Diverse Thoughts
by Terry Shanahan, NE Regional Minister
Lately, the FORESEE topics have been our Seven Guiding Values, bringing us this month to our seventh and final Guiding Value, “a membership reflective of the harvest field’s diversity.” When it was first suggested that multiple staff members write on the same topic each month, I was concerned that the ensuing articles would be repetitive and redundant. But such has not been the case. In fact these articles, for lack of a better term, have been quite “diverse.” They have in fact showcased the diversity that exists in the leadership of the Conference; each one of us writing from the view of their own position or place of ministry, which I will do now.
Webster’s dictionary defines diversity as “essential difference” or “variety.” In my position as Regional Minister, I am in a unique position to be aware of the diversity in our churches in the Northeast. As I travel the region and visit churches, evidence of diversity shows up in many ways. We have many different size churches: ranging from mega church to a church of a few handfuls of people. We have many different types of worship: ranging from traditional to contemporary and including Anglican and African. As an observer, I have seen great diversity in economic status with some churches being very well off, and some as “poor as church mice.” Our urban settings display the most racial diversity with some of our rural village churches have no racial diversity in their communities to draw from. I also observe both gender and generational diversity in our churches. It warms my heart to see men and women, young and old worshiping God and living life together. All this is leading up to say, that to an observer like myself, diversity does exist within the CCCC. In fact we can state with certainty that we are more diverse now then we have ever been.
However, simply observing and saying that diversity exists does not imply that our churches and parishioners are all accepting, pursuing and adapting diversity as a guiding value. In fact, when we are working with churches and trying to improve their health, it is often discovered that a systemic barrier to that health is a lack of diversity. Often without realizing it, churches over time become insular, self-focused and exclusive. Without trying to, they become adept at keeping people out; usually people who are not exactly like themselves.
If a church is completely made up of a particular gender, or generation, or race or economic status that should be a sign that it is not reflective of the harvest field’s diversity and efforts should be made to discover why not. As our guiding value states “In the Church we are to demonstrate on earth, right now, what will be in His glorious Kingdom.” Have you or your church adopted diversity as a guiding value? Is your church demonstrating on earth what will be in His glorious Kingdom? Because in reality, all seven of these values are not simply CCCC values, they are Kingdom values.
In His Joy, Terry
