Can A Church Move From Homogeneity to Diversity?

Rev. Dr. Terry Chan has written a doctoral thesis on “Moving from Homogeneity to Diversity” in Christian churches. Terry, the former president of Chinese Lutherans In Mission and member of the advisory board for national missions in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, is working under well-known missiologist Dr. Enoch Wan of Western Seminary.

Terry pastors a remarkably diverse church in San Francisco. Recently he had a transcontinental discussion via Zoom with two mission minded pastors, Rev. Mike Duchene of Peace Lutheran Church in Naples and Rev. Mark Eisold next door in Golden Gate, Fl.

Mike Duchene leads a congregation that has an Hispanic worship service on Saturday evenings, an Anglo service on Sunday at 9:30 am, followed by a Creole service at 11 am. Mark heads up “The Pelican,” a mission supported by a Grace Lutheran in Naples that exists to raise up new leaders and begin new missions in SW Florida. Mark and Mike work closely together. We thought they might gain something from hearing Terry’s experiences and Terry might gain from hearing from the dynamic duo in Florida. We were not disappointed.

Watch the entire conversation

Hear the intro with Pastor Terry Chan