In Cultural Competency, Getting Back in the Game for Ministry with Your Neighbors, Paul Nixon explores how a church can regain a sense of cultural competency for ministering to the world around it. There are different strategies that impact how we do this – no single strategy is right for every church. But there are also baseline principles that are universally applicable.
Paul Nixon looks first at a few baselines of culturally competent ministry, and then considers the varied strategies churches employ to get back in the game, in terms of effective ministry with their neighbors. These baselines include:
• The Christian Good News transcends culture
•Your church belongs to God, not to you
• The Good Ole Days are in front of us, not behind us
• Authenticity is essential
• No church can serve everybody
• Friendship first, then ministry development
• Spiritual readiness
• Social privilege often gets in our way
• Community partnerships are priceless
• Good listening may lead to Un-learning
A lot of what we try will go about as well as a Wile E. Coyote scheme; God is alive and at work in every neighborhood. Our challenge is to show up to what God is doing; Regardless of strategy, spiritual collaboration with new people is essential!
