How You can Empower the Second Generation
by Executive Director John Yoder
Two themes I have driven home in this blog series are:
- Because second-generation immigrants are inherently cross-cultural, they are indispensable ministry leaders for the future of American Christianity.
- They not adequately empowered for ministry leadership.
In this final blog, I will list some possibilities for you to empower the second generation. Some require a small commitment, while others will require a complete remodel for your church. See if any of these might work for you.
- Start an ESL Bible study for first-generation immigrants in your community. It could be open to all immigrant families, or focused on one language group like Koreans or Afghans. And as you befriend parents, you can engage their children in your Sunday School or youth programming.
- Partner with a first-generation immigrant church. Help their pastor in the process of adapting to life in America. Open your children's and youth programming to their young people.
- Host a second-generation congregation in your facility.
- Launch a ministry to youth in your community, heavily focusing on the second generation.
- Launch a new multicultural small group, worship service or daughter church.
- Partner with other churches to launch an English language multicultural church.
- If you are in leadership in a first-generation immigrant church, promote the empowerment of your young adults as ministry leaders. Encourage members to regard your English-language pastor as a peer of the native-language pastor, not as an associate pastor or mentee. Encourage the English-language group be given independence over its own worship service and finances.
Second-generation young adults want to be recognized and empowered by their parents’ generation. Here is how one second-generation Ethiopian pastor put it:
Interview with Ebenezer Endiryas, Pastor, Perazim Church, Bloomington MN This is a spiritual fight, and we need mentors. We need leaders, we need pastors, we need churches, we need those who have gone before us. It's sad to see when the first generation church doesn't step in that gap. You can really exhaust the next generation leaders and pastors and have them forfeit the call on their life simply because they didn't have the support that they needed.
As younger generations of Americans become increasingly multicultural, it’s vital to develop pastors with strong multicultural skills. The second generation are an ideal fit, and remain a highly untapped treasure trove of spiritual giftedness. What steps can you take—directly or through influencing others—to empower the second generation for ministry leadership?
This is the final blog in a series. You can learn more through our free online course Empowering the Second Generation, available at https://www.immigrantministry.com/secondgen.