RESOURCING THE CHURCH FOR ECUMENICAL MINISTRy A ...

Dr. D. Newell Williams is the President of Brite
Divinity School at TCU in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Let me begin with three observations.
1. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in
the United States and Canada cannot be
inclusive without being multicultural. Thirtyfive
percent of the US population is composed
of minorities; it is projected that Anglos will be
less than half of the US population by 2042.
2. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
cannot be multicultural without being
inclusive. We believe that unity is achieved not
through coercion, but through the bonds of
covenant.
3. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
participates in the dominant North American
culture which privileges Anglos. Therefore, we
must be intentional about being a multicultural
and inclusive church.
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
participates in the dominant North American
culture which privileges Anglos. Therefore,
we must be intentional about being a
multicultural and inclusive church.
In light of these observations, I would like to raise
three questions. Why should we be a multicultural
and inclusive church? How can we be a multicultural
and inclusive church? And, what impact
does a commitment to being a multicultural and
inclusive church have upon the practice of
Christian unity? These are not new issues for
What it Means to be a
“Multicultural and Inclusive
Church”
D. Newell Williams
18
Disciples. To help stimulate discussion of these
questions, I will present a case study of how we have
addressed these issues in a church that has always
included both African Americans and Anglo
Americans.
Why Should We Be a Multicultural
and Inclusive Church?
Our first general church ministries to African
Americans were directed by Anglos who asserted
that blacks would not trust a black in leadership.
Consequently, African American Disciples organized
their own regional and national conventions
culminating in the establishment in 1917 of the
National Christian Missionary Convention. The
National Convention was an affiliate of the
International (meaning the United States and
Canada) Convention of the Disciples of Christ—
which was the predecessor of the General Assembly
of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the
United States and Canada.
In his inaugural address as president of the National
Convention, delivered to a racially mixed assembly
of forty-one Disciples leaders, the Rev. Preston
Taylor, a formerly enslaved African American,
stated why the Disciples of Christ must be a multicultural
and inclusive church.
The Disciples of Christ, strange as it may
seem, need the colored people, if for no
other reasons, as the acid test of Christian
orthodoxy and willingness to follow the
Christ all the way in his program of human
redemption. For if the white brother can
include in his religious theory and practice
the colored people as real brothers, he will
have avoided the heresy of all heresies.