Experiences of United Methodist ministers serving in cross-cultural cross-racial appointments

188 Pages·2009·0.73 MB·English

ABSTRACT
EXPERIENCES OF UNITED METHODIST MINISTERS
SERVING IN CROSS-CULTURAL-CROSS-RACIAL APPOINTMENTS
by
Jessie C. Keaton
The purpose of this research was to explore the experiences of United Methodist
ministers in cross-cultural-cross-racial appointments, while probing the correlation
between the inter-cultural aspects of the congregation’s worldview (as perceived by the
pastor and congregants) and the nature of the pastor’s experience in ministry. A self-
administered researcher-assembled survey completed by 379 respondents explored
pastors’ and church members’ perceptions of their congregations’ openness, attitudes,
biases, religious beliefs, and experiences concerning racially and culturally different
persons. Interviews held with a smaller number of ministers chosen from the survey
sample explored in greater depth their overall cross-racial ministry experiences, including
their perceptions of their congregations’ worldviews.
Study results revealed incongruities between the level of congregational openness
to persons who are different perceived by selected church members, and the level of
congregational openness experienced by their culturally/racially different pastor. In
addition, pastors of certain racial/ethnic backgrounds tended to report more favorable
cross-cultural-cross-racial ministry experiences than did their colleagues of certain other
racial ethnicities. A consistent thread throughout all the pastors’ experiences was the
tendency to rank the success of their cross-cultural-cross-racial appointments in terms of
theological response and relational integrity as opposed to quantitative markers.
DISSERTATION APPROVAL

This is to certify that the dissertation entitled
EXPERIENCES OF UNITED METHODIST MINISTERS
SERVING IN CROSS-CULTURAL-CROSS-RACIAL APPOINTMENTS

presented by

Jessie C. Keaton

has been accepted towards fulfillment

of the requirements for the

DOCTOR OF MINISTRY degree at

Asbury Theological Seminary

April 17, 2008
Mentor Date

April 17, 2008
Internal Reader Date

April 17, 2008
Dean, Doctor of Ministry Program Date
EXPERIENCES OF UNITED METHODIST MINISTERS
SERVING IN CROSS-CULTURAL-CROSS-RACIAL APPOINTMENTS

A Dissertation
Presented to the Faculty of
Asbury Theological Seminary

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Ministry

by
Jessie C. Keaton
May 2008
© 2008

Jessie Coles Keaton

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................................x
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................xi
CHAPTER 1 PROBLEM....................................................................................................1
Introduction..............................................................................................................1
The Problem.............................................................................................................2
The Denomination’s Vision for Inclusive Ministry.....................................4
Reasons for Fulfilling the Vision.................................................................6
The Need to Bridge Clashing Worldviews..................................................8
Context of the Study..............................................................................................10
Purpose...................................................................................................................13
Research Questions................................................................................................14
Research Question #1................................................................................14
Research Question #2................................................................................14
Research Question #3................................................................................14
Research Question #4................................................................................14
Definition of Terms..................................................................................................14
Cross-Cultural-Cross-Racial Appointment................................................15
Racial Designations...................................................................................16
Subjects......................................................................................................17
Methodology..........................................................................................................18
Population and Sample..............................................................................18
iii
Variables....................................................................................................18
Instrumentation..........................................................................................19
Data Collection..........................................................................................20
Data Analysis ............................................................................................21
Delimitations ............................................................................................21
Generalizability..........................................................................................22
Theological Foundations........................................................................................22
A Right Heart: Kingdom Requirement for Christ and Wesley..................22
The Test of True Religion..........................................................................24
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE.............................................................................................26
Biblical Precedents.................................................................................................28
The Kingdom of God: Established at Creation, Modeled in the Trinity...28
Oneness with God: The Church’s Mission in
Cross-Cultural-Cross-Racial Ministry...........................................30

The Kingdom of God: Conveyed by Grace to Israel.................................30
The Kingdom of God: Racial Parity Signified in Jesus’ Ancestry............32
The Kingdom of God: The Church’s Mission to the Gentiles...................33
The Kingdom of God: Concretized in Jesus’ Call to Community.............34
The Kingdom of God: Radicalized in the Necessity to Choose
a New Family.................................................................................36
The Kingdom of God: Necessitated by Jesus’ Model of Servanthood......37
The Kingdom of God: Inner Righteousness and Unconditional Love......39
The Kingdom of God: Empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost .........40
The Kingdom of God: Exemplified in the Church At Antioch.................41
iv
Theological Precedents..........................................................................................43
Unity in the Diversity of God’s Kingdom.................................................43
Diversity in the Kingdom of the Early Church..........................................45
The Drama of Antithetical Kingdom Forces.............................................47
The Failure of Traditional Theology..........................................................50
The Kingdom Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer...................................................50
Bonhoeffer’s Experience of the Kingdom of God in America..................53
Bonhoeffer: The Kingdom versus Acculturated Christianity....................54
The Continual Development of Bonhoeffer’s Communal Theology........55
The Cost of Discipleship: Relevance for Cross-Cultural-Cross-Racial
Ministry..........................................................................................58
The Kingdom of God as Conceived by Marcus Borg............................................60
The Relational Theology of Dennis Kinlaw..........................................................62
Historical Precedents.............................................................................................63
Unity in Diversity: Historical Foundations of the United Methodist
Church............................................................................................63
The Disunity of Slavery.............................................................................65
Racial Exclusion in “Unification”.............................................................67
The Church’s Exclusion of Native Americans..........................................69
The Continuing Challenge of Unity...........................................................70
Intergroup Conflict Management...............................................................70
Current Practices In Cross-Cultural-Cross-Racial and Multiracial Ministry.........72
Charles Foster: Embracing Diversity.........................................................72
George Yancey: One Body, One Spirit......................................................77
v
Jesus: A House of Prayer for All the Nations............................................81
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY......................................................................................83
Problem..................................................................................................................83
Purpose...................................................................................................................83
Research Questions................................................................................................83
Research Question #1................................................................................83
Research Question #2................................................................................84
Research Question #3................................................................................84
Research Question #4................................................................................84
Description of the Project......................................................................................84
Population and Sample..........................................................................................85
Instrumentation......................................................................................................87
Survey of Congregational Openness..........................................................87
Pastoral Interview Questionnaire...............................................................88
Validity and Reliability..............................................................................90
Pretests...................................................................................................................90
Pretest of the Pastoral Interview Questionnaire.........................................91
Pretest of the Congregational Openness and Readiness Survey ...............91
Data Collection......................................................................................................92
Survey of Congregational Openness..........................................................92
Pastoral Interview Questionnaire...............................................................93
Data Analysis.........................................................................................................94
Ethics......................................................................................................................95
vi
Variables................................................................................................................97
Generalizability......................................................................................................98
CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS...................................................................................................99
Profile of Participants..........................................................................................100
Results ..................................................................................................................103
Research Question #1: Major Factors Leading to
Cross-Cultural-Cross-Racial Appointments................................103
Research Question #2: How Pastors Serving in Cross-Cultural-Cross-
Racial Appointments Describe Their Experiences......................105
Research Question #3: Attitudes, Beliefs, and Biases.............................108
Research Question #4: Characteristics Contributing to the Success or Lack
of Success of Cross-Cultural-Cross-Racial Appointments..........110
Statistical Procedures and Analyses.....................................................................113
CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION............................................................................................121
Introduction..........................................................................................................121
The United Methodist Church: Positioned to Take a Stand................................123
The United Methodist Hope for New Life in the Twenty-First Century ............126
Accepting the Call: A Major Factor Leading to Cross-Cultural-Cross Racial
Ministry....................................................................................................128
From Suffering to Triumph: The Experiences of Pastors Serving
across Cultural and Racial Lines .............................................................132
Pastors Reporting the Strongest Congregational Resistance...............................134
Pastors Reporting the Greatest Level of Congregational Acceptance.................141
Anglo-American Pastors: Exclusion by Non-United Methodist African-American
Pastors .....................................................................................................142
The Need for Ongoing Denominational Support.................................................143
vii
A Congregation’s Attitudes, Biases, and Beliefs and Their Effects on Their Cross-
Cultural-Cross-Racial Relationships........................................................144
Characteristics of Successful Cross-Cultural-Cross-Racial Appointments.........145
Limitations of the Study.......................................................................................147
Unexpected Observations....................................................................................148
Recommendations for Application of Findings to the Ministry Context............152
Postscript: How I Am Different...........................................................................154
APPENDIX
A. Pastoral Interview Questionnaire....................................................................156
B. Survey of Congregational Openness...............................................................158
C. Pastor’s Introductory Letter............................................................................161
D. Pastor’s Instructions for Completing Surveys ...............................................162
E. Congregational Survey Introductory Letter.....................................................163
F. Email Letter to United Methodist Bishops......................................................164
G. E-Mail Permission Letter: Kregel Publications..............................................165
H. E-Mail Permission Letter: Sonya Gonsalves..................................................166
I. Means and Standard Deviations for Pastors and Congregants by Gender,
Race/Ethnicity, Education Level, and Age .............................................167
J. Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation/Reliability Matrix.............................169
WORKS CITED..............................................................................................................170
viii