commission, Little Rock, AR;
October 6 / Salvation Army Multi-cultural Ministries Seminar, Schaumburg, IL;
October 20-21, Grace Chapel, Lexington, MA

Whites: Privileged or Advantaged?

I received a group email recently from one of our African American members. It invited a visit to an MSNBC news article and read ...

"Hello Everyone,

"I'm glad there is research that will support what is well known by African Americans. When I speak of anything concerning race in America, I always communitcate what the research will substantiate. I do not speak solely from experience because I know my experiences are null and void to the dominate culture. In 2007 African American experiences are being written off as not true or compared to the classism experienced by whites. When the dominate culture is honest about their privilege, maybe our experiences will become apparent and valid."

I thought Glue Sticks (group identity for all who read my blog:-) might be interested in reading my response. Here's what I wrote ...

Hey (name withheld),

Thanks for forwarding the interesting article. I wanted you to know that while I agree that most whites are unaware of their "privileged" past and still current status in American society, I think it is more accurate to speak in broad strokes (such as you are) of White "advantage" vs. "privilege." I'll use my own personal experience to share with you why.

It is true that I am a White Male who at one time did not recognize, but has now come to understand how "advantaged" he was (is) - yet, it is equally true that I was in no way "privileged" growing up. For instance, I was one of only 6% of children in 1961 being raised in a single parent home; I was a latch-key kid before the term was even invented and had a mother who worked two jobs to support us. I was helping her to sell Avon (going door-to- door throughout the ten-block neighborhood in the evenings and then, packing the orders, etc.) by the age of 8 and began holding steady jobs in the 6th grade (age 11) to help support her efforts on our behalf. Even as late as my junior year in high school, I was sharing a one-bedroom apartment with my mother and while we slept on separate twin beds, they were in the same room. Talk about embarrassing!

In the end, then, and as as you know, I believe it will take much more than honest dialogue among human beings to promote sincere understanding, genuine healing and authentic community. Racism is, ultimately, a spiritual problem that in no way can be overcome apart from Jesus Christ and, more specifically, believers committed to pursuing his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven in and through the local church.

Toward that end, I am so grateful that you and David are helping to build a healthy multi-ethnic church in Little Rock and to model real solutions for others, i.e, an intended outcome free of distinctions via Mosaic!

One in Christ with you, M-

72204

This short video was created to share the people and the passion of Mosaic and, as well, our desire to permanently locate our church in the heart of Little Rock's University District. The 72204 zip code borders an area with the highest instance of violent crime in the city, includes 21.5% of people living at or below the poverty level, the homeless, drug and alcohol adicted and prostitution. With your help, we can turn the old K-Mart into a Center of Life in this desperately needed area of the city and in so doing, physically demonstrate the power of resurrection through the conversion of the facility from a place that once sold goods to all people into a place that will share the love of God with all people. To learn more about the 72204 mission or to get involved with us financially, visit our website at www.mosaicchurch.net.