Programs
Intercultural Ministries
Connecting the Body of Christ across cultures to nurture Kingdom growth in the city, region and world
“The whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow." (Col. 2:19)
Overview • Intercultural Leadership Consultation • Staff
Over the last three decades, two dynamic flows of migration have carried nearly one million people from over 100 nations into Greater Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. One flow contains people from some of the most vital Christianity of Latin America, Asia and Africa and has fueled dynamic Kingdom growth in our region. The other flow has brought tremendous opportunity to relate to some of the world’s most unreached peoples including Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Muslims. Unfortunately both of these flows of people have often been overlooked or lacked the intercultural connection necessary to leverage greater Kingdom growth in the city, region and world. Simply put, the growth of the Kingdom can be greatly expanded by nurturing authentic intercultural connections between the many “nations” represented in the Body of Christ and the many nations in our own backyard.
Intercultural Ministries (IM) of EGC functions as a “supporting ligament” in the Body of Christ for connecting
ministry practitioners, churches and organizations
across cultural lines—to see the Body of Christ strengthened and the Kingdom of God more fully revealed!
We network, train, and consult to promote effective
intercultural ministry and international mission networks in and out of Greater Boston. As we follow the Holy Spirit, we have identified the following key strategic initiatives in 2007-2008:
- To conduct a Intercultural Leadership Consultation to deepen our understanding of how God is working among the various ethnic groups in and out of Greater Boston and to leverage that learning in collaborations that accelerate Kingdom growth in the city, region and world.
- To establish an Unreached Peoples Learning & Ministry Team to apply research and team learning in reaching the world’s most unreached peoples residing in Greater Boston, including Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Muslims. Ministry practitioners working among these people groups will gather to foster group learning and partner in evangelistic initiatives in Boston and beyond.
- To establish a Diaspora Missions Learning & Ministry Team to promote research and team learning around the best ways of doing Diaspora Missions from Boston to nations around the world. A first pilot project being considered is to work with West African leaders in Boston in establishing a more reliable ministry bridge back to West Africa.
With our increased capacity, Intercultural Ministries will be able to: engage and enhance the ministry of 750 leaders doing Diaspora Ministry and Missions in and out of Greater Boston; train 200 leaders who will become personally and collectively engaged in a wide array of intercultural ministry activities; and prepare and deploy six intercultural ministry interns to build connections across multiple ethnic groups. Through these efforts towards
intercultural relation and collaboration, we will see greater expression and advancement of the Kingdom of God to the city, region and world.
The term “Diaspora” refers to people who have been scattered from their homeland either by force of circumstances or by choice. Diaspora peoples include immigrants, refugees and internationals.
The term “Diaspora Missions” refers to the ministry Diaspora people have back to their homelands or to other nations where their people reside. Diaspora Missions may also involve Diaspora peoples doing cross-cultural missions to other people groups. [top of page]
The Intercultural Leadership Consultation (ILC) is a sequel to the Multicultural Leadership Consultation that was held in Boston in 2002. The consultation, which has 15 co-sponsoring organizations, will bring Christian leaders together for dynamic transformational dialogue to see how the Kingdom of God is growing in New England and the world. An expected 600 participants from 20 people groups will be present for the consultation, which takes place in October 2007 at Grace Chapel in Lexington.
For more details, check out the ILC website.
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- , Director, Intercultural Ministries
- , Intercultural Ministries Associate
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