“We wanted to start a church that when people attended a Sunday service, they were sad that they had to wait a whole seven days before they could come back.” Says Dr. David Anderson, Founding and Sr. Pastor of Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, Maryland.

So what have been some key components for moving Bridgeway from a gleam in a church planter’s eye to a church where 2500-plus people from 42 different countries would say they can’t wait to return to church?

First, Bridgeway’s multicultural vision is both biblical and strategic.

Bridgeway’s Vision is “to be a multicultural army of fully-devoted followers of Christ moving forward in unity and love to reach our community, our culture, and our world for Jesus Christ.”

This vision is indeed biblical. It resonates with the plan of God the Father (2 Cor. 5), the prayer of God the Son (John 10), and the purpose of the God the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).

In 1992 when a young Anderson and his launch team “parachuted in with flares” to Columbia, Maryland, a planned community located strategically just off the I-95 corridor between Baltimore and Washington, DC, he recounts, “When we planted Bridgeway, our city was diverse both racially and socio-economically. Yet in 1992 although there were over 180 churches in our community but you could count on less than one hand, the number of churches that were multicultural.”

The statement popularized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Eleven a.m. on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour or the week,” motivated Anderson to start a church where everyone, regardless of color, class, or culture could come and be transformed by responding to the dangerous message of the gospel of Christ.

Such a vision is also strategic in the sense that it creates a curiosity in the community. When the on-looking community sees a group of people that are not required to be together just because they’re employed at the same company, play in the same basketball league, attend the same schools, or shop at the same mall, they stop and take notice.  Then, if that weren’t enough, when they see this same group of people coming together to do “good works” in the community, having fun, and relating to each other with ease, they go away scratching their heads and asking, “What’s up with that?”  Anderson calls this “the inextricable link between multiculturalism and evangelism.”  Multiculutralism naturally breeds cultivated opportunities for reaching the community in a unique way.

There’s also has strategic impact for the ever-growing number of people in racially-blended families. If a black person marries a white person and they have kids, where can the kids go to church and not feel like they’re on display because they are unique in that culture.  Part of the beauty of Bridgeway is that everyone can feel at home.

Secondly, Bridgeway’s leadership team is multicultural.

Bridgeway’s elder board consists of people who are white, black and Asian. Bridgeway’s management team, consists of a black Sr. Pastor, a white executive director of creative arts who is also a co-founder of the church, a black female director of operations, an Indian director of finance, and a white dude who is the executive pastor.  If you look further into our paid staff, key volunteer leaders and their teams, you will see responsibility and empowerment shared across a diverse group of people.

Bridgeway embraces the principles of gracism day in and day out—from the decisions we make in our Ops department, to children’s & student ministries, to outreach, to ushers & greeters, to our teachers, to our music and media, and of course, to the people that are seen on stage every week, and more. After studying 1 Corinthians 12, Anderson coined the word, gracism, which has become an important part of the Bridgeway culture and vocabulary. “Gracism is the positive extension of favor on other humans based on color, class or culture. Gracism gives extra goodness to those who are left out or on the fringe or don’t fit in.” (David A. Anderson, Gracism: The Art of Inclusion, InterVarsity Press)

A lot of church planters want to start a multicultural church but fail to enlist a multicultural team.  It’s not enough to be diverse on your website, in the ad in the paper, or even when you look across your congregation on a Sunday morning.  The leadership authority—the decision-making power—the spiritual influence, must be shared by a diverse group of people in order for multicultural authenticity and effectiveness to be sustained.

Thirdly, Bridgeway’s culture is “Christian-First.”

In social groups the strongest culture will always assert itself. When a church’s dominant culture is based on race, economics, education, class, political affiliation or even patriotism (non of which are evil) it’s inevitable that the minority cultures to give way to the dominant culture. But when the church’s culture has following Christ as the primary influence, the result is quite different.

“When I told my mentors that I wanted to start a multicultural church they said, ‘Good luck with that If you try to unite white culture and black culture in the church, then one of those cultures must die,’ to which I replied, ‘Why can’t they both die?” says Anderson with conviction.

Bridgeway has cultivated a “Christian-First” culture. Anderson goes on to explain, “When all cultures make the sacrifice to make Christianity the main thing that drives the culture, then a new culture is born that brings unity. When that happens, it is an amazing thing that hard to explain—it’s got to be experienced.”

In conclusion, here’s some final practical pointers for leaders desiring to have a multicultural church: (1) Be committed. It’s hard work, especially if you’re transitioning an existing church rather than planting. (2) Teach & preach on racial unity with a degree of frequency. (3) Create an environment to do life together across racial divides. There is power in personal relationships. (4) Be strategic. Multicultural churches require intentionality.

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Writer’s Notes: Here’s some additional information for our readers either for now or in the future:

• Bridgeway has a non-profit sister organization that offers consulting, coaching, and leadership training to churches, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and companies. It’s called BridgeLeader Network. Contact BLN’s Director, Margarita Cabellon: margarita.cabellon@bridgewayonline.org

• David Anderson is author of the following helpful resources: Letters Across the Divide (co-authored with Brent Zuercher), Baker Books; Multicultural Ministry, Zondervan; Gracism, Intervarsity Press

Coming in the Fall of 2010: The Multicultural Ministry Handbook—Intervaristy Press, Edited by Anderson & Cabellon, featuring the staff of Bridgeway Community Church.

• Bridgeway Website: www.bridgewayonline.org
  • Services broadcast live @ 8a, 10a, & noon every Sunday
  • Watch  or listen to past messages
• David Anderson is now on the radio live Monday-Friday 3p to 4p (Eastern Time) on WAVA 105.1 FM.  Can be accessed via www.andersonspeaks.com. Can become an interactive fan of show on Twitter and Facebook.