Intercultural Competence and Clergy

Clergy often come into the ministry with the goal of nurturing and growing beloved communities of faith and action. The seminary does not prepare clergy for the unanticipated cultural competency challenges that they may face. Clergy encounter multiethnic communities and multiethnic congregations, and some clergy are pastors of congregations that are significantly different ethnically, racially, economically, and educationally from themselves. Some are pastors of ethnically similar congregations while sharing church facilities with a congregation of a different identity, typically a first-generation immigrant congregation. Within this complex world of ministry, identity dynamics coupled with the need for intercultural skills are salient challenges for clergy who need to become competent cross-cultural leaders.

It is clear that there are tensions regarding the social realities of historic and immigrant minorities ...