Cultural Diversity and Global Voices: Home

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel for the whole world.

We see the glorious picture of the Church triumphant in Revelation 5(:9-10): "And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." (ESV)

From Pentecost to today, the Church has spread outward into every continent and country.  The locus of the Church has shifted over time -- Palestine, the Roman Empire, North Africa, Europe, North America -- and it continues to shift. The primary locus may be in Africa, China, or Latin America.  As it moves, so will the prominent voices which inform those changes.

The gospel has changed and been changed by every culture it enters.  Some of the changes have been biblically transformational.  Other changes have been heretical.  From the Jerusalem Council to the great Ecumenical Councils to the Reformation and beyond, the Church has met challenges best when it has been informed by the church universal, past and present. 

We are reminded in Pau's prayer of our unity despite our differences, "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Eph. 4:1-6 ESV)  In the spirit of this prayer, we offer resources from the Church around the world so we may enter into and continue the conversations of the saints who have gone before us.

- KMc