The church is a global church.
We praise the Lord for gifting us a sweet taste of heaven when we witness people of every tribe, tongue and nation worshipping His name together. We praise the Lord that in such a time of division, he has given his people a model of unity in diversity in the Trinity, and he invites them to reflect this in the church. We praise the Lord that he calls his church to be a blessing to all people, no matter their ethnic, linguistic or cultural background.
At Edinburgh City Mission, our Nations ministry has a focus on stimulating and strengthening the mission of ethnic minority and foreign language fellowships in Edinburgh, encouraging them in their ministry and promoting unity between churches of different cultures across the city. Our event A Place at the Table was created as an opportunity to reflect upon racism and engage constructively with its surrounding issues in a safe space in Edinburgh, often in the form of listening and learning from someone of a different/diverse ethnic, linguistic or cultural background.
Join us for our next A Place at the Table interview on Wednesday 26th October at Barclay Viewforth Church, where we will be interviewing Chinese American Alexander Chow, Senior Lecturer in Theology and World Christianity in the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh.
Reserve your place on our Eventbrite page here.
Recommended by our guest
Axolile Ntsika Qina, our August 2022 guest, has shared a couple of interesting titles to aid us in reflection:
Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love
Esau McCaulley, Reading While Black: An African American Biblical Interpretation Exercise of Hope
“The Church, the Bible and Racism”
The latest edition of The Bible in Transmission, the Bible Society’s free theological journal, has a focus on racism and reconciliation in the church in the UK. It takes us through the theological basis for combatting racism, and then on to the practical outworking of this theology in the local church.
You can read “The Church, the Bible and Racism”, The Bible in Transmission – Spring 2022 edition, June 2022, for free here.
Multicultural Kingdom
Malawi-born theologian Harvey Kwiyani gives an accessible and necessary overview of the global church as seen in the UK. He explores the metaphor of the church being a mosaic comprising many colours and styles, creating a beautiful image when brought together.
Harvey C. Kwiyani, Multicultural Kingdom: Ethnic Diversity, Mission and the Church
Rivers in the desert
Dr Sheila Akomiah-Conteh offers a thought-provoking perspective, arguing that African Christianity can be used for the revitalisation of Christianity in the UK and calling churches to work alongside one another in mission.
You can read this article for free here.
Catch up with all of our latest A Place at the Table interviews on YouTube