Separate No More Becoming an Intercultural Church of the Brethren

I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there – all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb. Revelation 7:9, The Message

Separate No More Definitions Cross-cultural Multicultural Intercultural Potentially limited to one cultural group seeking understanding of and relationship with another. The second culture may not see these efforts as a mutual relationship. Potentially two or more cultural groups on parallel paths seeking understanding of each other, but not necessarily relationships with each other. Two or more cultural groups seeking a mutual understanding of and relationship with one another.

Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination Separate No More Recommendations Select a menu title above to view its recommendations

Separate No More Recommendations Individuals/Families Be intentional about forming authentic relationships with diverse neighbors: Learn about their cultural backgrounds and personal stories Learn more about how they experience and view God Become better informed about racism and other discrimination: Stand in solidarity with victims of all hate crimes Offer compassion and assistance to them Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination

Brethren students, staff and faculty at Brethren institutions of higher learning: Be open to people from all ethnic and racial backgrounds Build relationships with those from traditionally ethnic institutions of higher learning located near them Brethren residents and staff of the Brethren retirement communities: Be open to people from all ethnic and racial backgrounds Build relationships with traditionally ethnic institutions near them Separate No More Recommendations Individuals/Families Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination

Separate No More Recommendations Congregations Reach out intentionally to people from different backgrounds in their neighborhood: Love them as neighbors Build authentic relationships with them Become informed about the conditions of life for ethnic/racial minorities within their neighborhoods and congregations: Make strong time and financial resource commitments to local organizations working on inequalities issues Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination

Separate No More Recommendations Districts Recommend that: Develop and implement strategies for realizing the Revelation 7:9 vision Require pastors to have on-going continuing education focusing on intercultural activity Require intercultural content CEUs for re-ordination and re-licensing Require all district staff and programme volunteers to have intercultural orientation and experience Implement a formal mentoring programme for new minority pastors Require all new District Executive candidates, nominees for District Board, committees, and their representatives to Standing Committee and Mission and Ministry Board have attended 1 intercultural event in the past 5 years Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination

Separate No More Recommendations Districts Recommend that: District Board be accountable for the above recommendations by reporting their progress every 2 years Implement and promote an event emphasizing the blessing of the increasing intercultural nature of the Church of the Brethren and our need to move closer to Revelation 7:9 Be intentional about collecting congregational and pastoral statistics using the Congregational Statistical Report Form which will be revised to include diversity factors Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination

Separate No More Recommendations Denomination We call all our sisters and brothers to recommit themselves to radical discipleship that embraces our traditional witness of peace, simplicity, compassion, and stewardship of God's creation. We give thanks for the old wineskins (Matthew 9:17) that faithfully carried forth the living witness of Christ in our world. But in the spirit of transformation found in Romans 12:2, it is time to make new wineskins for the future of the Church of the Brethren. Therefore, we recommend that the denomination widen the relevancy of our witness to those "from every nation, people, tribe and tongue" by adopting Revelation 7:9 as our denominational vision for the remainder of the 21st century. Thus, we can clearly articulate to ourselves, our friends, and the un-churched that we are – and will be – SEPARATE NO MORE. Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination

Separate No More Recommendations Denomination Annual Conference and reportable agencies: Include intentional intercultural inclusion in their vision statement Establish a hiring discernment process that considers candidates’ intercultural competence Require annual intercultural orientation/education for staff and programme volunteers Develop programs to include and formally mentor young adults from every ethnic/racial background into leadership for our future stability and growth Update the Congregational Statistical Report Form to include standardized cultural indicators to provide an accurate “census” of the Church of the Brethren All national conferences will intentionally include intercultural themes and diverse speakers, offer intercultural-awareness activities and training, and provide adequate translation services Provide new member materials, evangelism materials, and Christian education materials that are intercultural and translated into appropriate languages Require all new Standing Committee members on the Nominating Committee to have attended at least one (1) Intercultural event in the past five (5) years Require all new at-large agency Board of Directors nominees to have attended at least one (1) Intercultural event in the past five (5) years Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination

Separate No More Recommendations Denomination Bethany Theological Seminary: Make intercultural church planting and intercultural education a priority Pursue a policy of intentional recruitment of people of color among its students Seek qualified faculty from various ethnic and national backgrounds Include the religious history and heritage of nonwhite church members, along with intercultural communication, in its curriculum Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination

Separate No More Recommendations Denomination Establish a full-time, funded specialist position in Congregational Life Ministries to: Assist in facilitating intercultural activity within the denomination Serve as a denominational clearing house for intercultural resources Assist in data collection about intercultural activity Compile annual intercultural progress reports to be included in the Annual Conference reporting from the updated Congregational Statistical Report Form Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination

Separate No More Recommendations Denomination As a denomination, we renew our commitment to: Existing and new urban ministry sites Intentionally work to plant new intercultural congregations Accountability for monitoring the implementation of these recommendations rest with Annual Conference Standing Committee Annual Conference and its agencies will report on their applicable progress each year at Annual Conference through 2010, and every 2 years thereafter Individuals/ Families Congregation District Denomination

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