Video of interracial churches

One of our plenary speakers, Rodney Woo, mentioned that PBS was doing a program on interracial churches. Rodney recently emailed with the link to that program. Watch it for a real boost, and a reminder of how good the Lord is to motivate churches and believers to pursue intercultural ministry. Link.

Thanks to God for the conference

Much work went into preparing for, and publicizing the Mosaix Portland conference. Special thanks to Kim Greenwood and Leslie Erickson for all their work.
Over 100 people registered and enjoyed fine plenaries and many excellent workshops.
Now, we want to preserve the momentum by following up with some local networking meetings. Derek Chinn will be facilitating those.
If you can possibly continue in this dialog, please respond by staying in touch through this blog or by emailing derek through this blog or through info@ethnicimpact.net
Feel free to raise any questions you may have as well. You will be hearing more from us in the days to come.

Mosaix Portland Top Ten

Here are ten reasons why you should register for Mosaix Portland:

10. The Pacific Northwest is a gateway to the world as people are drawn here by jobs and education.

9. Recent statistics say that white Americans will be a minority by the year 2042. The cultural makeup of our country is changing to one that will be a mix of many cultures and backgrounds.

8. 1 in 5 children in the US are children of immigrant parents. (NBC News, October 14, 2008) (If the children in your ministries don't already reflect this statistic, their friends and schoolmates do.)

7. In John 17 Jesus prayed for unity among Christians, yet over 92% of Protestant and Catholic churches in America are considered "monoethnic" (80% or more of the individuals are of the same race or ethnicity). If our pews are filled with people who look just like us, and have all the same interests and backgrounds, we need to ask ourselves if this speaks authentically of unity and acceptance based upon the words and life of Christ.

6. We're serving a great lunch! (Food is always good!)

5. You'll hear inspiring messages from our keynotes; Rodney Woo - pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, TX and Dr. Richard White, Professor at Portland State University. Both are passionate about reaching communities for Christ and equipping the local church with the framework and tools to do it in a changing world.

4. The workshops and panel discussion will give you a chance to ask your burning questions about how to transition, plant or merge churches to become multi-ethnic, Christ-following congregations. You'll hear from people who've done this and lived to tell about it.

3. A kickin' book table with resources that will help you process and understand the multi-ethnic church movement.

2. An opportunity to network and meet with folks after the conference to keep talking about the needs and opportunities for churches who desire to become intentionally multi-ethnic.

And the number one reason why you should attend the Mosaix Portland Conference . . . (from "Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church" by Mark DeYmaz)

In the twenty-first century it will be the unity of diverse believers walking and serving as one in and through the local church that will proclaim the fact of God's love for all people more profoundly than any one sermon, book or evangelistic crusade. And I believe the coming integration of the local church will lead to the fulfillment of the Great commission to people of every nation, tribe, people, and tongue coming to know him as we do.

10 excellent reasons why you should be with us November 7 & 8 for Mosaix Portland. Go to www.mosaix.info and click on Calendar of events to register today.

Time to Register for Mosaix Portland!

Click here to access the Mosaix Portland Brochure and sign up for this valuable conference. Here's some fast facts:

• The Mosaix Portland Conference is for pastors, lay leaders and students interested in multi-cultural ministry.
  
  
• The conference will be held at Central Bible Church, Portland.
  
  
• The conference begins Friday night, November 7th at 7 pm with a Multi-cultural worship night. (You'll also be able to pre-register for Saturday's workshops.) The evening ends with a coffee and dessert time to network with others attending the conference and workshop presenters.
  
  
• Saturday, November 8th is a full day of workshops and keynotes as well as an opportunity to hear from a panel of experienced leaders in multi-cultural ministry.
  
  
• Keynote speakers include Dr. Rodney Woo from Wilcrest Baptist Church in Texas and Dr. Richard White, professor in the Urban Studies program at Portland State University.
  
  
• Early registration and student discounts are available by mail (just copy the brochure and mail to the address indicated). Online registration is available at www.mosaix.info.
  
  
• Your registration includes lunch on Saturday!

More information on the workshops and other details can be found on the brochure by clicking here.

If you have any questions, please email us at the Portland Mosaix site: mosaixconfnw@gmail.com

Just another reason you should come . . .

"The message of God's love for all people is beautifully depicted in the context of the New Testament church, where believers from a diversity of backgrounds were united together as one in worship of God. Our society increasingly desires to see this same unity and diversity reflected in local churches, so I encourage our students and others in our area to take part in the Portland Mosaix Conference on November 7-8, 2008 at Central Bible Church. This is an ideal opportunity to learn from leaders in the multi-ethnic church movement."

Daniel R. Lockwood
President Multnomah University

Join us for Mosaix Portland, November 7 & 8 at Central Bible Church. Early registration discounts available! Email us at mosaixconfnw@gmail.com to recieve a brochure (snail mail or email).

Is your church ready?

Yesterday, MSNBC ran a version of this article stating that by the year 2042, white Americans will no longer be a majority. Immigration and higher birth rates among minority families have bumped up this estimate from the original estimate of 2050. (Interesting to note, a little more than 24 hours after first appearing, MSNBC changed the original title from "White Americans no longer a majority by 2042" to one that referenced age over diversity. It makes a gal wonder, "What was wrong with the first title?" Did it make some folks a bit uncomfortable? Hmmm . . . )

Here are the estimations for population diversity by the year 2050:
Whites - 46% of the population
Blacks - 15%
Hispanics - 30%
Asians - 9%

Of course this doesn't account for the thousands coming from other countries not represented by these major ethnicities. As our communities begin to reflect this shifting tide of populations, is your church prepared to reach out to and minister effectively to someone from another cultural background than your own? It makes sense that as our neighborhoods, schools and workplaces continue to show the diversity of our communities our churches should as well. It doesn't just make practical sense, it follows the example of the church as it was established in the book of Acts.

If this concept scares you - you're not alone. Ministering cross-culturally opens up a whole messy bag of stuff to deal with in addition to normal church stuff - different world views, traditions, expectations, culture, language, etc., etc. But from a personal experience of working, worshiping and learning as we move our once mono-ethnic church to one that is truly multi-ethnic - can I just say, the blessings are so worth it all!

Experiencing worship, service and ministry with brothers and sisters from different cultures has challenged me to consider what in my faith is cultural and what is scriptural. The work it takes to be a multi-cultural church more than pays off in understanding the biblical model of unity and brings a multitude of blessings not to mention dear friends.

If you want to learn more about how to minister to and with other cultures, come to the Mosiax Portland conference November 7th and 8th at Central Bible Church. You'll hear from church leaders from around the country who are working in cross-cultural ministry as they share resources, strategies and examples of how the church can be ready to reach out to a changing world. Email us at mosaixconfnw@gmail.com or visit mosaix.info for more information.

Why Multi-Ethnic?

Last week, I participated in a webinar led by Mark DeYmaz, author of the book Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church. Though the material was familiar, Mark had some great new insights and one of the coolest aspects of the webinar was the opportunity to take part in real-time surveys with other attendees. Here are a few of the questions and the results. (Disclaimers – I don’t have numbers on how many participated but the results show some thoughts and trends of those who attended. Also, I was scribbling notes with one hand and holding my cell phone with another so forgive me if I lost any detail in the phrasing of the questions.)

Why should we pursue the model of a Multi-Ethnic Church?

It’s politically correct 5%
It’s socially relevant 35%
It’s evangelistically bold 57%
It makes sense considering demographics 33%

Do you believe the multi-ethnic church is biblically mandated?

Yes 93%
No 0
Uncertain 7%

Mark spent some time reviewing the seven core commitments of a healthy multi-ethnic church and attendees were then asked to choose the one that seems most challenging to implement. The top five were:

Empowering Diverse Leadership 29%
Developing Cross-Cultural Relationships 26%
Pursuing Cross-Cultural Competency 24%
Promoting a Spirit of Inclusion 17%
Mobilizing for Impact 7%

It was clear from the survey answers and from the follow-up questions there is a strong interest in multi-ethnic churches and how to embark on this journey. We’re excited to be bringing a regional conference for church leaders to learn more about this topic and network with other church leaders with experience in this area of ministry. It’s our hope and prayer that the information shared at Mosaix Portland, November 7 & 8 will help churches who are on the journey of ministering to multi-ethnic congregations as well as those just learning about the possibilities of reaching out to a more diverse community. Check back here in the days ahead or email us at mosaixconfnw@gmail.com for more information.