Captives to our Cultures

[abelisle]

While leading out in my church's mid-week prayer meeting, I mentioned the "Adventist culture" while trying to describe the difference between born Adventists and new convert Adventists. Accordingly, I got some quizzical looks from the new convert members in attendance.

As I explained about the lingo, the various cliches, the emphasis on EGW, the provincial swagger knowing we are the "remnant church" etc., I also realized that the rapidly growing immigrant church in the NAD has a "home culture" issue to deal with. Our significant growth is basically 3rd world growth and with that a paradigm shift in how their cultures seek to change and/or modify the last vestiges of the "anglo" culture in the NAD.

Monte Sahlin has written about this and I spoke to him about his work in setting up demographical analyses of this phenomenom. Another person doing work in this area is Dr. Ron Lawson, a sociologist.

Getting to the heart of the matter, I see an interesting divide between the "newness" of converts but the "oldness" of their native cultures to the point that I wonder if culture trumps conversion and blood trumps the water of baptism? As we know, in the Ugandan internecine clash between the Hutu's and the Tutsi's, that Adventists were actively engaged in the tribal/race cleansing.

So I ask myself, how much does our culture affect either positively or negatively our "new convert" status? Are we captives of our cultures? Is there an "anglo" culture in the North American church? Or is it being rapidly subsumed by Latino, Caribbean and Chicano cultures?

Alex

[Woody]

Yes. Unfortunately ... I think we are losing our culture. It has become a melting pot. SO the culture is being melted. And this refers to spiritual and non spiritual matters. I think the new converts are bringing their culture into the church and changing our ways. Some times this is good I suppose but often it is bad.

[Stan]

or it is expanding...

[Bravus]

Interestingly, the church I've been attending in Brisbane lately has a large immigrant population from all over the world. And they attend this particular SDA church... because it is very traditional and like an 'Anglo' SDA church from a couple of decades ago! So, contrary to what Woody describes, in this instance the Anglos are heading off into 'contemporary' worship approaches, and often 'liberal' theology, and it's the immigrants who are preserving the traditional old Australian SDA culture.

[Bravus]

Reading lots of EGW aloud in services as well, and basically just like church when I was a boy. The cool thing is that this traditional style of worship had been dying out: churches with this worship style 10 years ago usually featured a handful of old whites folks. This church is now full of young people and kids, and growing and vital.