Talking Together as Christians Cross-Culturally: A Field Guide, Revised ed.

Talking Together as Christians Cross-Culturally: A Field Guide, Revised edition.

From the Introduction:

This is the right time—perhaps even a critical time—for cross-cultural conversation for the sake of the church’s mission. God is inviting congregations and other ministries to reach beyond their own cultures to talk with people of cultural backgrounds different than their own about ministry issues that matter. To engage in these conversations, God calls us to welcome the stranger. God calls us to open ourselves up to others’ perspectives, and to embrace those who are different from us also as creatures of God or as members with us of the body of Christ.

Rich opportunities abound for ELCA congregations and synods to engage in ministry with the variety of cultural groups that exist both within the ELCA and outside of it in the United States, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Territories. Some of these cultural groups have been present for a long time; others have come with recent waves of immigrants. They present the whole church with the opportunity to reach out with the gospel, and to partner with them to serve people in need, to work for justice, peace, and the elimination of poverty, and to receive the blessings of their partnership in ministry. These partnerships help all who participate in them to discover part of what God is up to in our midst and to participate in it.

The purpose of this field guide is to invite and equip synods and congregations to have fruitful public conversation across the frontiers of culture about the full range of ministry matters. It also invites ministries to go beyond conversation, whenever appropriate, to deciding and acting together with those of different cultural backgrounds. This resource will

1. Help ministries talk cross-culturally

2. Enable synods to equip ministries that want or need to talk cross-culturally to have those conversations

3. Show why we are called to talk cross-culturally as church

This field book can be used to help crosscultural conversations about a variety of ministry matters. In this field guide, by ministry matters we mean:

• Outreach and evangelism

• Congregational ministry questions

• Congregational social ministry

• Involvement in a variety of social justice and peace ministries, such as community development, faith-based organizing, public policy advocacy, or the practice of non-violence

• Partnership with community organizations or social ministry organizations of the church

The possibilities of ministry matters that can be discussed are limited only by your Christian imaginations.

Sections include:

• Part I. Why Should We Talk Cross-culturally as Church?

• Part II. What is Cross-cultural Conversation Like?

• Part III. How Do We Train Leaders and Lead Cross-cultural Conversation?

  • Synod Teams Working with Congregations

  • Leading Congregations in Cross-cultural Conversation

  • Cultural Factors in Conversation

  • Assets for Cross-cultural Conversation

166-page resource ©2004, Revised ©2009