Pastoral Care in Immigrant Congregation

A wide range of African, Spanish-speaking, and Filipino churches have emerged all across the United States and Europe. According to Eriksen, the emergence of immigrant churches in the United States and all across Western cities is a common phenomenon.[footnoteRef:1] The emergence of these churches in the United States and Europe is a reflection of a wide range of ethnic-linguistic, theological, and denominational diversity. While these churches challenge the established landscapes of Western churches, they face their own unique challenges. As the numbers of these churches continue to increase in the US diaspora, there are numerous issues relating to pastoral care in these congregations. There are concerns regarding what constitutes proper pastoring in an ethnic-linguistic and theological diverse congregation. This paper seeks to address the problem of proper pastoral care in immigrant congregations in Western cities, particularly in the United States. [1: Stian Sorlie Eriksen, Immigrant-Majority Church Relations in the West, Lausanne Global Analysis, July 2019, https://lausanne.org/content/lga/2019-07/immigrant-majority-church-relations-west]

Background Information

As previously indicated, the landscape of established churches in Western cities like the United States has been characterized by the increase in the emergence and growth of migrant churches. Migrant churches have essentially become an uncommon phenomenon in the US church landscape. The emergence of these churches in Western cities is partly attributable to recent decades of globalization. Globalization has brought different regions of the world together at rapid speeds and in ways that were hardly imagined in past centuries. Recent decades of globalization have resulted in multiple streams of international migration, which refers to a complex phenomenon of an array of social, economic, and security aspects affecting daily life. International migration has become a major social issue in the United States given the streams of refugees getting into the country. Currently, it is estimated that nearly 200 million people are living outside their home countries either voluntarily or involuntarily.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Ibid., 1]

For many migrants, religion plays an important role in migration trajectories and everyday life experiences. Migrants not only bring their nationalities, but also bring their religion with them. Since nearly 50% of the worlds migrants including those in the U.S. come from Christian backgrounds, there has been a global growth of Christianity. Therefore, Western churches including the US church landscape can no longer assume the leading voice or represent the epicenter of Christianity. Migrants form separate communities and foreign churches in host countries as part of their efforts to mitigate the effects of the challenges they encounter in a foreign country.[footnoteRef:3] Members of migrant churches in Western cities are largely migrants from the same country. As a result, most of their church programs and activities such as the language used resemble those in their country of origin. Migrant churches are critical for their members as they not only provide spiritual care but also offer support for practical life issues. For these members, church is not only viewed from a spiritual dimension but also considered from a community support perspective. [3: Vhumani Magezi, Pastoral Care to Migrants as Care at the In-Between: Reflections on Pastoral Care within Congregational Ministry, Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry, 2019, https://journals.sfu.ca/rpfs/index.php/rpfs/article/download/595/571]

Since migrant churches adopt activities and programs that resemble those in their country of origin, culture plays an important role in spiritual care. Culture becomes an important part of these churches and their respective activities in attempts to close the cultural gaps associated with living in a foreign country. Cultural practices shape spiritual activities adopted in these churches as the leadership attempts to make members feel more at home. Therefore, cultural factors shape the nature and identity of migrant churches in Western...

…ups and downs. These challenges are likely to range from personal issues to issues facing individual members of the congregation. The potential ups and downs are likely to be fueled by the cultural and social challenges relating to living in a foreign country. Despite the challenges, proper pastoring in migrant churches in Western cities requires a commitment and dedication to the calling.

Ministers who shepherd West African Immigrant churches and congregations in the U.S. diaspora should be diligent in their calling. Diligence in the calling would involve a commitment to feed the sheep as shown in John 21:17. These ministers need to understand the first aspect of their calling is to feed the flock of God. By focusing on feeding the sheep, these ministers will avoid deviating from meaningful ministry and demonstrate effective pastoral care. Secondly, they should learn the ropes of pastoral care as Paul admonished Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and 2 Timothy 2:2. Third, they need to minister to address the individual needs of their members instead of a general assumption just as Paul reached out to diverse communities at their point of needs in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.

In conclusion, migrant churches have mushroomed in many Western cities icluding in the U.S. The number of these churches has increased in the diaspora as a result of globalization and international migration. These churches have emerged to help immigrants feel a sense of belonging and promote their acculturation in their new homes. However, ministers in these churches have responsibilities that go beyond spiritual care and ministering as they help their members assimilate into the new home. This has in turn created a proper pastoring problem as ministers deviate from meaningful ministry. This problem can be addressed through equipping or training pastors to pastor well and a commitment to follow the example provided…