MORE THAN 100 church leaders, including some from Reading and Wokingham areas, gathered in Slough for a special intercultural experience.
The Church of England invited people to St Paul’s in Slough for its Intercultural Mission Conference, aiming at exploring opportunities and challenges for its work across cultures.
There were seminars covering a range of faith-based topics including worship, as well as exploring issues such as the challenge of white privilege.
The conference also saw the launch of the Anglican Network of Intercultural Churches and a new intercultural mission journal, The Oxford Journal for Intercultural Mission, by the Rt Revd Dr Tim Wambunya, vicar of St Paul’s Slough.
There were two keynote speeches from the Revd Guy Hewitt, Church of England Director for Racial Justice, and the Revd Mark Poulson, The Kings Centre and St John’s Southall Green. In them, they explored areas relating to racial justice and cultural awareness.
Mr Hewitt, said: “The Church of England, I believe, is at an inflection point…it is trying to move from word to deed from lament to action…
“Today’s conference speaks to the journey towards new hope, the journey to create new wine that is necessary if we are to live out the gospel of Christ.
“It is not easy, there is a challenge within churches because for many of us like to stay in our comfort zones, we like to sing in languages we know and hear stories that are familiar to us. But we are being challenged here to dare to be different.”
And Mr Poulson, reflected on the meaning of intercultural mission, saying it is not the same as multiculturism.
“It’s not about the passive acceptance and tolerance of multiple cultures in one place. It’s about the dynamic exchange and interchange of cultural capital, individually and corporately. Its not about a cosy, comfortable appreciation of the food, dress and music of others, its about iron sharpening iron.
“The Church as the body of Christ is incomplete without every culture, every people group, every tribe, every language being fully represented.”
The event was organised by the Diocese of Oxford, which includes churches in the Reading and Wokingham areas.
