| Multi-Ethnic Center crosses boundaries by John W. Coleman Jr.UNConnection Staff  Supporters of the Multi-Ethnic Center for Ministry, which serves The United Methodist Churchs Northeastern Jurisdiction, recently celebrated 25 years of helping church leaders embrace the challenges and opportunities of fostering racial-ethnic diversity and inclusiveness.
The Feb. 28-March 1 celebration in Washington D.C. was also a time to explore the issues facing the church as it shapes its theology and struggles with its approaches to ministry in a culturally changing society. The event theme, Crossing Boundaries Into the 21st Century, offered a platform for numerous speakers and preachers including four bishops and leaders of a dozen workshops who addressed the challenges and opportunities of multiculturalism from various perspectives.  Bishop Woodie W. White of the Indiana Area, guest speaker for the 25th anniversary banquet, admonished more than 200 listeners to recognize their diversity as a gift from God and not allow boundaries to become barriers that separate them from one another. He warned them to reject ethnocentrism and chauvinism even seeing God in their own images and instead, to share in and expand each others cultural expressions and identities.
That means your songs can become my songs, your dances can become my dances, your traditions can become part of my traditions, said Bishop White. It is a gift to learn from each other because we can grow and share Jesus Christ and his gospel with more people, so that the world may be saved. It is often a challenge being in a multicultural denomination, he said, recounting acts of racism and insensitivity he and his family have experienced during his ministry. It is both a gift and a challenge that puts us all in a learning posture. Bishop Felton Edwin May, leader of the Washington D.C. Episcopal Area and chairman of the centers board of directors, called on the church to emulate Jesus Christs courage and compassion as a boundary crosser. He lamented the socio-economic divide exemplified by a homeless Guatemalan man who had frozen to death recently on the front steps of nearby Asbury UMC in Washington D.C. Attending the mans funeral at Asbury that morning, the bishop said he was encouraged to see the diverse gathering of mourners approach the altar and pledge to never let this happen again. Bishop Alfred Johnson of the Greater New Jersey Area and Bishop Hae-Jong Kim of the Pittsburgh Area also preached on crossing boundaries in mission and ministry. Panels of seminary professors and district superintendents presented papers and responded to questions on the theme, offering their theological, sociological and ministerial perspectives on issues of race and ethnicity. The Rev. Traci West of Drew University Theological School in Madison, N.J., denounced notions of racial superiority and the culture of domination that oppresses people through rape, war, discrimination and economic exploitation. The Rev. Aida Irizarry-Fernandez, a district superintendent in the New England Conference, called for the development of more multicultural congregations as a means of revitalizing the denomination. Churches that are not practicing genuine hospitality with strangers in their midst are signing their death sentence, she said. The Rev. James Shropshire of Wesley Seminary in Washington, D.C., called for nurturing greater cultural competence among pastors and church leaders as an important element of spiritual formation and church development. The Rev. Hi Rho Park of Wesley Seminary criticized racial inequities in the distribution of resources, opportunities, self-esteem and power among clergy, thus hindering social integration, productivity and the potential for growth among all leaders. The Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett, a district superintendent in the North Central New York Conference, echoed Parks concerns, criticizing the prevalence of attitudinal, behavioral and institutional racism in the church that still marginalizes racial-ethnic minorities and defines inclusiveness from the perspective of the majority group. It is important for us to celebrate 25 years of the Multi-Ethnic Center, said Fassett, to indicate that we are still here and to announce that there is still unfinished business to attend to. | 
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