Racial and Multi-Cultural Realities

MC USA and MC Canada are very diverse today; on any given Sunday, members can be found worshipping in at least 15 languages. While this diversity is welcome, it poses challenges for people who create curriculum. Participants in the Nov. 1-3 Future of Sunday School consultation sponsored by Mennonite Publishing Network (MPN) identified the following challenges and opportunities when it comes to serving a diverse church audience.

• The diverse audiences mean that not everyone shares the same cultural assumptions and markers. It's impossible to do one-size fits all.
• Sunday School curriculum has a strong tradition of being created by white, middle class women. How can new writers be found? They won't come to us; they must be approached. Publishers need to make more concerted efforts to reach out to racial/ethnic groups.
• Material can't simply be published into a language like Spanish, and then be considered complete. Spanish, like English, has many geographical dialects and idioms. Curriculum translated or written by someone who speaks Spanish in Mexico won't necessarily translate for someone who speaks Spanish in the U.S.; something translated into Spanish by someone on the west coast may not work for someone who speaks Spanish on the east coast.
• Events like the consultation, which met during the week, need to be planned with members of racial/ethnic groups in mind. Many racial/cultural church leaders are bi-vocational, and cannot attend events during the week.

Are you a member of a racial/ethnic group in MC USA or MC Canada? If so, what kinds of resources does your church need? What could a publisher like MPN being doing better to assist you? Write your comments below!