Diversity in Worship

Applying a Process for Artistic Multicultural Practices in Emerging Multiethnic Church Plants

Abstract

Churches in metropolitan areas of the United States are surrounded by diverse communities with people of many ethnicities. These communities encompass different languages and cultural styles of art and music. Why then do most churches in the United States continue to practice monocultural forms of worship, particularly in the dominant language of English and cultural style of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)? All churches, even those in areas not as diverse, can benefit from beginning multicultural practices in order to identify with the global body of Christ, and provide a vision of all nations worshipping at God’s throne in heaven. This article demonstrates a strong theological foundation for churches to strive to incorporate artistic multicultural elements within their services. I compare four existing approaches related to multicultural worship, which I distilled into a process applied to a multiethnic church plant in a metro area. I illustrate this movement from monocultural to multicultural worship through a step by step process, helpful for churches new to the idea of multicultural worship. As churches take steps from away from monocultural music and art, they begin to experience the richness of intercultural worship as they slowly integrate multiple cultural styles and artistic forms in the life of the church.

Keywords: multicultural; worship; artistic; intercultural; churches; diverse; culture; liturgical; theological; contextualize