|
One in the spirit
By Shannon Neufeld
Now there were devout Jews from
every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound
the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard
them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and
astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking
Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own
native language?’
— Acts 2:5-7 |
|
These words from Acts confirm for
many that people of all races and cultures can and should
worship together. Whether it is new immigrants or people who
have made their homes in this country for generations, local
residents and Austin Seminary alumni/ae are bringing people of
different cultures together to worship the God of us all.
The Reverend James Lee (Masters of
Divinity, 2000) is doing just that with New Covenant Fellowship
in north Austin. Formed in 2003, the new church development was
first intended to be an African American church, an offspring of
Covenant Presbyterian Church, Austin. |
“The call was to start an African
American Presbyterian church, and in the process, we realized
that it would be more prudent for us—as the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) was really moving towards multicultural churches—to
think about a multicultural church here in Austin, Texas,”
explained Lee. “So we began to change our focus.”
Lee worked as associate pastor in
the sponsoring congregation for almost a year. The new church
fellowship began worshiping in October 2004, and on January 16,
2005, they were commissioned by Mission Presbytery.
< Multicultural Youth Home
Page 2 > |
