Day 3 Staff Conference Recap

Day 3:
Middle of the conference and I'm feeling it.  My extrovertedness is about gone and I'm praying I'll have enough to get through a few 2 more days.  To quote my favorite train engine...I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Day 3 was better than I anticipated.  For the first time one entire day of the conference was devoted to training.  There were 4 topics to choose from: Chapter Planting, Chapter Building, and building a multi-ethnic witness on campus, and evangelism. 

I was mostly unsure of this day since I work in an office context and am not out in the field as much as I used to be.  So I wasn't sure how much would apply to my work or life.  I chose to attend the multi-ethnic training session mainly just because it's a topic I've been very interested in ever since my InterVarsity chapter delved into issues of racial reconciliation during my student days in Santa Barbara.  The training session was well worth it. 

The training session began with an overview of a recent survey InterVarsity's Multi-Ethnic department had conducted on attitudes towards multi-ethnic chapters and ethnic specific chapters. The overall findings in the survey were that while InterVarsity has made great strides in being a multi-ethnic witness on campus, we still have far to go.

We then spent some time looking at the biblical basis for why multi-ethnic ministry is important.  I appreciated this time in that it affirmed for me once again that this whole topic is not being sought just to be politically correct...but because there is a biblical basis.

I specifically appreciated the conversation around Galatians 3: 27-29 ("There is therefore no Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female").  This passage in particular is often brought up as evidence for there not being a reason for having a multi-ethnic chapter/ or ethnic specific chapter. And to be honest, I've sometimes wondered the same thing and remember spending time wrestling with students on this issue.

However, the speaker pointed out that if that passage truly implies that pursuing multi-ethnicity is not necessary...than we need to follow through with the rest of that verse and do away with gender specific ministries too.  I honestly don't think I had ever thought of the implications of the last part of that verse.  It was kind of cool.

Anyways, I'm trying to think of ways to incorporate some of this into both my work and church life when I get back...but my brain is too full right now, so I think I'll have to wait until I get home to unpack some of this.