Becoming an Intercultural Congregation

In Pella, Iowa, one CRC congregation is dreaming of a future that looks vastly different from its past. Grace Fellowship has adopted a bold new slogan: “All ages. All cultures. All in for Jesus.” While the goal of becoming a truly intercultural community in such a context might seem daunting, the congregation is finding that God is providing both the tools and the “miracles” necessary for deep renewal.

One step in the congregation’s renewal has included Thriving Essentials, an interactive workshop designed by Thrive to align church leaders—elders, deacons, staff, and volunteers—around core values of mission, discipleship, discernment, and leadership. For Grace Fellowship, participating in Thriving Essentials was a strategic choice by the church council to help the full membership grow into a shared missional mindset.

“Thriving Essentials [is helping] . . . to prioritize discipleship with all of our ministry leaders,” said Larry Hanthorn, a long-time member and leader of the church’s Renewal Team. He noted that the one-day workshop represented a “small win” in a long journey of ongoing renewal.

From Multicultural Programs to Intercultural Friendships

The training also serves as a gateway to Thriving Practices, guided learning cohorts in which church members address real ministry challenges through coaching and peer mentoring. After participating in Thriving Essentials in March 2024, Grace Fellowship joined an intercultural cohort the following year, and that allowed them to learn from other Christian Reformed churches that were further along in the journey of serving diverse populations.

Hanthorn said that a pivotal moment occurred for him during a cohort retreat event in Toronto, Ont. He recalled a church leader at the retreat reflecting on her own congregation’s transformation, which she described this way: “We used to have a multicultural church program, but now we have friends from different cultures.”

That insight became a guiding light, said Hanthorn. “That made me realize that simply reaching a different culture was only the beginning and that our goal should not be getting people to church but creating a place where friendships can flourish,” he said. Since then, Grace Fellowship has prioritized quarterly intercultural events and English Language Studies (ELS) classes to build genuine connections.

Nudge of the Spirit

Noreen VanderWal, another member of the Renewal Team, described the process not as a single “aha” moment but as a “repeated nudging in a specific direction” that the congregation felt they could not ignore. From hiring a lead pastor whose wife is from Paraguay to piloting an English Language curriculum, the path seemed to be divinely mapped out, she said.

The renewal is also changing how the congregation at Grace Fellowship experiences worship. Recently the church hosted a service conducted mainly in Spanish led by a visiting pastor, Christian Sebastia. The service made use of simultaneous translation tools so that English speakers could step into the perspective of nonnative speakers.

“It was wonderful,” VanderWal recalled. “The unique reflections of God in each culture . . . humble me and bring me closer to the Creator of us all. It makes me feel included in something so much bigger than a Dutch CRC congregation in Pella, Iowa.”

Not a Simple Journey

As he reflects on the future, Hanthorn said, he remains anchored in the belief that renewal is a miracle of God. “I know that building an intercultural church is not an easy task,” he admitted. “Many a church leader has been shipwrecked trying to build up a church that truly serves multiple cultures . . . [but] I believe that God is able to do 'exceedingly, abundantly beyond anything we can ask or think’!”

“We have a long, long way to go.” VanderWal added. “I'm still not sure if this path we are on will lead to a lasting intercultural congregation at Grace, but I have made new friends and seen parts of my community I was formerly unaware of.”

Churches with a vision similar to that of Grace Fellowship are encouraged to contact Thrive [[email protected]] for information on joining a cohort with others who sense a similar calling.