Daniel Hill admits that his initial interest in multi-ethnic ministry was fueled more by the novelty and popularity of the idea than a deep sense of calling. But when his interest didn’t wane, he knew he had to do something.
In 2003, Hill left a suburban megachurch to plant River City Community Church in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. Founded by an intentionally diverse team of leaders, the congregation of 250 is now 60 percent white and 40 percent African, Latino, and Asian-American. Leadership spoke with Hill and River City’s multi-ethnic leadership team about their unexpected challenges.
What kind of person is attracted to River City?
Hill: Most of our new people are white. But there’s a revolving door with the white community here. They have a romantic notion of being part of a multi-ethnic church, so many of them get frustrated and leave when they realize how difficult it is to release their assumptions about the way church is supposed to be.
What assumptions do white people carry into the church?
Arloa Sutter (pastor of community life): When I came I said, “Let’s just start small groups! Everybody wants to be in a group, right?” The fact is small groups aren’t as important to other ethnicities as they are to white people.
Small groups are a white church thing?
Hill: White people rely on small groups to connect. Other ethnicities form community more organically, more relationally. Immigrant communities find fellowship within extended families. In the city a lot of community happens on the front porch or sidewalk. So non-whites aren’t as eager to set up structures and systems like small groups.
Carlos Ruiz (coordinator of community groups): I think whites really value efficiency.
Antoine Taylor (director of Sunday morning ministries): And releasing that value is really hard for a lot of them. They perceive other ways of operating as inefficient or disorganized.
Jennifer Ikoma-Motzko (elder): They say it’s not the right way to do church. And I respond bluntly by saying, “You mean it’s not the white way to do church.”
You are committed to integrating everyone into the same worship gathering. Why not have services in different styles and languages?
Taylor: I came from a predominantly black church in a mostly Latino neighborhood. People would go to church on Sunday, come out of the building, and go straight to their cars. They didn’t engage the community. I felt that segregated services at River City would lead us to do the same thing. If we’re really going to grow a community, we need to be incorporated into one service. And yeah, it’s very rough, because it’s not about strategy. It’s about relationships.
Sutter: We believe that being together is more important than being comfortable.
How does the leadership model this commitment?
Ikoma-Motzko: By giving up power. Minority culture people need to be in leadership and influence the way we do church. Being multi-ethnic means more than saying “Come be a part of the way we do worship and service.” It means releasing control, allowing others to shape what the church is doing.
How does economic diversity impact your church?
Hill: It’s actually harder than the racial stuff. Something as simple as planning a retreat becomes really complicated. The cost may be minimal for a two-income family, but a single parent or immigrant may lose a paycheck if they attend.
Ikoma-Motzko: We may assume that everyone has access to a car or the internet. That just isn’t the case. Communicating and organizing across socio-economic groups isn’t easy.
Do you see barriers between people of the same ethnicity but different socio-economic status?
Ruiz: I deal with that all the time. I’m Mexican but I come from an upper middle class family. I moved to the States with a visa and went to school. One time I had a group of first generation immigrants in my car when a police officer drove past. I wasn’t worried about being pulled over. But they were. They don’t see me as having the same problems and challenges that they have. Ethnically I’m one of them, but economically and socially I’m not. That’s been hard for me to accept.
Some churches don’t pursue diversity because they fear it might slow down numeric growth. Have you found to be the case?
Hill: We know the formulas and strategies that make churches grow, and we could be larger, but it would be a mostly white church. That would be the price of growth. We’ve chosen to measure success differently.
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