Diverse Teams 101

“How can I plant a diverse church?” Church planters in culturally diverse communities frequently pose this question, because they are eager to reach a variety of demographics. And yet, the churches that they often plant end up homogenous. Diversity was the planter’s dream, but it never came to life in their church plant.

After nearly a dozen years involved in multicultural churches (most of them church plants), I have learned a lot the hard way. My eight years spent planting a diverse church in NYC was an immersive learning experience that helped shape the way I think about culture, diversity, teams, and how all three converge in church planting. In my journey, I learned that there is no single way to ensure that your church plant is diverse. However, I also discovered that our best hope for planting a diverse church is to start with a diverse team.

When my wife and I planted in Brooklyn, our initial leadership team was made up of people with European, Haitian, and Taiwanese heritage. Over the course of eight years it fluctuated, sometimes shrinking, sometimes expanding. During that time, leaders joined our team who traced their ancestry to places like Malaysia, Italy, Guyana, South Korea, and Trinidad and Tobago. It was a diverse mosaic that was beautiful, yet messy. And it was at the heart of a beautifully messy multicultural church. In looking back, I believe that it was our diverse team that allowed our diverse church to emerge out of nothing. It was the diverse team that actualized our dream to start a multicultural church.

When planters set out to fashion a diverse team, they are not attempting something novel. Rather, the approach is ancient, grounded in the first-century methods of the apostles. In the first church, the Hebraic apostles faced simmering cultural tension when a complaint arose that the Grecian widows were not being properly cared for (Acts 6:1-7). They responded to this complaint by empowering Hellenistic (Greek-cultured) Jews to function as servant-leaders in the church (many think this is the origin story for the office of Deacon). In fact, one of the men was not even a Hellenistic Jew. Nicolaus was a Gentile from the urban, multicultural city of Antioch.

The first church leaders recognized that unity could be forged in a diverse community by empowering leaders from a variety of cultural backgrounds. This approach, first pioneered in Jerusalem, was multiplied through the efforts of the Apostle Paul. All in all, six out of the nine ministry teams described in Acts were multicultural. When church planters build diverse teams, they are actually going retro!

However, it is not enough to merely include a diverse array of cultures on the planter’s leadership team. The planter should make sure that these diverse team members are not tokens, but that they have a real voice, with substantive power in the church planting process. Church planter: can your team outvote you? It happened to me, on a couple of occasions. It was a good reminder that I was only a church planter, not a Messiah. Collaborative leadership is healthy, and biblical. When your plurality of leaders includes those from culturally diverse backgrounds, you will discover that sometimes tension will arise due to the diversity of perspectives. Planters should embrace that tension. Do not run from it. Instead, learn to listen to the diverse set of voices on your team, and make decisions together under the lordship of Jesus. I believe this will give you the best possible chance of planting a diverse church.

Next Steps for Diverse Church Planting

If you want to plant a diverse church, or are trying to learn more about diversity, check out Stephen Stallard's new book Diverse Teams: Rediscovering an Ancient Approach to Urban Missions. You can also sign up for NewBreed's free course Exploring Church Planting, which will help you determine if church planting is the best next step for you and your team.