Not a Challenge But a Gift:
Five Resources on Multi-Cultural Congregations
Every month ECFVP offers five resources on a theme. This month we've asked The Rev. Sam Dessórdi Peres Leite, who serves as the Senior Priest at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., to choose five resources that resonated with him.
Over the years, many people have said to me that multicultural congregations are challenging. In response, I have encouraged them to see diversity as an asset, as a new opportunity, and an element of power to enrich the Beloved Community.
And I speak of diversity not only from the cultural point-of-view but intergenerational and social as well. My current parish has the gifts of being multigenerational and trilingual, a diversity that mixes cultures from the bottom of the South American continent and the Caribbean to parts of Europe. It is a congregation that sits in the heart of the nation’s capital and brings together people who want to make a positive change in our society.
The first half of 2020 has become a season for new opportunities, to reimagine church life and its mission in new ways. Here are five articles I found insightful to my ministry and, perhaps, they will be to yours as well.
The Rev. Sam Dessórdi Peres Leit
