Mission Statement: We are called to enrich and strengthen the Church of the Brethren by our unity as people across cultures, modeling for the larger church the blessings of being one as God’s people.
Intercultural Ministries Terminology Resource List (PDF)
Intercultural Ministries happenings
Frontliners training
This session prepares Intercultural Ministries Frontliners to cultivate hospitality, build relationships across cultures, and support intercultural belonging in the life of the church and community.
Purpose: To equip ministry volunteers and leaders to practice Christ-centered intercultural hospitality, listening, and bridge-building.
Apr 24, 2026 02:30 PM Central.
Register for Frontliners training hereChurches, Cultures & Leadership book study
The Intercultural Ministry Office is inviting us to a bi-weekly book study starting at the end of April. The first 15 registrants who request the book on the registration form will receive it if needed. We will have a chance to identify where we, as a church, could grow closer in our intercultural relationships.
Why this book? I am so glad you asked me 😊. The book recognizes that local churches are increasingly multicultural and multiethnic, and it calls leaders to develop the competencies needed to reflect the body of Christ’s multiethnic character in worship and mission. It blends biblical and theological reflection with insights from the social sciences to help leaders attend to, interpret, and act in culturally complex ministry settings.
Who is this book for?
- Pastors and church leaders navigating multiethnic congregations
- Seminary students studying church leadership, ecclesiology, or intercultural ministry
- Leadership teams seeking tools for cross-cultural engagement and reconciliation
When: Every other Wednesday for 12 Sessions, beginning April 29th
Register for the Churches, Cultures, & Leadership book study here
Intercultural Ministries Café: Faith & Culture Conversations
Invitation in English
Invitación en español
Envitasyon an kreyòl ayisyen
Intercultural Ministries Café: Faith & Culture Conversations—rooted in relationship, discipleship, and practical intercultural engagement. It will be once a month for the next few months, starting on Tuesday, April 21st, and continuing through October 20th. This is a space for meaningful dialogue, spiritual growth, and intercultural connection. Together, we will explore how faith and culture intersect in our lives and communities, and how to engage faithfully across cultures with humility, curiosity, and Christ-centered love.
Why can’t they see what I see?
Building trusting and cooperative relationships enhances work effectiveness and increases the team’s likelihood of success. However, perceptions of what constitutes a good working relationship may vary among multicultural team members. In other words, perceptions of what it means to build and how to do so may differ from person to person, depending on their linguistic and cultural practices. It is our human tendency to see things from our own perspective. Unless we make an intentional effort, it is quite challenging to see from another person’s perspective. One’s perspective adds challenges in an intercultural ministry setting, since each person brings her/his own perceptions to a specific conflict, shaped by linguistic and cultural background.
This short seminar looks into what is going on when people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds come and work together. A closer look at what is going on in the multicultural team/congregations will help us better work together for the common goal of obeying our Lord Jesus’ command, making disciples of all nations.
Professor Jonathan Kim
Prior to coming to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), Dr. Jonathan Kim served with Wycliffe Bible Translators for twenty years, doing Bible Translation, church planting, leadership development in multiethnic settings, short-term missions, and other various cross-cultural trainings in many places, including the Caucasus, West Africa, and Canada. While serving with Wycliffe, he overcame several language and cultural barriers and ended up speaking multiple languages. He taught courses such as Language and Culture Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, Developing Intercultural Competency, Adult Education, Cultural Anthropology, and Missional Leadership. He also served as a pastor near Baltimore, MD. He is the Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) and an Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology. Jonathan and his wife Bonnie have three adult children.
Learn with Founa – Aprann avék Founa – Aprende con Founa
Training on Offering a Welcome
Bethany Theological Seminary professor Dan Ulrich presented four scripture study sessions on “Befriending the Stranger,” highlighting the biblical mandate to care for the sojourner, refugee, stranger—anyone fleeing natural or man-made disasters, drought, famine, war, hunger, or persecution.
Find the “Befriending the Stranger” study videos here.
Gade atik la an kreyòl Ayisyen
Do you have a prayer request? – Èske ou gen yon rekèt priyè? – ¿Tienes alguna petición de oración?
Let us know your prayer request or praise by using this online form. You can include your name and contact information, but it is not required.
Fè nou konnen demann lapriyè ou oswa lwanj ou lè w itilize fòm sa sou entènèt la. Ou ka mete non w ak enfòmasyon pou nou kontakte w, men li pa obligatwa.
Háganos saber su pedido de oración o alabanza mediante este formulario en línea. Puede incluir su nombre y datos de contacto, pero no es obligatorio.
Intercultural Ministries Luncheon 2025
Photos and video clips from the 2025 event
Photos from Annual Conference 2024
Get in touch!
Join us if you are interested in building an Intercultural Community by completing this form for further communication.
Related News
- Conference business includes resolutions on weapons transfer, care for immigrants and refugees, polity adjustments for licensed and commissioned ministers
The business agenda for the 2026 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference has been announced. Along with numerous reports and the ballot, the delegate body will receive an interim report from the Review and Evaluation Committee and will consider four items of new business: resolutions on weapons transfer and care for immigrants and refugees, polity adjustments for licensed and commissioned ministers, and the yet-to-be-announced recommended COLA for the pastoral scale.
- Intercultural Ministries schedules first ‘frontliners’ training, announces new online book club
Founa A. Badet, director of Intercultural Ministries for the Church of the Brethren, has scheduled the first “Intercultural Ministries Frontliners Training” for those interested in becoming personally involved and active in the work. Also newly announced is an online book club to study Churches, Cultures, and Leadership by Mark Lau Branson and Juan F. Martinez.
- Faithful Response Immigration gathering offers inspiration and retreat experience for leaders of immigrant support efforts
The Faithful Response Immigration Gathering on March 17-19 at Camp Christian in Marysville, Ohio, drew participation from the four sponsoring denominations and others involved in immigration ministries.
- Intercultural Ministries offers online ‘café’ of faith and culture conversations
Intercultural Ministries Café: Faith & Culture Conversations—rooted in relationship, discipleship, and practical intercultural engagement—will be held once a month for the next few months.
- Legal and Mutual Aid Fund reaches $250,000 goal by Easter
Nine months ago, during our report to the delegates at Annual Conference, we challenged the congregations of the church to raise $100,000 to create a new Legal and Mutual Aid Fund to meet the needs of Church of the Brethren immigrants due to harsh immigration enforcement. On Easter weekend, we give thanks that compassionate individuals and churches within the denomination have donated more than a quarter of a million dollars ($250,000) in the last nine months. Praise God!
Healing Racism book list
Download the Healing Racism book list
Who Will Be A Witness:
Igniting Activism for God’s Justice, Love and Deliverance with Drew Hart
Drew Hart, author of Who Will Be A Witness and Trouble I’ve Seen, joined us as a part of the 2021 “Healing Racism Congregations and Communities Series.”
Journey through Justice
Join us as together we journey with featured online resources and posts on racial justice. Peacebuilding, educational videos, articles, and posts have been shared on the
Here are Racial Justice Resources, Part 1 and Racial Justice Resources, Part 2. These are resources we have shared recently on social media.
What does it mean to be God’s family? The Church of the Brethren has committed itself to being transformed completely—as individuals, as congregations, as a denomination—so that we continually grow into the vision of Revelation 7:9. We seek to be separate no more.
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:9)
Read the Annual Conference paper, “Becoming a Multi-Ethnic Church.”
The work of discipleship serves to restore our relationships, with one another and with God, in ways that uphold justice and righteousness. This includes the work to eliminate white supremacy in all its forms. Discipleship Ministries offers resources and opportunities to learn more about the impact of race and racism on our nation, the identity of the church, and individual discipleship.