08566
August 6, 2008

Minority view

Diverse Twin Cities area group gathers to discuss ministry

by Duane Sweep
Associate for Communications
Synod of Lakes and Prairies

MINNEAPOLIS — Nineteen leaders in racial ethnic ministry within the Twin Cities Area Presbytery shared the struggles and successes of their efforts when they gathered at the Minnesota Church Center here Monday, July 28.

And they hope to continue meeting.

Organizers of the event — the presbytery and the Synod of Lakes and Prairies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — scheduled the luncheon meeting as a means to start a dialogue among racial ethnic ministry leaders, according to Elona Street-Stewart, associate for racial ethnic ministries at the synod.
 
Before inviting everyone to offer introductions and greetings, Street-Stewart noted that it was an honor to greet them, adding, “Some of you probably don’t even know one another, so I’m excited to welcome you all together.”

The Rev. Michael Ngeru Kamau, pastor of the Kenyan Christian Outreach Fellowship in St. Paul that became the presbytery’s first immigrant fellowship in July, talked about the challenges he faced in transferring his membership from the Presbytery of Nairobi to the Twin Cities Area.  But he went on to note the growth of his Kenyan congregation and he called this week’s gathering “a very encouraging thing.”

The Rev. Stephen Muhia, leader of the African Fellowship at the Presbyterian Church of the Master in Coon Rapids, MN, said the meeting provided the opportunity learn and borrow from one another.

And the Rev. Alika Galloway, co-pastor at Kwanzaa Community Presbyterian pointed out the need “to discover what influences our preparation for urban ministry and then challenge that process.”

While no one at the meeting wanted to formalize the structure of the group into a committee form, a large number of those present echoed Muhia, who noted, “This is a good forum. I pray that we have more forums of this type.”

The Rev. Jin Kim, pastor at Church of All Nations here, a diverse congregation where, he said, “everyone is a minority,” called on the group to serve in an advisory capacity to “the whole presbytery.”  He said the minority voice can be lost when only one individual represents the minority view on a presbytery committee.

While informal, the group, he said, could act in a similar capacity to the PC(USA)’s Advocacy Committee on Racial Ethnic Concerns, which advocates and monitors the implementation of policy and corresponding actions, decisions, and issues of racial ethnic concern.