Ministering in Migrant Churches

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 world’s 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 cities including in the U.S. Migrant church communities in the U.S. diaspora have vast resources of cultural and social capital that influence what constitutes pastoral care in immigrant congregations. Given the vast cultural and social capital resources in these churches, pastoral care is slightly different in immigrant congregations.[footnoteRef:4] Pastoral care in these congregations requires consideration of cultural factors as they influence the everyday life experiences of members. [4: Ibid., 3]

Pastoral Care in Migrant Churches

Immigrants in Western cities face challenges that are complex, which implies that no single approach to pastoral care is the best. Effective pastoral intervention or care in these churches requires proper assessment and understanding of the situation. Pastoral care in these churches has become an institutionalized activity focused on the faithful. Pastoral care activities in these churches are not addressed to the members as individuals, but as part of a specific community through which the church plans for specific pastoral service.[footnoteRef:5] Pastoral service in these churches is temporary and transitionary in nature. When providing pastoral services to migrants, pastors need to consider that the community has its own tongue and culture. [5: Pope John Paul II, “The Pastoral Care of Migrants: A Way of Accomplishing the Mission of the Church Today”, Eternal World Television Network, 2001, https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/pastoral-care-of-migrants-a-way-of-accomplishing-the-mission-of-the-church-today-8312]

Magezi states that pastoral care in migrant churches should carry out a preparatory or foundational role. Such a role is necessary in these churches because immigrant communities live an in-between life. The concept of in-between is a model that reflects various areas of life including physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and relational life. Immigrants live an in-between life as it entails familiarizing oneself with life in a foreign country while upholding one’s own cultural practices. In essence, these people are torn between embracing new cultures, norms, and practices and upholding their own in a foreign country. Therefore, the spiritual growth of these individuals is challenged by the values and norms they confront. This problem specifically occurs among adults since they are cultural custodians.

By playing a foundational role, pastoral care helps migrant congregations to achieve a balance between their own culture and that of their foreign country. Through this role, pastors and other church leaders would help migrant communities integrate with their new home and realities in a foreign country. To this extent, pastoral care in migrant churches entails empowering and equipping immigrants with information regarding the realities of life in a foreign land. It is recommended that pastoral care in such churches should focus on enhancing migrants’ understanding of the realities of their new home and alternatives to consider.

The need for pastoral care in migrant churches to focus on promoting smooth integration of migrants into the new home implies that it is different from what is the conventional role of pastors and other church leaders. Pastoral care in these churches goes beyond providing spiritual nourishment to include addressing social aspects facing migrants. While the traditional role of pastoral care also involves dealing with issues beyond spiritual nourishment, they face unique demands and needs in migrant churches in Western cities. In some cases, pastoral care in migrant churches entails addressing personal aspects like employment, dressing, child-raising, and employment.[footnoteRef:6] Additionally, pastoral care in migrant churches addresses social aspects like acculturation and assimilation as well as cultural aspects like family values and status. [6: Ibid., 3]

In addition to addressing these aspects, pastoral care in migrant churches also involves addressing the pressures faced by immigrants. Through this, pastors in these churches deal with forces that affect the lives of migrants in a foreign country. As immigrants deal with various social and cultural aspects, they have an interplay of complex forces that affect their assimilation and integration into the new community. Consequently, Magezi notes that pastoral care in migrant churches should focus on developing strategies and approaches to addressing immigrants’ challenges in a holistic manner. A practical theology to promote the embracing of immigrants’ needs should be developed and understood for pastoral care in migrant churches.

Assessment of the Problem

It is evident that pastoral care in migrant churches involves dealing with a lot of factors that go beyond spiritual nourishment. This implies that pastors and other church leaders in these contexts face needs and demands that go beyond what they should traditionally address. The consideration of individual, social, and cultural aspects generates new demands on pastoral care in migrant churches. While addressing these demands is critical to enhancing the assimilation and integration of immigrant communities, it generates problems in pastoral care work. Proper pastoring is affected by the demands and needs to address individual, social, and cultural aspects facing immigrants. This implies that the work of meaningful ministry is lost when pastoral care goes beyond promoting spiritual growth. Given the importance religiosity and culture play in the approach of ministers of West African Churches in the US diaspora, proper pastoring gets truncated in ministering to this immigrant congregation.

Proper pastoral care in migrant churches is a great mission entrusted to church leadership in such churches in Western cities.[footnoteRef:7] However, proper pastoral care is truncated by the interplay of forces affecting immigrant communities in Western cities. Pastors in the churches seemingly deviate from meaningful ministry and focus on the individual, social, and cultural factors affecting migrants. Therefore, there is a need to enhance pastoral care in these churches to promote meaningful ministry. [7: Commission for Evangelization and Pastoral Care of the Migrants, “Church Teachings on Pastoral Care of the Migrants”, SMCIM, 2015, http://www.cepcm.org/home/inner/28]

Addressing the Problem

The need to focus on meaningful ministry is a biblical principle and mission of pastors and other church leaders. In Acts 6:3-4, the apostles realized that meaningful ministry was getting truncated with administrative issues in the church. Meaningful ministry was being neglected in favor of waiting on tables. Following this realization, they appointed seven men to wait on tables while they devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. This passage illustrates the importance of focusing on meaningful ministry and ensuring that proper pastoring is not truncated with other issues. Therefore, focusing on meaningful ministry is a fundamental biblical principle and mandate given to pastors.

In light of the principle highlighted in this passage, pastoral care in migrant churches should primarily focus on meaningful ministry. When pastors and church leaders in these churches focus on addressing the individual, social, and cultural factors affecting their members, they deviate from their mandate and fail to fulfill their mission. Focusing on meaningful ministry would help pastoral care to accomplish its mandate. Proper pastoring in these churches would involve focusing on spiritual care and ministering.

Magezi proposes the development of an integrated ministry model for pastoral care in migrant churches. The integrated model of ministry should incorporate various factors that are centered on equipping or training pastors and other church leaders. First, the model should promote the use of a systematic approach that emphasizes practical pastoral care that is limited to certain social contexts.[footnoteRef:8] Secondly, it should incorporate an approach to theological motif and ministry based on biblical texts and principles. Third, it should include a systematic approach that emphasizes doctrinal formulations, which respond to migrant challenges. [8: Vhumani Magezi, “Pastoral Care to Migrants as Care at the ‘in-between’ and ‘liminal’ Home Away from Home: Towards Public Pastoral Care to Migrants”, Verbum et Ecclesia 40(2019): 2]

While the integrated model of ministry would help address some of the challenges relating to proper pastoring in migrant churches, it would still entail a deviation from meaningful ministry. To address this problem effectively, ministers in migrant churches should be well equipped in training. The tendency by ministers of West African churches in the U.S. diaspora to deviate from meaningful ministry is a sign that they are not well equipped for their roles and mandate. Therefore, equipping them through training is a critical step toward enhancing their effectiveness as ministers in migrant churches in the West. Ministers need to be well equipped in training to be able to pastor the congregation in meaningful ministry. Pastors should be taught to pastor well in migrant churches to avoid deviating from meaningful ministry.

The solution to the proper pastoring problem in migrant churches is equipping/training leaders to minister wholly and fulfilling. A proper pastor derives his/her mandate from the Bible, which is spiritual care and ministering. 2 Timothy 2:15 highlights the need for ministers to be adequately trained or equipped by studying. In addition to studying, the preparation for ministry is highlighted in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. As they carry out pastoral care, ministers should focus on spiritual care and adjust accordingly depending on the spiritual needs of the respective congregation as shown in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.

Spiritual care and ministering should primarily focus on preaching the Gospel. Sharing the Gospel is the premise with which ministers feed the flock as shown in John 21:17. The Master’s (Jesus) calling is to minister Gospel. In Matthew 4:18, Jesus told Peter and Andrew to follow Him and He will make fishers of men out of them. This is the same clarion call for all ministers of the Gospel including pastors and church leaders in migrant churches in Western cities. Ministers who shepherd West African immigrant congregations, churches, and fellowships should focus on this clarion call.

At the core of meaningful ministry is the clarion call to service, which is a call to represent the Gospel. The Gospel ought to be the foundation of pastoral care in migrant churches as it is beautiful, gracious, and liberating. Additionally, the Gospel is empowering and acts as a source of knowledge on how to navigate the issues of everyday life. It is not any form of personal ability, but a calling by grace under the guidance and fear of the Master.

Equipping/Training Ministers in Migrant Churches

As previously indicated, equipping or training ministers in migrant churches is the key to addressing the proper pastoring problem facing these churches. Equipping/training ministers in these churches should be based on a biblical underpinning of spiritual care and ministering. As part of promoting effective spiritual care and ministering, pastoral care in migrant churches should be centered on promoting the Gospel. Kim & Villace note that spiritual care and ministering, which is part of pastoral leadership, focuses on guiding, healing, sustaining, and reconciling troubled individuals.[footnoteRef:9] By focusing on sharing the Gospel, pastors in these churches empower and liberate their members in their everyday contexts. Therefore, pastoral care involves spiritual guidance based on biblical underpinnings and in light of one’s calling by grace. As spiritual leaders, pastors and other church leaders in migrant churches should follow and obey God’s Word and serve as examples to their congregants. [9: Sung Joong Kim & Teresa Villace, “Development of Pastoral Administrative Leadership Scale Based on the Theories of Educational Leadership”, Cogent Business and Management 6(2019), 3.]

The approach to equip pastors should follow the integrated model of ministry proposed by Magezi.[footnoteRef:10] This model would help enhance approaches to pastoral care towards providing spiritual care and ministering by promoting the adoption of systematic approaches that are responsive to the spiritual needs of congregants. Equipping or training leaders for pastoral care in migrant churches requires the use of educational approaches that are integrative, relational, and embodied during seminary and post-graduation.[footnoteRef:11] Integrative, relational, and embodied educational approaches enables pastors to execute the holistic mission in spiritual care and ministering. [10: Ibid., 3] [11: Alexia Salvatierra, “Equipping Hispanic Immigrant Pastors for Holistic Mission”, Fuller Theological Seminary, 2018, https://www.proquest.com/openview/4d38e2a1ed2fde0fc09c6d02f8fecb41/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y]

One of the integrative, relational, and embodied educational approaches that could help in equipping and training pastors in migrant churches is spiritual and practical formation strategies. These approaches involve equipping pastors with knowledge regarding spiritual and practical formation, which is an important component of spiritual care and ministering. As part of spiritual and practical formation strategies, pastors participate in small group sessions for theological and practical ministry reflection. Through this, pastors in migrant churches will obtain pastoral care skills relating to meaningful ministry of proper pastoring.

Secondly, equipping ministers for pastoral care in migrant churches should incorporate spiritually-based adaptive leadership training. This educational approach promotes the integration of adaptive leadership concepts and skills with biblical principles and practices. Such training would be vital in strengthening the spirituality of immigrant communities in Western cities including West African churches in the U.S. Spiritually-based adaptive leadership training would also prepare pastors in migrant churches for meaningful ministry by taking care of their souls. In this regard, the pastor’s personal relationship with God is taken into consideration and viewed as an important factor in proper pastoring or effective ministry. This educational approach would place pastors in migrant churches on the path of spiritual growth, which becomes the premise for effectiveness in their calling. Through focusing on the pastor’s personal relationship with God, this educational approach would help ensure that these ministers focus on sharing the Gospel and do not deviate from their calling.

The other approach to equipping/training pastors in migrant churches is transferable theological education. Migrant workers including pastors come from countries that are characterized by a lack of access to quality education or self-education opportunities. Therefore, these ministers lack the necessary pastoral care skills to focus on meaningful ministry. The lack of relevant skills implies that many pastors in migrant churches are ill-equipped not to deviate from meaningful ministry. In addition, the lack of educational opportunities implies that these ministers do not have the relevant skills for proper pastoring. Transferable theological education would play an important part in equipping these ministers for proper pastoring. As noted in 2 Timothy 2:2, it is important to equip leaders who will equip more leaders. Non-transferable theological education does not help improve proper pastoring skills as it simply puffs up the individual with pride. On the contrary, transferable theological education is essential in addressing the proper pastoring problem in migrant churches and it prepares pastors for meaningful ministry.

Transferable theological education is not only effective in equipping leaders who could equip others, but it is also critical in improving the ability of pastors in migrant churches to lead, teach, and shepherd their congregations. Therefore, this approach to equipping pastors is not about having an academic prerequisite but equipping them for meaningful ministry and proper pastoring in their churches. The role of transferable theological education in equipping ministers in migrant churches is evident in the fact that current academic institutions are not sufficient to equip ministers in diaspora churches. Prerequisite education provided in the current seminary model does not adequately prepare pastors in diaspora churches to be fully competent in meaningful ministry or proper pastoring. Transferable theological education helps to fill the gaps in the current seminary model by providing nimble and innovative training models. Such models equip pastors in diaspora churches with competency in the languages of the transient and for effective ministry in their host countries.