Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Ernest Furness

Second Advisor

Leslie Pollard

Third Advisor

Boubakar Sanou

Abstract

Problem. Seventh-day Adventist Churches in the southern California region are becoming racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse, thus providing a favorable climate to embrace a worship service that includes the needs of all people. How can churches embrace a worship service that emphasizes diversity, is inclusive, and becomes an intentional multicultural worship service? Is there a first step that clergy and worship leaders can take to have a multicultural worship service? How important is the role of leaders in helping this becoming a reality?

Method. This project developed a multicultural worship service led by church pastors of diverse racial, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds leading worship together. The coming together of at least two pastors will be called an honorary co-pastor service. The Fallbrook Church has two worship services: 8:15 and 11:00. The 8:15 worship service was the intervention service to measure the congregation’s acceptance of multicultural worship. The results of the 8:15 worship service was evaluated against the 11:00 worship service.

Results. Returns from the survey appear to be positive. The co-pastor intervention of culturally or racially diverse pastors worshipping together affected the attitude of the congregation to embrace multicultural worship. As a result of the survey it appears the honorary co-pastor model can be a first step for congregations with a similar interest in developing a multicultural service.

Conclusions. A multicultural worship service with the honorary co-pastor model is a tangible and practical response to a foundational text regarding worship found in Revelation 14:6- 7. In this passage, our worship is to the God of the eternal gospel and His transforming grace for all people. Leaders from diverse backgrounds provide an example of unity in worship through scripture, prayer, music, and fellowship. Through this model the congregation has the opportunity to learn acceptance of people from diverse backgrounds. In the worship service there can be no greater response to God’s call than when pastors lead a congregation toward reconciliation with each other.

Subject Area

Public worship--California, Public worship--Seventh-day Adventists, Multiculturalism--Religious aspects--Seventh-day Adventists, Cultural pluralism--Religious aspects--Seventh-day Adventists

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/63/

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