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When I served as Executive Director of the Metro New York Baptist Association, I was able to experience the excitement, joy, and frustrations of ethnic ministry in an urban setting. The building that hosts the offices of the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association is a symbol of what many other institutions and churches of urban settings in the United States experience in their desire to extend God's realm through the planting of churches, cultivating ministry settings, and leading persons to become followers of Christ.

I recall with gladness my "expeditions" into New York City on a typical Sunday morning, as I attempted to serve as a catalyst, a supply or invited preacher to a congregation, or to consult with pastors and lay leaders for a specific need of their congregation. I will recount a specific instance for the purpose of setting forth certain contours of ethnic ministry in urban settings.

I was invited to preach at the French Haitian Speaking Baptist Church of Manhattan which utilizes part of the associational building for their Sunday morning service. As I entered the lobby I was greeted by a lay person who guided me into the chapel. He was not aware that I worked in that building, with my office in the second floor of the six-story building on W 72nd St., and was kind to "orient me." At the same time that the Haitian congregation was meeting on the chapel, the Mandarin Baptist Church of Manhattan was meeting in the third floor. Later during the afternoon an Anglo congregation, the West End Baptist Church, would worship in the chapel, when the Haitian congregation concluded its service.

The service of the Haitian congregation followed the pattern of Haitian congregations in the Metro New York area, including a lengthy song service with a number of choirs singing, especially since the service was a celebration of the anniversary of the church. I preached in English and pastor Karnest Joseph interpreted into French. The service lasted at least two hours.

After the worship experience I enjoyed a good fellowship and a meal held on the third floor of the building as the Mandarin congregation, by that time, had concluded their activities. One major concern that pastor Joseph shared with me was the lack of adequate space for worship and Sunday School. To illustrate their predicament I have said that the first prayer of the Haitian congregation each Sunday was: "Lord do not allow the Fire department come to inspect the building!!" What happened was that during the Sunday worship service a chapel with a seating capacity of 120 would host at least 180 persons in a very crowded setting. The congregation overflowed on the vestibule of the building with many standing.

The concern of the West End congregation that met during the afternoon was related to the availability of space for their growing congregation with cultural mores quite different from the Haitian congregation. The Haitian brothers and sisters visited a lot as part of their fellowship and were not as punctual as their Anglo brothers and sisters would have wished them to be.

The Mandarin congregation was very adaptable to the rhythms of space use and when they needed the baptistry the Haitian congregation cooperated to allow them to use the chapel for the occasion.

The tensions I experienced and the challenges I faced were connected with my knowledge of the situation. I was the director of the association, a facilitator for mission, evangelism, and church development. I probably was one who knew all the factors of the equation and wished to please all parties. I also acted as a bridge between these "ethnic enclaves" attempting to remind all persons that the congregations were all striving to fulfill their mission in a setting that had considerable limitations, that those limitations were an integral part of the urban situation, and that conditions would not improve considerably in the forseable future. The incident illustrates significant elements of the challenges of ethnic ministries in an urban setting. Some are obvious, other are hidden. Some are apparent, others need to be explored. The reality of ethnic ministry in urban settings in the United States is that ethnic congregations of all denominations, specifically evangelical and charismatic, have mushroomed. In addition, the majority of these congregations that have sprung up during the last quarter of a century have to share facilities to meet and accomplish their ministry. Also, many white Anglo congregations that may have been viable in the 1950s have to confront the reality of working with ethnic groups of all sorts. Denominational entities with structures and buildings are slower to react to the changes. In the case of the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association adaptation had been an implied component of its mission and the multiple use of facilities was assumed by its personnel and the member churches. [1]

The purpose of this essay is to sensitize and inform the reader about the complexities and challenges of ethnic ministry in urban settings of the United States. I will attempt to describe and analyze from an urban ethnic missiological perspective the realities of church life and portray the mission challenges of the cities of the United States to the Evangelical community. The literature available for the task is found mostly in periodicals and journals. I will present several case studies to illustrate some models of ethnic churches in selected cities. I choose to circumscribe my discussion to evangelical local congregations and omit from the central thrust of this article the significant and exciting phenomena of the growth of African American congregations [2] and the inestimable contributions to the Kingdom of social ministries of all types in urban settings.

Statistical Overview

To understand the context related to ethnicity in the United States a few facts are presented. The 1990 census reported that there are 51 million persons of European descent, excluding English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish, constituting the largest ethnic population in the country. Hispanics rank second with at least 23 million. The Asian population numbers 4 million. The Native American population is 2.8 million and the North African and Middle Eastern population accounts for 1.3 million. Other ethnic groups such as Caribbean, Pacific Islanders, Sub-Saharan African, etc. add to a total ethnic population of 84 million. [3]

The Language Church Extension Division of the Home Mission Board, SBC reports 5,624 language units (congregations) across the country representing 101 ethnic groups and 97 American Indian tribes worshipping in 98 different languages in addition to American English. [4] The largest concentration of ethnic congregations in urban settings among Southern Baptists are in Los Angeles (208), Dallas-Fort Worth (201), Houston (156), Miami (125), New York (62), San Antonio (53), Chicago (40), San Francisco (23), New Orleans (23), and Boston (21). [5]

Statistics of ethnic congregations of American Baptists, Assemblies of God, Nazarene, Church of God, Charismatic, Independent, and Parachurch groups are not available to me. I can venture a conservative estimate of the total units of these denominations of at least 3,000 units across the United States. [6]

The reader can surmise the potential of the "ethnic church force" in the life of Christianity in the United States. These congregations present a mission thrust which includes evangelism, church growth, discipleship, and the challenges of new forms of church life that will revolutionize the status quo in many parts of the country during twenty first century.

Patterns of Ethnic Ministries

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