Ethnic Churches, Reverse Mission, and Urban Adventism in North America (original) (raw)

Within the last few decades, ethnic churches have emerged all across North America, dotting the ecclesiastical landscape of its major cities. In noticeable contrast with older established churches with growth profiles that have plateaued, ethnic churches have witnessed significant growth both nationally and throughout the North American Division (NAD). This paper seeks to examine the rationale and growth for the existence of ethnic churches. It will also explore the missiological phenomenon referred to as reverse missions and what contributions it can make in responding to the urban challenge of mission in the cities by the Adventist Church in North America. In his illuminating study on ethnic church planting in North America mission scholar Chuck Van Engen traced the emergence of ethnic churches to two notable realities: First, the fact that America has such a remarkable immigrant history that leads him to state repeatedly, “we are all immigrants.” Second, ethnic churches date a lo...