| Human Mosaic event gbwc_superuseres quest for diversity By John W. Coleman Jr. UM Connection staff  Fear zones, safe zones, grace margins and icebergs. A multiethnic mix of United Methodists explored these unfamiliar terms and terrains Sept. 14 when they took their first steps on a journey toward welcoming cultural change and diversity in their congregations.
Nearly 60 pastors and laity from nine churches in the Baltimore-Washington Conference gathered for the second round of training in the Human Mosaic Project at the conferences learning center. The project, co-sponsored by the conferences Commission on Religion and Race and Board of Ecumenical and Interreligious Life, is designed to help congregations appreciate, plan for and implement cultural diversity through a process of constructive change. The daylong training will be followed by two more sessions Oct. 12 and Dec. 14. As Christians, dont just take Holy Communion, but be the body of Christ, said the Rev. Eric Law, an Episcopal clergyman and cultural diversity expert who inspired and gbwc_superusered the training. Law led the first Human Mosaic training series for the conference earlier this year and is preparing graduates from that class to lead future training sessions. He also led plenary and small-group discussions about multicultural challenges for ministry during the annual conference session in June. The historic session linked participants on site there with others gathered in churches around the conference through live audio and video satellite transmission. Law used an iceberg analogy at the September event to help participants distinguish between explicit characteristics, values and beliefs that are easier to observe and change and more implicit characteristics, values and beliefs that operate beneath the surface and are harder to change. In table talks participants shared facets of their personalities with one another and examined cultural stereotypes that define people based on race and nationality while ignoring other aspects of their identities. Teams discussed desired changes for their churches for example, attracting new members from the community or adding contemporary worship services and new programs. They also examined the fear zones activated by too much change happening too quickly, the safe zones where too little change occurs too slowly, and the grace margins where fundamental change and compromise can gradually take root. I feel the journey, and I look forward to what comes next, said Myra Stafford of Oxon Hill UMC, a member of the most racially diverse team at the training. This event has given us different ways of looking at our concerns and ourselves, said Patti Schnirel, also from Oxon Hill. Three visitors to the training from the Illinois Great Rivers Conference shared similar hopes for simular results in their conference. The Rev. In-Sook Hwang directs congregational development and connectional ministries in Illinois Great Rivers. Hwang said the conference held table talks during its 2002 annual conference to begin a process of repentance and reconciliation for the denominations racism. But we want to go to a deeper level of making our churches more inclusive, she said. Also in attendance were the Rev. Beverly Wilkes, a district superintendent, and the Rev. Terry Harter, a pastor in Champagne, Ill. Invited by Associate Council Director Sandra Ferguson, the three are seeking ways to help advance cultural diversity among churches in their conference where, Harter said, the congregations are about 96 percent white but their surrounding communities are increasingly multiracial. Ferguson said she already has a list of churches in this conference that have been recommended by their district superintendents and are eager to participate in the next Human Mosaic training next spring. She expects the experience to become more popular, but churches must be ready to embark on the gradual process of critical self-analysis and transformation, she said. | 
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