 Christ
Church is celebrating its 41st anniversary this summer and
has been multicultural almost from its beginning. Currently a full
third (22) of our 60 members are immigrants and/ or have racial backgrounds
other than euro-american. Consistently a third to a half of our Board
of Deacons and Session are immigrants. In addition to the U.S., current
members come from the Philippines, Ghana, Brazil, El Salvador, Lebanon,
Mexico, Scotland and Canada. An addition, ten percent of our members
who were born in the U.S. are Hispanic and mixed race. In the past,
members have come from India, Japan, Australia, Cameroon, Korea and
Pakistan. Over the years our membership has experienced ups and downs
and is currently gaining ground again.
The
pastoral nominating committee, choosing a pastor in 2005, was deliberately
multicultural; three members were female and two were male, one
member was from Brazil, one member was from El Salvador and another
from the Philippines. In addition the age range was from 25- 60.
We were also very deliberate in looking for a bi-lingual (Spanish
speaking) pastor. She has ministry experience in Mexico and the
U.S., and in Hispanic, Anglo and Korean-American congregations.
When we were able to obtain a McCormick seminary student/intern
for the past school year, we chose a middle-aged man from Guatemala.
We plan to have him return in the fall.
Church
Mission Statement (motto): United in Christ to Grow and Serve.
For
20 years an Hispanic Cumberland Presbyterian congregation has met
in our building. For one year a Korean Presbyterian (USA) congregation
also shared the building. One of our most meaningful experiences
was a tri-lingual Christmas Eve service. We have had joint Maundy
Thursday services and Sunday morning bi-lingual services with the
Cumberland church. In order to have a joint Sunday School with Cumberland,
Christ Church moved its Sunday morning service to 9:30 am, to be
followed by Sunday School at 11:00 and the Cumberland service at
12:30 pm. We were never able to recruit teachers from Cumberland,
however, and their new pastor decided to have their own Christian
education classes on Thursday evenings. Members of the Cumberland
church have also provided music and preaching for our worship services.
For
Advent 2005 the two congregations met for a workshop, making bi-lingual
banners (one for each week of Advent) to hang in the sanctuary.
For Advent 2006 our theme was "Our Story-A Multi-Cultural Advent,
Christ Presbyterian Church, Hanover Park, Illinois". The preaching
series was based on "Christmas Carols from the Gospels/Luke".
Music was important in the celebration of Advent, giving the celebration
a multicultural feel. Paraments used were stoles from Guatemala,
Kente cloth from Ghana, serape from Mexico, ikat cloth from the
Philippines and African prints. Each week an angel, dressed in cloth
of the countries/regions represented, was added to a new banner:
Guatemalan ikat cloth, Middle East patterns, African kente, Chinese,
South-Pacific batik, Gingham (US) were used.
First Sunday of Advent: Middle East
- Communion-borrowed
from the Greek Orthodox liturgy; served pita bread
- Used the Nicene Creed
- Special music: a recording
of a Christmas Carol in Arabic (translated to power point by a
member): Hal Giet a Rabby Sayyedy (Lord and Master You have come
as a Babe), sung by Moshira Girgis
Second Sunday of Advent:
Africa
- Carols: Malawi carol
"That Boy-Child Jesus": "Jesu, Jesu" (Ghana);
"Go Tell it on the Mountain" (African-American spiritual);
"We are Marching in the Light of God" (Siyahamba)
- African Creed (Maasai)
- Special music: Carol
sung by Ghanan member in Twi
Third Sunday in Advent:
Asia
- Special music: Members
from the Philippines sang a Carol in Tagalog
- Celebration of Faith-India
- Special item: Philippine
parole, used as the Star of Bethlehem.
Fourth Sunday in Advent:
Latin America
- Special Music: Carol
sung in Spanish by members from Guatemala and El Salvador
- Affirmation of Faith:
Zacamil, San Salvador, El Salvador
- Sung response: "Santo,
Santo", both in Spanish and English
Other Activities:
- "Taste of Cameroon"
evening
- Family event: making
a Philippine parole for use in our own homes
- Hosting a citizen
workshop: help and information on how to become a citizen
- Learning responses
for worship in Cameroon dialect and Spanish
- Choir singing in Spanish
and using music of Asian (Chinese) origin
- Identification of
ethnic origins of hymns in the weekly bulletin
- Making mosquito nets
for Africa
- Hosting Raafat Girgis
to gain information on multicultural churches
- Sending two persons
to Multicultural Conference (in the past) and sending pastor and
member from Brazil to the Conference this summer.
Future (and on-going)
Strategies
- Encouraging our pastor,
Laura Taylor de Palomino, in her part-time position as field staff
with the Multicultural Ministries of the General Assembly
- Encouraging our Personnel
Committee to continue finding church officers from our diverse
population.
- Using our street-side
lighted sign to welcome visitors in various languages
- Finding new ways to
gain information and participate in presbytery events that encourage
diversity
- Continue to use creeds,
statements of faith and music from many cultures
Celebration!
When our last group of five new members met with the Session for
membership, an Anglo, retired female was asked, "Why did you
pick this church?" Her reply was, "Because of the diversity."
We feel that God is leading us in the right direction!
|
