by the Rev. Jonathan Kindberg, Diaspora Mobilizer
Over the past several months, as I’ve sat with immigrant pastors and leaders in the Austin area, I’ve heard remarkable stories of miraculous healings, of imprisonment and persecution, of journeys of incredible resilience to reach this land, and of adult baptisms and conversions of Muslims and Buddhists. These are the kinds of stories I grew up hearing in Latin America, but they are happening here in Austin, Texas.
All the while, in many cases, immigrant churches do not own their own building or have a full-time pastor. Down to a one, every immigrant church I’ve encountered shows a remarkable commitment to regular prayer and fasting. Aren’t these all things we’ve all longed to experience and see?
Austin, a strong regional hub for C4SO, is one of the most wealthy and rapidly growing cities in the United States. We hear the stories about Tesla’s relocation and the growth of the tech sector, but there’s another more hidden and yet more powerful, dynamic at play. There is a thriving and exploding immigrant church hidden in plain sight. From a city perspective, immigrants are responsible for more than half of all population growth in Austin. And a similar, more surprising statistic is at play in the church in Austin.
The shift of the center of gravity of global Christianity to the Global South has long been underway here in the United States, thanks to migration. The center of gravity here has shifted toward Latinos, Nigerians, Brazilians, Nepalis. This is the Diaspora Church. This is the present-future face of American Christianity.
And this is happening not just in Austin but in Atlanta, in San Jose and in nearly every city and community across the country where C4SO exists.
Many have written and spoken about this radical shift (for example, here and here). I’m convinced it’s high time for us at C4SO to step into and participate in this incredible move of God. This is the heart behind the Diaspora Network, an initiative-in-formation blessed by Bishop Todd before he left on sabbatical (March 1-August 1). The Diaspora Network is currently being incubated within the Rev. 7:9 Task Force for Racial Diversity and Inclusion and will officially launch this fall.
This network seeks to gather, equip and eventually multiply diaspora leaders and congregations by developing diaspora specific resources, cultural/linguistic affinity gatherings, prayer spaces and leadership pathways. We’re forming an initial leadership team which so far includes Pastor Samson Onohua and Fr. José and Carmen Zurita, representing the Nigerian and Hispanic/Latino diaspora communities respectively.
We rejoice in the first two diaspora C4SO congregations: La Misión de San Lucas in Kansas City reaching Latinos, and Igbo Anglican Church in San Jose, California, reaching Nigerians. And we praise God for first and second generation immigrants present in every C4SO congregation we’ve visited or spent time with so far.
We invite you to be a part of this initiative by attending our initial launch gathering October 7-8 in Austin, which will feature multilingual, multicultural and multinational worship, equipping and fellowship. Perhaps you can come together with a diaspora member or leader within your congregation or a partner in your city or community. There will also be teaching on Diaspora Theology led by Sam George of the Lausanne Global Diaspora Network.
We also ask you to consider supporting this initiative financially through a one-time or monthly gift here. (Select “Diaspora Network” from the drop-down menu). You can learn more about our work on our website here. Let’s step into this move of God in and through the global church here in our midst!
Sign up for the Diaspora Network email list to stay updated on how you can join in the movement of God as seen in the greatest movement of peoples in history.
The Rev. Jonathan Kindberg is resident clergy and a mission partner at Church of the Cross Austin, helping the church grow in their cross-cultural and community engagement in Northeast Austin. Jonathan has extensive experience in cross-cultural ministry in the United States and beyond. He has been instrumental in various ACNA initiatives related to engagement with the Latino community and church throughout North America. Jonathan is serving in Austin with a non-profit to connect churches to refugees and immigrants. Jonathan is mobilizing C4SO’s new Diaspora Network to support immigrant churches in our diocese.