Reaching the Nations Among Us: Part 1 A Nation of Immigrants

1952, East Los Angles, CA  – “Look Mijo”, she said to me in Spanish, “See that big building? That’s where your daddy is going to work!” I was four years old as I sat on my mother’s lap looking out the window into East Los Angeles. As the train slowed down through the community of Boyle Heights for its arrival into Union Station, I looked in awe at the massive building my mother pointed out – the Los Angeles County General Hospital.

My mother’s words expressed the hope of my stepfather, Roberto Serrano, affectionately referred to as “Bobby” by the doctors and medical staff at his retirement as a surgical technician from Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina. But in 1952, he was an immigrant from Mexico with a new wife, a son, little money, a sixth grade education, yet full of hope and a dream for a better life.

 The next decade my dad would work toward achieving his dream. During that time my mom’s brothers would cross the border one by one, housed by my parents until they got a job and were able to rent a place of their own.

 The story of my family is similar to that of many immigrants that have come to America in search of hope and the opportunity to achieve their dream. America is a nation comprised of immigrants and their descendents. Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “Remember, remember always, that all of us… are descended from immigrants…”

The present reality is that the majority of descendents of immigrants is shifting. Demographers tell us that by 2042: 

• Whites will be less than 50% of the U.S. population.
• Hispanics will be over one in four.
• African-Americans will be 12%.
• Asians and Pacific Islanders will more than double their 2006 population to 28.3 million.

A more staggering figure by the Pew Hispanic Center is that new immigrants arriving after 2005 and their descendents will account for 82% of the U.S. population growth between 2005 and 2050 as a result of natural increase (the excess of births over death).

Children under the age of 18 are expected to reach majority-minority status of just over 50% of the population by 2023 and 62% of all children by 2050, mostly due to the growth in immigrant children. 

The demographical changes in the next forty-nine years are shocking, but what is the demographic reality of today? According to a 2005 report by the U.S.Census Bureau, Hawaii, California, New Mexico and Texas are majority-minority state, along with the District of Columbia. States on their way to becoming majority-minority are Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, New York and Arizona. 2007 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that about 10% (302) of the country’s 3,141 counties are already majority minority counties. Another 218 counties are at the “tipping point” and in the next few years will become majority-minority counties.

So what is the pathological impact of these demographical changes on the local church?  It’s deadly. Dr. Peter Wager in his book Your Church Can Grow identifies the disease as “Ethnikitis.” The symptom is that the people in the pew no longer reflect the people in the community. The diagnosis is that the church will eventually die.  When we take into account the exodus of baby boomers from more densely populated to less densely populated areas when they retire, minorities will fill the housing vacancies but not necessarily the pews.

The churches in greatest danger of dying are homogenous churches that have predominately targeted a white middle class population. That is because their demographic is in decline. The options for survival are: (1) sell or give the facilities to a homogenous ethnic congregation and relocate to where your constituency has relocated. (2) Become a multi-cultural congregation ministering to multiple congregations in their language and cultural context. These multi-cultural congregations may be one church with multiple language departments, or multiple congregations sharing one facility. (3) Transition to a multi-ethnic congregation where the church has a diversity of English speaking ethnic groups. This list of options is by no means extensive. If you know of other options please submit those options in the comment box for the benefit of our readers.

If the homogenous church is to survive and thrive the people in the pews must reflect the people in the community.  The question now, is how? We will begin to address this question in our series, Reaching the Nations Among Us. 

That’s my opinion. I welcome yours.

What Programs Are Necessary to Become Ethnically-Diverse?

I had the privilege of participating on a panel discussion at the Ethnic America Network Conference in St. Louis.  One of the questions asked of us was, “Share a brief story how your church intentionally reached out to ethnic minorities and included them in your fellowship.”

 Sunrise Church, Rialto, CA 2000

          Like so many first time visitors I was awed by the ethnic diversity of Sunrise Church in Rialto, CA. My first question to our Senior Pastor Dr. Jay Pankratz was “What programs have you initiated to become so ethnically diverse?”  His answer was, “None”.  The obvious follow up question was, “How then did you accomplish this degree of diversity?” I will never forget his response. He said it so matter-of-fact, “by being relentlessly Biblical.”  He went on to say, “I had no vision for ethnic diversity; but, when I began to study God’s Word, the Lord’s mandates, and I looked at the ethnic diversity of our community I came to the conclusion that we could not be anything less. The key text in the vision of Sunrise Church is Luke 10:25-37.  A man asked Jesus, ‘What do I have to do to have eternal life?’  He responds, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.’  

          There were no books or networks to provide guidance on how to transition a church.  Pastor Jay and other pioneers like him across the country learned by trial and error.  It began by embracing the demographical change of their communities. As the White population of Rialto continued to decrease while the ethnically diverse population increased, Rialto Community Baptist Church had one choice continue to reach a declining population that would result in a declining church congregation or reach out to the entire demographic of the community and increase the potential for the church to grow.

          What began with a vision took six years to become a reality.  Here is what Pastor Jay has said about the process.

I have learned three things about multi-cultural ministry

· It’s Biblical   · It Works    · It’s Hard

• My first year, we drafted a church vision statement which said, “We will seek to reach all ethnic groups without distinction or separation.”

• In the next few years, we were surprised to see some from other ethnicities coming and joining our church.

• As the numbers from other ethnicities increased and some moved into leadership, the criticism increased from all sides.

• After six years of difficult struggles and limited success, I nearly left the church.

• We turned the corner during my seventh year when our people began to accept the multi-cultural mix, criticism began to diminish somewhat and the number of minorities grew significantly.

• During my ninth year, we started being more intentional about including more minorities in all levels of leadership and utilizing more multi-cultural music and promotion.

• By my eleventh year, half of our Elder Board were minorities.

• In my twelfth year, we reached a point where we had no ethnic majority in our church or on our pastoral staff.

• We continue to work on new ways to touch the hurts of our community that we might teach their hearts about the love of Jesus.

         It’s Purpose not Programs that guide a church through the discomfort and criticism leaders face when transitioning their church. It’s a commitment to carrying out the mandates of Christ in an ethnically diverse community. In the words of Pastor Jay Pankratz its being, “relentlessly biblical.”

That’s my opinion, I welcome yours.

Art Lucero