Cultural Responsibilities for Leaders in the Church
It is common knowledge that the world is extremely diverse and has evolved in many ways since its conception. There has been enormous growth in global populations and global cultures from the earliest records of antiquity. Nations have been built up and torn down. Cultures have dominated regions for centuries and have also been completely forgotten. The National Library of Medicine released an article in 2011 titled The Evolution of the Diversity of Cultures that accounts for “3814 distinct cultures having been described by anthropologists” and refer to this as “a major understatement.”[1]
Today’s professional workplaces have been affected by merged cultures and become exceedingly international and multicultural. Many services and departments are universally outsourced, regardless of the industry. Global connections are only a finger-tap away and have become the norm in many domestic and transnational work environments. Cultural differences undoubtedly play a role in the modern workplace and it is imperative for effective leaders to excel in recognizing dissimilarities to increase efficiency. Today’s leaders must be able to adapt and understand the differences in the workplace, the church place, and society as a whole.
Leading a group down the rapids, through the river of uncertain global times, while trying to navigate a map of cultural differences, is not the most comfortable boat to steer or be the captain of. In Dr. Karen Ann Tremper’s lecture on Intercultural competency, she refers to leadership as “dangerous” and “whitewater” and outlines strategies for overcoming obstacles in leadership and cultural behaviors. She describes cultural adaptation and awareness and how they can be used in the workplace and many settings. Dr. Temper explains that effective leaders must have anticipatory thinking, tolerate risk, support creativity and innovation, make courageous decisions, bounce back from a crisis, and understand targets with a cultural perspective. This type of leadership is well-rounded and creates a foundation that can be used in many diverse situations.
A growth mindset is a strategy and skillset for leadership that ushers in a positive impact. For church leaders, a growth mindset may be heavily weighted by attendance or contribution numbers. For industry corporations, a growth mindset may be highly focused on margins and sales. The skills outlined in Dr. Tremper’s presentation offer effective alternatives to growth through cultural competency and strategic leadership that are not limited or focused on a specific goal. Implementing her strategies is also echoed in Erin Meyer’s book, The Culture Map, helps leaders and influencers understand differences with an open mind that lead to greater outcomes. Variations of this strategy are being implemented in corporate environments however congregational leaders and ministers must also execute a multicultural approach. In many cases, a church congregation or church staff will be a diverse group of individuals with a wide range of backgrounds. Understanding differences among the congregational flock is crucial with or without a culturally diverse population. If a congregation consists of identical viewpoints and little diversity, that itself may be the difference that needs to be addressed. The world is diverse so why wouldn’t an average church congregation also be diverse? Does this mean services should include singing songs in other languages or start sitting on the floor instead of on pews or chairs? No. Meyer and Tremper explain that recognizing these differences will make a greater impact, improve results, and reduce personal assumptions that may be prevalent without a proper understanding of cultural differences.
Meyer continues to bring light to the topic of cultural diversity in regard to direct, and indirect feedback and how it relates to the perception of this feedback. Meyer signals that instances of perceived common sense are not always so common based on individual cultural differences.[2] Meyer elaborates and cites examples of cultural differences in communications in high and low-context cultures. For example, the US is low context and it is not offensive in many scenarios to over-communicate. The opposite is the norm in high context areas such as Japan where the same behavior could come across as rude or untrustworthy. Cultural differences influence behavior, contributions to a discussion, organization, scheduling, and linear and flexible time. Effective leaders are aware of these variances, “read the air,” and adapt to an intermingled world.
As leaders in any workplace, it is ill-advised to ignore the cultural differences among individuals in today’s society, especially in an ecclesiastical setting that promotes equality and peace. Cultures are everywhere and people are continuing to evolve and connect – so the church must also evolve and connect. In many professional workplaces, multi-cultural colleagues are common. And whether an individual works in an office setting, a factory, a church, or a coffee shop, cultural diversity is everywhere and impact each of us in many ways. According to the US Census Bureau, as of September 2022, there are 195 recognized countries in the world today, 7.9 billion people, and 333 million of them live in the United States.[3] PRP.org concurs with these figures and also estimates the global population in 1 AD at 300 million.[4] Although the growth rate has been declining in recent decades in both the global population[5] and in Christianity[6], today’s world undoubtedly occupies billions of souls that need to be saved. The statistics reveal that the kingdom of God is global and today’s leaders of His kingdom have a responsibility to be multi-cultural. An effective leader in the workplace or ministry realm must adapt to individual differences or they will become the obstacles themselves.
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[1] Foley, R. A., and M. Mirazón Lahr. 2011. “The Evolution of the Diversity of Cultures.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 366, no. 1567 (April): 1080–89. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0370.
[2] Meyer, Erin. 2015. The Culture Map: Decoding How People Think, Lead, and Get Things Done across Cultures. PublicAffairs.
[3] United States Census Bureau. 2022. “U.S. And World Population Clock.” United States Census Bureau. 2022. https://www.census.gov/popclock/.
[4] Kaneda, Toshiko, and Carl Haub. 2021. “How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth?” PRB. May 18, 2021. https://www.prb.org/articles/how-many-people-have-ever-lived-on-earth/.
[5] Herrmann, Michael. 2022. “The Global Population Will Soon Reach 8 Billion—Then What?” United Nations. July 11, 2022. https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/global-population-will-soon-reach-8-billion-then-what#:~:text=At%20the%20global%20level%2C%20population.
[6] Pew Research Center. 2019. “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. October 17, 2019. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/.
About the Author
Michael O'Neill
Director of Operations / Executive Pastor at Kinergy, Inc. Federal 501c3 Non-Profit Organization. An experienced entrepreneur, leader, father, wellness professional, and owner of a multi-location medical practice with my wife, Nicole O'Neill, MD.2 responses to “Cultural Responsibilities for Leaders in the Church”
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Mike, I commend you for the in-depth and thoughtful approach to the Meyer and Tremper work on multiculturalism and intercultural competency. It was very astute of you to point out the unique growth mindset challenges faced by business and church leaders.
To paraphrase one of your key points. Business leaders face the challenge of overcoming margins and sales to grow in cultural competency. Likewise, church leaders face the challenge of focusing on membership and contributions instead of growing in understanding the multicultural background of the members.
I am curious to hear more about how you would propose church leaders more effectively lead diverse members in a congregation and achieve the delicate balance of cultural competency, membership, and contributions. Since you are in my peer group – I can’t wait to dialogue with you on this.
I enjoyed this, thank you for writing it.