Explore our live webinar series, Cultural Differences that Drive Pastors CRAZY!

The Merging Streams Coalition

 

What if you could effectively mobilize believers to form partnerships across cultures and generations?

 

The Merging Streams Coalition equips pastors and denominational leaders to excel in multiplying relationships between believers of different cultures, forming healthy partnerships between churches of different cultures, and launching expressions of faith that touch the hearts of young second and third generation North Americans.

 

The Merging Streams Coalition

 

What if you could effectively mobilize believers to form partnerships across
cultures and generations?

 

The Merging Streams Coalition equips pastors and denominational leaders to excel in multiplying relationships between believers of different cultures, forming healthy partnerships between churches of different cultures, and launching expressions of faith that touch the hearts of young second and third generation North Americans.

The sharing of information, stories, real-life ministry situations in the small group cohort, together with the interviews and video lessons are invaluable resources to leaders who want to engage with their cross-cultural neighbors and communities.

 

The conversations and videos are a huge help for avoiding unnecessary obstacles in ministry, and providing new avenues of thought and mission collaboration.

I will use this in my role with our association/district and will recommend others to participate in the Merging Streams Coalition!

 

- Dr. Peter Meier, Executive Director for Missions and Outreach, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, Florida/Georgia District

Honing your Mobilization Skills

 

The Merging Streams Coalition is designed for two types of ministry leaders: pastors desiring to mobilize believers for local cross-cultural ministry, and denominational leaders desiring to mobilize pastors to form cross-cultural church partnerships. Both types face an uphill battle.

Both kinds of ministry leaders are stymied by the same common barriers:

  • Most of their people are indifferent or opposed to local cross-cultural ministry

  • They are already over-committed to ministry programming, and functioning in burnout mode

  • They have no clear path forward

 

This leaves us mired in an unenviable reality:

  • Most American churches are in decline

  • Most first-generation immigrant churches are skilled at reaching other newcomers to the U.S., but not as adept at retaining their children or grandchildren

  • Neither American nor immigrant churches are equipped to thrive in a multicultural society

The Merging Streams Coalition gives pastors clarity and confidence in using proven skills to mobilize belivers to move past these formidable barriers into healthy cross-cultural church partnerships.

Register Now

Becoming an Effective Mobilizer

 

Maybe you’re the pastor or outreach director of a local church, trying to mobilize believers for local cross-cultural ministry.  Maybe you serve with a denomination, and you’re trying to mobilize pastors around local cross-cultural ministry.  Either way, it’s an uphill battle.

 

Ministry leaders are stymied by the same common barriers:

  • Most of their people are indifferent or opposed to local cross-cultural ministry

  • They are already over-committed to ministry programming, and functioning in burnout mode

  • They have no clear path forward

 

This leaves us mired in an unenviable reality:

  • Most American churches are in decline

  • Most first-generation immigrant churches are skilled at reaching other newcomers to the U.S., but not as adept at retaining their children or grandchildren

  • Neither American nor immigrant churches are equipped to thrive in a multicultural society

You'll have access to a multi-faceted learning experience combining live practitioner interviews, webinars, online videos, and united prayer.  

You'll receive this information on a digestible schedule, moving you beyond cognitive understanding to successful implementation.

You'll be provided with 3-5 hours of fresh content each month,  with recordings of all live sessions posted online to fit your busy schedule.

Is your favorite part of a conference
the keynote speakers, the workshops,
or the people you meet in the lobby?

 

Coalition members receive access to: 

Live webinars

(with our Executive Director)

Current series: Cultural Differences that Drive Pastors Crazy

The Merging Streams Forum
(the keynote speakers)

Monthly live interviews with
diverse, cutting-edge practitioners

Our signature online course 
(video-based workshops)

Building Healthy
Cross-Cultural Partnerships

Individual and cohort-based coaching

(interaction with an experienced coach)

alongside a small group
of peer practitioners

The Merging Streams Network
(the people you meet in the lobby)

Networking opportunities with an interactive community of multicultural peer practitioners 

Community prayer

(a monthly online gathering)

asking God to multiply healthy cross-cultural partnerships nationally

I’m in a place where I want to be listened to.  But I also realize I need to be learning.  So the combination of individual coaching, group discussions, and video lessons has been a great fit for me. 

 

- Russell Mann, Cross-Cultural Student Minister, Central Baptist Church, Decatur, Alabama

Register now 

Annual membership fee $199
 

Membership is available at this low price
because of the generous donors of Immigrant Ministry Connections

Register Now

 

Join our current live webinar series

 

Cultural Differences that Drive Pastors Crazy

 

Have you ever been completely baffled after a conversation with a partner from another culture? Have you had misunderstandings about these common issues?

  • Time Why is my partner always so late/compulsive?
  • Spiritual Realities Why does my partners see demonic forces behind everything/nothing?
  • Conversation Why won’t my partner speak up/listen?
  • Conflict Why is my partner so indirect/blunt?
  • Structures Why is my partnering church’s decision-making process so fuzzy/corporate?
  • Focus Why is my partner so focused on relationships/tasks?
  • Authority Why does my partner always/rarely want to treat others as peers?
  • Connectedness Why does my partner care so much/little what others think of them?

 

Join the conversation! Each monthly live webinar includes:

  • Fresh biblically-based content
  • Case studies
  • Discussion and application questions
  • Q&A time with all participants
  • Recordings of each session will be posted online for those unable to attend live
Register Now

 Coalition Members Receive Access to our signature course
Building Healthy Cross-Cultural Church Partnerships
 

Course contents

  • Finding God at Work through Immigration
  • White Supremacy, White Guilt or White Equality?
  • Creating Motivation for Cross-Cultural  Church Partnerships
  • Four Steps to Launch a Healthy Cross-Cultural Church Partnership
  • Three Steps to Maintain a Healthy Cross-Cultural Church Partnership

 

 Live Practitioner Interview Lineup

Spring 2024

April 2024

Ed Kang

 Director, Acts 2 Network
Planting Multicultural Churches through International Student Ministry

May 2024

Jim Olson

 Pastor, Bethel Christian Fellowship, St. Paul, MN (retired)
The Journey from Monocultural to Multicultural to Multi-Congregational Church

June 2024

Adam Ramirez 

Pastor of smalltown Latino churches across the Upper Midwest

Planting Immigrant Churches across Small-Town America

Previous Interviews available in the Video Vault

 Emanuel Roque

Hispanic Multicultural Catalyst,
Florida Baptist Convention
 
 
 Current Trends
in Latino Disciple Making

Ebenezer Endiryas

Podcaster, Shaping the Culture
Pastor, Perazim Church,
Bloomington, MN
Realities of Pastoring
the Second Generation

Sam Chacko

Project Manager, Stadia Church Planting

Pastor, Loft City Church, Richardson, TX

 

Rewards and Struggles of Pastoring
a Multiethnic Church

The live practitioner interviews alone are worth the price of the Coalition!

 

- Clare Jewell, Executive Director for Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, EveryEthne

Your Cross-Cultural Partnership Coach,
John Wesley Yoder

 

When I returned to the Minneapolis area after 13 years in Beijing, I discovered that nearby immigrant pastors had planted over 700 churches.  It saddened me that many of these churches were isolated, with little connection to the American church or one another.  I’ve worshipped in over 80 of these churches, taking the pastors to lunch and hearing their stories. At the same time, I’ve been speaking with hundreds of pastors across North America about their relationships with pastors of other cultures.

I gradually discovered principles that cultivate healthy cross-cultural church partnerships. As I shared these principles, most pastors were hearing them for the first time.  My practice of individual pastoral coaching developed into small group cohort coaching. It also led to working with denominational leaders for the multiplication of cross-cultural partnerships. It also led to the publishing of The Cross-Cultural Partnership Survival Guide.

 

I’ve designed The Merging Streams Coalition not only as a place for pastors and denominational leaders to receive coaching, but also to share their stories, resources, networks and prayer support.

 

You can learn more of my history and credentials in the About Us section of this website.

In my role of coaching American and immigrant churches in building partnerships, I’ve never had time to write down my insights for the benefit of others. 

 

Now that I’ve joined The Merging Streams Coalition, I find that all my ideas have already been articulated.  I’m definitely recommending the Coalition to other pastors in my District.  Thank you John for designing these materials!

 

- Vue Lee, Assistant to the President for Missions, South Minnesota District, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

Can your church or denomination afford for you
to not invest 3-5 hours per month
sharpening your cross-cultural partnership skills? 

Register now

Annual membership fee $199

Membership is available at this low price
because of the generous donors of Immigrant Ministry Connections

Register Now $199

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions