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The leader of preaching peer groups in northern Indiana and on Chicago’s South Side shares his insights about what makes these groups so effective.
Preaching to peers in a homiletics cohort opened Antonio Almonte’s eyes to the differences in how listeners perceive his preaching in English versus Spanish. As a result, he adjusted his English-language preaching style.
Worshiping regularly with a congregation culturally dissimilar from yours is challenging but worth it. Understanding these challenges can also help you change worship to better include different cultural groups within your church.
In June 2018 Vital Worship Grants recipients gathered at Calvin College for three days of worship, learning, and sharing together.
Three church groups started out as separate congregations sharing one building. Now regularly-scheduled joint worship helps them see themselves as members of one body in Christ.
A growing multitude of lively conversations rapidly drowned out the live jazz music as a crowd of clergy, academics, and community members poured into Prince Conference Center’s Great Hall.
John 17 records Jesus’ prayer for unity “so that the world may know that you have sent me and loved them.” It is a powerful witness when churches model unity within diversity. This witness requires intention and prayer.
To become more multicultural, congregations must help members discern differences between biblical doctrines and cultural biases.
Preachers who interpret scripture without paying attention to cultural, ethnic, and other differences in their congregation miss out on opportunities to build bridges to their listeners’ lives.
Sometimes it is easier to use the Bible to look back at what God has done than to see what God is working toward. First Baptist Church of McMinnville, Oregon, includes testimonies in worship so that people can see how their lives are part of a story God is still telling.
Celebrating its 150th anniversary led First Baptist Church of McMinnville, Oregon, into a practice of storytelling and testimony in worship. They learned how stories cross boundaries and time and connect people with God’s big story.
After becoming a seminary professor in Egypt in 2013, Anne Zaki discovered two things about preaching that she hadn’t learned in the North American context.
