AFF, Three Keys to Success in Multi-cultural Parishes

January 2002

          The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has sponsored a lay ministry formation program in the diocese since 1986. The program, called New Wine, was published by Paulist Press in 1993 in the English language. The program has been done with groups that were mixed in their cultural make-up. Some groups were all Caucasian, usually with more women than men. Other groups were largely Caucasian with a mixture of African-Americans, Vietnamese and/or Hispanics. The sessions were taught in English using English resources as class materials. The people that finished the formation program largely rated the training program as excellent. Yet we occasionally heard comments from some African-Americans and Hispanics that the program was not sensitive enough to people of diverse cultures. Concepts with regard to leadership, communication and even church history were approached from a “white” perspective.

          By the Fall of 1998, the Center for Pastoral Life and Ministry staff, which coordinates the lay ministry formation program for the Diocese, had decided to revise the three-year program. It was determined to take some of the courses and skills offered in the three-year program and design a one-year program that could stand by itself. This was done to lessen resistance on participant’s parts to commit to the formation program which then amounted to approximately three years. Those who finished the one year program could then decide to continue for an additional two years of the New Wine program, or opt for other formation opportunities such as Youth Ministry Training or Lay Leadership of Prayer formation.

          In conjunction with taking some of the materials and skills from the three-year program and moving them to the one-year option, it was decided to examine and include materials that considered community in multi-cultural settings. Materials written by Peggy McIntosh, Eric Law and Fr. Anthony Gittins have become part of the course readings. Also, we translated some materials and found other materials in Spanish in order to offer the one-year program in Spanish, called Fundaciones.

          What the CPLM staff has discovered about our own assumptions and attitudes continues to challenge us to grow in our understandings of relating to one another and building community in multi-cultural settings. Some of the things we have discovered and include in the program we now call Foundations for New Wine-Fundaciones include:

          White privilege: People in every culture believe that behaviors and beliefs common in the culture in which they were raised are normative. That is, they think that other cultures approach life with the same understandings as their culture or that other cultures would be better off operating with similar behaviors and beliefs. The dominant culture in a particular society has the privilege of assuming their way of understanding life and approaching interactions with others is the norm. This phenomenon is the “privilege” of the dominant culture. In the United States that privilege belongs to the white culture. People of other cultures, in their interactions with the dominant culture, learn that their ways of doing things, their ways of communicating may be seen as inferior, less effective or not acceptable. In her article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh names twenty-six conditions which she believes are attached to skin color which white people in the U.S. can take for granted which people of color cannot. The challenge to the dominant culture is to examine the “hidden unearned advantages” operating in its society and choose to re-construct power systems.

           Internal-External Culture and power distance (high and low): Eric Law describes the phenomenon of different cultures interacting with one another in similar terms. When people of different cultural makeups gather in a multi-cultural setting, there will be assumptions at work which may not be evident to the participants. In his book, The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb, Law describes multi-cultural gatherings where whites and people of color aim to work together to address common concerns. What often emerges in such gatherings is that the white participants speak out about the issues. As the programs continue, people of color, if they speak up at all, speak infrequently and often experience frustration. What Law has discovered is that though everyone is understood as having equal opportunity to speak about the issues, people of color may expect to be asked to give their opinions or input while the white participants do so unbidden. From the “minority” participants’ points of view the programs are often seen as being dominated by white participants while the viewpoints of people of color are ignored. Law describes this phenomenon in terms of “low power distance” and “high power distance.” In multi-cultural settings in the U.S. whites are often perceived as powerful, “low power distance.” People of color are often perceived as high distance from power. These perceptions are usually unspoken and probably even sub-conscious. Yet, according to Law, they are part of the internal culture at work in the United States. Internal culture contains the beliefs and assumptions accepted by each culture that forms the basis for interactions between people in our society. In order for effective communication to occur in a multi-cultural setting, internal culture beliefs have to be examined by participants of all cultures present in a group setting. Those who belong to the group which is perceived to have power need to examine ways to give up power, “choose the cross.” Those who are perceived to be without power need to focus on ways to find a voice.

          What does all this mean practically as we go about adult faith formation? Those who teach adult formation classes need to become conscious of their own internal culture messages. What are one’s beliefs, values and thought patterns that influence their behaviors? What do they hold as normative for interpersonal interaction which may be perceived differently by another distinct culture?

          What is the cultural makeup of the group with which one will be working? What will be the perceived powerful - powerless split of a multi-cultural group that gathers? Who in the group will need to be encouraged to express their insights or questions because of their own perceived powerlessness and who will need to be encouraged to “give up power” as a group tackles formation issues? If there are few participants in a cultural group that is perceived powerless, (either they see themselves that way or the dominant culture has traditionally relegated them to the “powerless” position), how can we enable them to be heard without making them feel uncomfortable?

          In working with peoples of various cultures, our staff has learned that though we may speak the same language, we do so with differing cultural experiences which influence our perceptions of what is communicated by certain statements or actions. We need to become conscious of our own internal cultural beliefs so that as we interact with peoples of various cultures we understand how their perceptions of those interactions may differ from our own. By understanding the cultural influences that have helped to shape our expectations and beliefs, we may better understand from where a person of a differing culture is coming.

Tony Butel
Director of Young Adult and Campus Ministry
Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph