In this piece, I want to speak to fellow English-speaking pastors of immigrant churches’ English ministries. In particular, I want to talk about how we can honor the immigrant senior pastor, despite whatever differences we may have.
I pastor the English ministry in a Chinese Heritage Church. By God’s grace, I’ve had the honor of working under a God-honoring, immigrant senior pastor—one who champions the flourishing of the English ministry. Over the years, I’ve noticed that three practices enhance and enrich our partnership in ministry.
1. Think like a missionary.
Most immigrant senior pastors spend decades learning about Western culture and acculturating to a different way of life in a new country. We expect them to learn our Western ways, contextualizing their leadership style to reach our culture.
This is understandable, but we should also take the time to learn why immigrant senior pastors think and act in certain ways. We should ask questions like:
What unique cultural pressures are they facing that I’m unaware of? What expectations must they uphold before their fellow-immigrant congregants? How does their culture inform why they hold certain convictions or ministry practices? How often do we take the time to see things from their
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