The increasing diversity of communities and the declining demographic of established churches offers them the opportunity to transition from a mono-ethnic to a multi-ethnic congregation. Here are nine basic steps to take your church through the process.

Study your community. Familiarize yourself with the demographics of your community and their needs.  Ministering to one’s felt needs allows you to minister to the real need the forgiveness of sins. Community service type ministries not only meet the needs of the community but they can build a bridge to share the Gospel.

Have a biblically based commitment. The motivation to teach and apply Biblical mandates must be a conviction and not a preference. Anything less will crumble in the face of opposition. The primary purpose of the church is not to be multi-ethnic, but to honor God, obey his Word, and make disciples.  As we focus on fulfilling the mandates of Christ, in an ethnically diverse community, our churches will naturally become multi-ethnic.

Prepare your leadership. Take the necessary time to instill your biblical conviction into your leaders. This step cannot be rushed, leaders need time to study the word, process it, and own it before moving forward.  Organizational structure may provide the building blocks of intentionality for healthy diversity.  But a biblical mindset is the foundation upon which the structure is built. This foundation is the belief system, the core values  a visionary pastor must infuse into his leadership and congregation.

Revise your Vision/Mission Statement.  A portion of the statement must clearly define the objective to reach out to all ethnicities.

Teach your congregation. The congregation must be prepared in advance through a sermon series based on fulfilling the mandates of Christ and not on becoming multi-ethnic.

Hire ethnically diverse staff.  For churches with a large staff this can be a challenge.  The goal is not to terminate some to open up positions for others.  But as natural attrition occurs replace those positions with diverse staff, as well as when new positions are created

Place minorities in high profile ministry positions.  Minority visitors feel more at ease when they encounter individuals of their ethnicity serving in the parking ministry, as greeters, ushers, nursery workers,  praise team members, and staff.

Broaden your worship styles and allow more freedom of expression in worship. Believers need to be taught that there is no one right style of music or expression of worship.  These are based on personal preferences acquired within a church culture.  It’s not about the HOW of worship but the HEART of worship. People must be given the freedom to express their heartfelt worship with music styles that engage them in worship.

Offer programs that facilitate relationship building.  Provide ministry opportunities via small groups, affinity groups, life cycle related groups, and age related groups that offer individuals of diverse ethnicities with common interest a variety of venues to develop friendships.