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Church of many colours
How inclusive is your church? Clare Nonhebel looks at one church’s journey away from racism and draws out some principles on how to celebrate diversity.
Greenford Baptist Church, on the borders of Southall in West London, is typical of many churches challenged by the cultural shift in society over the years.
A crucial, and painful, turning point in its history occurred 19 years ago, two years after Rev David Wise became pastor at GBC – described at that time as “a conservative church that’s not going to change.”
He invited two young Caribbean men to a specially called leadership meeting to explain to the all-white mainly elderly deacons what it was like to be young and black in the UK – and how it felt to be young and black in Greenford Baptist Church.
The deacons were stunned as the men quoted their work colleagues’ derogatory comments about black people, hastily followed by “We don’t mean you, of course,” and comments by church members, including, “I don’t see you as a black person but as my brother.”
Both men, who had come to Britain as older children and were black in culture not just in colour, felt their blackness was unwelcome. In society and in church, people felt they were doing them a favour by overlooking it.
One woman deacon wept as she realised that although she invited people home to tea every Sunday, she had never invited a black person into her house.
The turmoil caused by the two men’s testimony had farreaching effects. During the next few years, some members left. No one said it was about race; they said it was “changes in the church” or lamented how much nicer it was “the way we were – when we knew everyone.” But it started the church on a journey towards facing some of the issues, and ultimately becoming more inclusive.
The challenge of multiculturalism is one which many UK churches still need to face up to. “Churches are working towards becoming culturally diverse but many are in need of sustained creative support in their journey,” says Wale Hudson Roberts, racial justice advisor for the Baptist Union of Great Britain. “The starting point for all churches is the recognition that regardless of demographics, the multicultural journey is imperative.”
“Churches must not only cope with diversity but enjoy and celebrate it, as a prophetic example to our nation, because of what Christ can do,” adds Kumar Rajagopalan, regional minister for racial justice at the London Baptist Association.
Change matters
So what is the starting point? Perhaps the first step is the most difficult – admitting that things need to change rather than burying heads in the sand.
“It’s a get-out to say, ‘I don’t look at colour.’ We all do. But whoever I look at, I should see God radiating out of them. While it’s fine for churches to focus on what they do well, it’s not ok to choose who they minister to – to say, ‘We’re here for this ethnic group and not for everyone.’ Jesus didn’t do that,” says Katei Kirby of the African-Caribbean Evangelical Alliance.
“It’s different if people choose not to come to your church because the style doesn’t suit them. It’s not a rejection of your church if someone says, ‘I don’t do liturgy – or dancing in the aisles – so I choose to go to another church,’ but it’s wrong if they have to leave because they’re not welcome.”
Starting on a process of becoming more multicultural and inclusive is not easy. Some people will always be resistant to change, particularly if it feels as if something they hold dear – the style of worship or preaching for example – is in jeopardy, and this can cause problems. According to Kumar Rajagopalan, fear of confrontations with their existing flock holds many church leaders back from genuinely welcoming newcomers from other cultures. “On the road to being inclusive, churches will hit periods where it’s quite difficult and people may leave. Many pastors don’t want to risk conflict – but if you face the conflicts your church will grow.”
Other objections from native white members may stem from fear of importing heresy or idolatry along with unfamiliar cultures. “There’s an assumption that Western culture is biblical,” Rajagopalan says, “but today it’s mainly Asian and African cultures that uphold the biblical (and traditionally British) values of community, sacrificial hospitality and respect for elders. [But instead] people say, ‘multiculturalism is dangerous,’ or ‘they’re in Britain so they should do things our way.’”
Ways to worship
Failure to include all cultures in the life of local churches has resulted in division across the UK. Many churches have polarised into either ‘black church’ or ‘white church’, mainly because of differences in worship style. So what would happen if churches made an effort to combine worship styles, or try out different things?
“In black churches the emphasis is on worship with a lot of expressive singing and dancing. White culture respects people’s space and autonomy and avoids being intrusive,” explains Jibs Olubokun, a GBC leadership team member.
Another church member Timi Awoniyi adds, “African worship doesn’t make a division between spiritual and physical: you put your whole body into the worship. Non-whites struggle when the worship is not expressive, and whites struggle when it is, but having homogenous churches is a misconception of what God is like.”
Embracing multiculturalism in worship may mean stepping out of one’s comfort zone and experiencing something new, but the benefit can help us all to get away from the stifling ritualism of doing it the same way every week and help every member of the congregation have a fresh encounter with God.
It’s not just style of Sunday worship which needs to be addressed. One pastor of an independent African congregation points out that many churches have one approved way of going about a christening or wedding or funeral, regardless of the person’s background. “In sermons, the speaker may use images only understood by people of a certain background,” he adds. “And in ministry – for instance, if someone has had a dream or has seen or heard something that is not rational, is the pastor going to tell them it’s their imagination deluding them, or see it as something of spiritual significance? If white churches want to be multicultural, there’s a need for training white pastors in cultural theology.”
“Some churches are multicultural on paper but you must be genuine and open to change,” adds Olubokun. “Details are important. For example, if you have church lunches, the food has to be representative. You can’t just put out sandwiches every time.”
One really important thing to address on the journey to being inclusive is the leadership of the church. “Church must be inclusive, open, touching the community as an organised place of expression of faith, and welcoming diversity – age, colour, experience – not just in the pew but in leadership,” says Katei Kirby.
But sadly, many churches fall short of this. One African church pastor claims that homogenous, one-culture, churches are necessary in the UK because the pastoral needs of black people are neglected in white churches that only claim to be multicultural. “They might have 80% black members but not one on the church council.”
“Leadership structures may be exclusive,” says Kumar Rajagopalan. “When churches tell me, ‘We only appoint on the basis of ability or spiritual calling, not ethnicity,’ I ask, ‘What about training, bringing out people’s potential?’”
Time for change
So how do we begin to implement some of these broad principles? For Greenford Baptist Church, that 1989 meeting with the Caribbean men kicked off a deliberate programme of challenge to the church’s conscious and unconscious racism.
Pastor David Wise spent three weeks staying with black residents in Soweto, to gain a taste of what life was like for people denied respect by society simply because of their ethnicity. When he returned, he realised “how Eurocentric we are”.
He embarked on a part-time MA in biblical interpretation, with emphasis on the difference between the Western method of overlaying the text with ‘scientific’ analysis, and other cultures’ perception of living in and under the word of God.
Within GBC, he began to train leaders, change the leadership structure, the focus and style of sermons, the format and length of services and the worship style. Potential leaders from all ethnic backgrounds were invited into a demanding 18- month leadership training group and emerged with their own very individual styles of preaching and leading worship.
Underlying these practical steps was a real desire and willingness to change. Welcome is only genuine, says Wise, if you allow the newcomers to change the shape of the church family “like welcoming a new son-in-law means changing the shape of a family”.
Taking a risk
So is it worth all this work and risk? Members of Greenford Baptist Church think so.
Rachel Berry, 21, grew up in Singapore with a Chinese mother and English father and the family has just moved to London. “I’d heard about English culture – the immorality – but it was still a big shock. Asian people generally are quite conservative. Here, students sleep around and get drunk – like, every night. My first term at college, I found it quite hard, socially. I found comfort in church. GBC is very welcoming and soon after we came there was an international evening, with inclusion of everyone. In Singapore it’s all Chinese people; we were the only half-white family so we were odd. But in GBC everyone’s odd, so we’re normal!”
GBC is unusual, though not unique, in not having one dominant ethnic group. The mix of nationalities is reflected in the flags from more than 30 countries, the huge artwork with the name of God in every member’s first language, the different styles of worship, including some songs and prayer in other languages, the different traditions of weddings and other celebrations, and the popular international evenings with their range of food, costumes and entertainments.
Daniela Clapau, who recently married in the church in her own Romanian tradition, says, “I really enjoy listening to how others perceive God and to see how God is so big and has created us all so different. It’s enriching.”
But they would still say that the mix of cultures also brings problems. If Africans would like the worship to be more expressive, Asians may find it alarmingly overactive.
Mehala Vijayakumar, who came from Sri Lanka over 20 years ago, says, “GBC is very friendly. But it’s not quiet! At first it was really difficult. But my children and I tried a quiet church here and we didn’t feel welcome; people stayed in their group of friends and didn’t chat to us.”
Alison Fraser, who is white English and has been coming to GBC for 37 years, says, “I’m a quiet person, but it’s fine to sit down quietly praying, or to dance, or whatever. There’s a sense of freedom. Over the past 20 years the church has become more open to other cultures and ways of worshipping. Some people may have thought, ‘this is not for me.’ People have come and gone and don’t always say why. But the church is much more relaxed and welcoming now. I really feel God’s presence here.”
Most GBC members agree that to achieve multicultural church it is worth braving the misunderstandings and insecurities. Allowing everyone to be themselves and express their different gifts and worship styles means accepting a constant state of change.
But the rewards are the freedom each person has to be themselves and express their whole identity, and the enjoyment of developing friendships with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
You could also say that meeting the challenge of multiculturalism is compulsory: the kingdom of God on earth and a foretaste of John’s vision in Revelation 7:9, where people of every tribe, nation and language worship God together. As David Wise describes it, “It’s the difference between seeing life in black and white and seeing it in technicolour!”
Clare Nonhebel is author of six novels, four non-fiction books and has a new e-book ‘Finding Oasis’ available from her website clarenonhebel.com. She is working on a novel about New Age and Christianity.