Cross-Culturalism and Christian Leadership

Cross-Culturalism and Christian Leadership A phenomenological examination of differing perspectives within society RUPERT A. HAYLES, JR. Draft Unpublished Working Paper

ABSTRACT This paper examines the contemporary experience of church attendees in a cross-cultural environment, as well as various aspects of Christian leadership necessary to build and serve a cross-cultural congregation. A review of leadership qualities that may either achieve or hinder cross-culturalism in the Church also is included in this study that attempts to answer this key question: "How do people who are friendly to the gospel experience cross-culturalism in a church environment?" This phenomenological study employs an in-depth interview methodology to determine the responses of various non-Christian church attendees, Christian church attendees and Christian leaders, including pastors. Four towers of strength themes emerged from the study: (a) diversity and people who are different than who I am, (b) weird and discomforted, (c) deliberateness and intentionality and (d) cross-culturalism is intertwined and begins with leadership. Diversity lends credence to the fact that within a cross-cultural environment there are people that are different. Weird and discomforted reflects experiences felt when cross-culturalism is not reflected. Deliberateness and intentionality form the basis of actions to ensure cross-culturalism with the church context. The final theme affirms that cross-culturalism is effectively tied to or cannot happen with leadership.

KEYWORDS: Cross-culturalism, leadership, mono-racial, ethnocentricity, Christian leadership

INTRODUCTION This study examines reasons why certain churches are mono-racial and why they remain ethnocentric. Also, it explores the role of Christian leadership in building effective multicultural congregations. As quoted in Branch (2006) "11:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America." That declaration, first attributed to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was meant to confound and alarm those who first heard it more than 50 years ago. Today, nine out of ten congregations in the U.S. are segregated, with one racial group comprising more than 80% of the membership (Scheitle & Dougherty, 2010). McConnell and McConnell (1991) briefly describe the phenomenon, "The Culture Bridging research has also revealed other aspects that require much more work before supportive

changes can be affected: Most congregation and church hierarchies currently have only the most casual interest in cross-cultural ministry. It is seen as peripheral to the real work of clergy and laity. The irony of this shows in the fact that most church growth, most effective evangelism, and most effective use of the gospel is being accomplished today by the ethnic and national groups‌ and this pushes us on to the future." (p.595) The significance of this study may be found both in its attempt to answer the call made by Scheitle & Dougherty to examine cross-culturalism in the Church, as well as in its contribution to the total body of research on this important topic.

RUPERT A. HAYLES, JR. As outlined by Raskovic and Krzisnik (2010), leadership is classified in four broad research areas: (a) key personal characteristics of leaders, (b) exploring patterns and types of behaviors and interaction, (c) studying leadership in various social contexts and (d) the relationship between leadership and culture. This study is focused on the relationship between leadership and culture as it relates to the Church environment. Furthermore, its theoretical framework is derived from the following works: (a) Harris, Moran, and Moran, (2004) identifying differences that can be attributed to culture, (b) Gentry and Sparks (2012) leadership competencies attributed to culture; (c) Caligiuri and Tarique (2012) leadership based on personality characteristics and cross-cultural experiences; (d) Tuleja, (2014) cultural and emotional intelligence and (e) Jensen, 2012) key components that facilitate cross-cultural collaboration. The study population includes eight participants who are either (a) church attendees, (b) recognized leaders in the church or (c) persons who do not attend church.

The study is focused on qualitative empirical research. This phenomenological research study utilizes in-depth interviews to arrive at specific themes. Cohen, Manion, and Morrison (2000) described this methodology as a point of view that “advocates the study of direct experience taken at face value” (p. 23).

Following the introduction, the next section provides a theoretical base and helps define concepts that connect with (a) leadership, (b) cross-culturalism and (c) the impact of cross-cultural leadership within the church environment.

After providing the theoretical framework, the next section outlines the research design, detailing the methodology and qualitative insight into the perspective of the contemporary Christian as it relates to cross-cultural expression. The third section presents the sample population. The fourth section outlines the data analysis, which began in 2016 and ended in 2017. The fifth section details findings from the analysis.

The sixth section describes discussion and importance of the study. The final section details the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of the study.

LITERATURE REVIEW Definitions of leadership vary widely, often determined by goal or task. For some, leadership is “the ability to impress the will of the leader on those led and induce obedience, respect, loyalty, and cooperation” (Moore, 1927, p.124). Others define leadership as "personality in action under group conditions…it is interaction between specific traits of one person and other traits of the many, in such

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a way, that the course of action of the many is changed by the one" (Bogardus, 1934, p.3). Elsewhere, leadership is described as “the activity of influencing people to cooperation toward some goal which they come to find desirable” (Tead, 1935, p.20). Effective leadership also is said to involve interaction of group members that improve expectations and leads to problem-solving and goal attainment Bass and Bass (2008). Leadership also is a process in which one individual influences group members to achieve a common goal (Northhouse, 2015). Understanding the historical context of leadership is important to this study, as it determines the presence of leadership components within organizations that affect cross-cultural dynamics in churches.

A relevant study examines why many white congregations in multi-ethnic communities remain white. Results were attributed to the following: a) non-inclusive congregation worship style; b) white members drawing a hard, invisible ethnic boundary to withstand minority infusion into the congregation and c) little or no non-white ethnic leadership (Pemberton, 1986). Results showed that even when a church sought to become multi-ethnic and cross-cultural, reasons deep within the fiber of its community could prevent cross-cultural enablement. These reasons pointed to a possible void in leadership, leading to the question of what aspects of leadership are necessary to establish cross-culturalism within the Church (Pemberton, 1986) and a conclusion that effective leadership is essential to organizations or groups as they pursue cross-cultural leadership. A continuance of Pemberton (1986) work would derive question in this study as to what were the experiences that were felt by the congregants in that particular surrounding?

Moodian (2008) indicated cross-cultural databases show that cross-cultural Christian leadership is difficult to define, especially based on the variations found within the national, corporate, or even functional cultures in terms of simple stereotypes. This was mentioned because in trying to determine general characteristics of a leader it is challenging to pinpoint universal requirements. The Intercultural Competence Profiler (ICP) has identified these four aspects of intercultural competence: (a) recognition – recognizing cultural differences; (b) respect – respecting of differences; (c) reconciliation – competency to recognize cultural differences and (d) realization – taking steps needed to implement reconciliation. It is important that recognition of the four aspects of ICP be integrated if cross-cultural leadership in a spiritual environment is to be effective.

Moodian (2008) identified several key features related to intercultural competence. These include: (a) vision and alignment—aligning the organization with the team;

RUPERT A. HAYLES, JR. Bargar's (2014) study of Nigerian-initiated Pentecostal/ Charismatic churches in the Czech Republic developed significant findings related to cross-cultural leadership. This study involved three churches led by pastors who were either born in Nigeria or born to Nigerian parents within the Czech Republic. Key attributes that help drive or hinder cross-cultural leadership included knowledge/experience of the pastor, language and politics, worldview, worship style and the outreach policy of the church. As reported

by Bangar, (2014, p. 56) one of the pastors surveyed said that “de-emphasizing the features of one’s culture as much as possible can lead to disunity in the proclamation of the gospel.” An opposing view is that a combination of diverging and converging strategies can be used to pursue the mission of the Church in a cross-cultural setting. The potential impact of the diverging and converging strategies addresses how individuals might feel within the cultural context, leading to questions of how parishioners experience a cross-cultural environment (Banger, 2014).

One view is that “World missions should be multicultural because the gospel is for everyone and the Great Commission is for all believers” (Plueddemann, 2011, p.

397). For God’s people to work together effectively, implicit assumptions about leadership need to be made explicit for the sake of the gospel. It is noted that disagreements between ethnically-diverse neighbors often result from conflicting cultural values, underscoring the importance of understanding, integrating and reflecting upon the components of cross-cultural leadership as critical to the execution of leadership within the churches.

METHOD This study utilized an in-depth interview methodology to gather information from a diverse cross-section of individuals across the Northeast region of the United States.

Purposive judgment was used to select participants familiar with Church (churchgoers and pastors) as well as those who were not familiar with Church (non-churchgoers). The study was designed to accommodate up to 10 interviewees. The sample population and cross-section were chosen based on information gathered from a study by Lifeway Research wherein specific categories of interviewees included: (a) non-Christian church attendees, (b) Christian church attendees and (c) Christian leaders, including a pastor.

(Smietana, 2015). The main challenge driving this study is to assess the potential impact of diverging and converging strategies as perceived by parishioners and other individuals within a cross-cultural environment (Banger, 2014). An

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additional area of study examines the possible void in leadership described in the Pemberton (1986) study, as well as leadership characteristics necessary to have cross-culturalism within the Church.

Research Design

This study employs an in-depth interview methodology.

An interview analysis is used to describe the perception of the population segment related to the subject of cross-culturalism within the church. The grand research question central to this study (Creswell, 2014) is: How do people who are friendly to the gospel (churchgoers, evangelical Christians, and pastors) experience cross-culturalism in a church environment? The goal of this study was to generate a pattern that explains the phenomenon in a conceptual form (Hseih & Shannon, 2005). This section discusses what measures were taken to arrive at a qualitative insight into the perspective of present-day Christians as it relates to cross-cultural expression in the body of Christ.

Population and Sample

In the Smietana survey (2015), (a) 35% of churchgoers strongly disagree that their church needs to be more diverse, (b) 42% percent feel strongly their church was doing enough, (c) 71% of evangelicals are most likely to say their church is diverse enough and (d) among pastors, 86% percent have congregations with one predominant racial group.

This study includes a sampling of eight persons across the United States. Based on the Smietana (2015) survey of a disparate population, the interview group comprises: (a) non-Christian church attendees, (b) Christian church attendees and (c) Christian leaders (which include pastors).

Each group comprises one-third (33.3%) of the sample to ensure equal distribution across the sample size. Ages of participants range from 38 to 51. The selected region of the country is the Northeastern USA. Most participants are church attendees. However, to expand on those who are friendly to the gospel, one participant was included in the study that had a sporadic attendance. Demographic data on the participants in the study are given in Table 1. Names of the actual participant have been concealed by using aliases.

Graduate students were recruited from local universities to help with the execution of the interview process, specifically the alignment and cleanup of transcribed interviews.

The graduate students were paid a small sum not to exceed $35 for each interview completed. The selection process for the interviewers was confined to professionals with various backgrounds.

Cross-Culturalism and Christian Leadership Table 1: Demographic Description of the Sample Participant

Age

Sex

Ethnicity

Religious Affiliation

Category

Church Attendee

Fredrik

51

M

Evangelical

Administrator

Yes

Natalie

46

F

African American Hispanic

Evangelical

Financial Executive

Yes

Breen

46

M

Julian

46

Keiley

Evangelical

Media Executive

Yes

M

African American Caucasian

Evangelical

Pastor

Yes

38

F

Caucasian

Evangelical

Pastoral Care Worker

Yes

Fulk

48

M

Caucasian

Catholic

Financial Executive

Somewhat

Valeem

40

F

Caucasian

Evangelical

Parachurch Leader

Yes

Carlston

45

M

Caucasian

Evangelical

Financial Executive

Yes

Communications is a key to exploring the level of vision and direction in an organization (Downs, 1996). As such, the intent of the researcher is to use glean from a member satisfaction survey developed by Downs and Hazen (1973) to ascertain the level and satisfaction of communication practices within the organization. The review of Downs and Hazen (1973) work help inform some questions for the overall interview. Typical questions are: (a) If communications associated with membership function could be changed, what changes would you recommend? And (b) What is the extent to which the pastor knows and understands the problems faced by members? The interview questionnaire was developed with 25 questions to identify the effect of cross-cultural relations perception in the Church environment. Questions included: (a) How were you made aware of cross-culturalism within the Church and how do you recognize church leaders who promote cross-culturalism? (b) What actions should the Church require of leaders to ensure the continued growth of "cross-culturalism"? (c) How do you feel when you see actions taken that appear to be in opposition to cross-culturalism? And (d) How does a leader demonstrate his understanding of cross-cultural leadership? The interview questionnaires were administered to each participant within a specific timeframe. Data from the interviews were collected and analyzed for information and knowledge. A stratified sampling design of two different strata (individuals and organizations) was used in this study. Persons interviewed included males and females.

The organization was dependent upon the denomination or non-denomination of the participant church.

The number of participants was dependent upon saturation. Saturation can have an impact on the overall result of the analysis based on the size of the sample used in the analysis. A good method of knowing when to end analysis and cease additional data is to utilize careful documentation and memo writing through the data analysis process.

Additionally, searching for conflicting results, unexpected relationships and paradoxes lend credence to not ending the analysis (Padgett, 2008). Guest, Bunce and Johnson (2006) utilized a coding strategy to determine when saturation has occurred by first keeping capture of coding percentage throughout the coding process and then comparing the use of additional codes during coding of the remaining transcripts. As the use of new additional codes was utilized in the new interviews, it provided clear evidence that saturation was being reached. Though this approach is not a science and should be used with caution, it is a tool that researchers can use to determine saturation.

In one similar study, Keรงe (2015) used a sample size of 21 interviewees, while another comparable study by Vaught & Wittman (2011) had six participants in their sample size.

The range considered for this study was six to 21, with a final utilization of eight interviewees.

Procedure and Data Collection

The researcher was identified and the purpose and intent of the interview made known to all participants. A letter was forwarded to each participant from the selected population describing the interview and the process. Each candidate participant was asked to state their reasons for

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RUPERT A. HAYLES, JR. participating in the survey. As reported by Gall, Borg, and Gall, 1996) a conclusion can be reached that the response rate of participants increases if they are contacted prior to survey distribution.

Interviewees received a phone call and a cover letter requesting at the time for an interview meeting. One week prior to the due date, the participant was reminded of the date and time of the interview. The basis for the data collection included the following (a) it served to notify participants of the intent to interview and (b) it insured adequate follow-up after the actual interview.

All interviews were conducted with one, or a combination of four protocols: (a) participant’s home, (b) participant workplace, (c) researcher’s office or (d) via zoom video conferencing. Informed consent was provided explaining the reason for the research. Also, participants were given the opportunity to ask questions. The research literature on the topic was provided to the participants post the interview as reference material to bolster their understanding of the direction of the study.

From a review of the literature (Dowd, 1996; Hazen, 1973; Moodian, 1998; BarOn, 1997; Childress & Senn, 1995) a total of 25 questions was created. Interview questions were open-ended and designed in a manner to petition data and information regarding the participant’s experience in the church environment. The following sections, along with specific questions, were sought from participants: (a) demographic—background: how they were raised and the region of the country in which participant grew up (Moodian, 1998); (b) experience and knowledge prior to church engagement, addressing specifics regarding verbal and nonverbal communication (Dowd, 1996); (c) experience and knowledge during engagement with the church, addressing specifics regarding verbal and nonverbal communication (Smietana, 2015); (d) participant’s theological understanding of cross-cultural dynamics (Smietana, 2015), if any; (e) participant’s future outlook of cross culturalism within the church. Both verbal and non-verbal information has been captured. Specifically, any non-verbal cues observed during the interviews were recorded in writing by the researcher.

Interviews did not exceed 60 minutes.

Data Analysis

The content analysis method was used to analyze the data. Patton (2015) posits that content analysis refers to searching the text to tally recurring themes or words. Interview transcripts have been analyzed using a method recommended by Sandelowski (1986). The researcher re-

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viewed the recorded interviews to get a general sense of the whole. The recorded interviews then were transcribed and the transcription analyzed to determine possible themes among the sample segments. The transcription was read to determine key quotations and key codes related to each question. Coding methodology applied to the transcribed data included: (a) In vivo, (b) emotional (c) values and (d) descriptive coding strategies (Saldana, 2016).

The approach to the questions for the consisted of two major categories: (a) cross-culturalism and (b) leadership which are tied to the overall research question and a particular sub-question. The overall research question was "How do people who are friendly to the gospel (churchgoers, evangelical Christians, and pastors) experience cross-culturalism in a church environment. Further sub-question was "What role does leadership play in a church remaining mono-racial and/or ethnocentric? The researcher took the approach of including the questions in random order not specific to cross-culturalism nor leadership, but instead with the open questions decided to overlap questions on cross-culturalism with leadership. The resulting research question matrix is listed in Table 2.

Identified themes were identified and displayed in the findings section. Later, quoted themes were coded. Categories have been developed to place the coding of themes.

Analysis of the researcher and data gatherer was continued to formulate or determine any key output from the review of information.

Once a determination of the question was introduced and appropriate questions assigned to each of the particular major categories, the researcher was able to review each question and code. The most interesting thing emanating from the analysis is that there was no specific individual way to proceed with the analysis on a question by question analysis. A determination was soon discovered that questions conflate with other questions as it relates to coding and also as it relates to the alignment of the codes and frequency counts.

The researcher recognizing that the conflation does not result in individual specific codes and themes per question sought insight from other researchers. The concept is that coding can be objective. The utilization of multiple people compliments the analysis in that it creates different perspective relative to the data (Saldana, 2016). The view brought by other researcher indicates that a combination of insights from various sources to assist with the overall assessment Bracketing is a term created by Husserl (1913). It is meant to mean that throughout the analysis, the researcher

Cross-Culturalism and Christian Leadership Table 2: Categorization of Questions Question Research Question: How do people who are Research sub-question: What role does number friendly to the gospel (churchgoers, evangelical leadership play in a church remaining Christians and pastors) experience cross-cultur- monoracial and ethnocentric? alism in the church environment?

4, 8

How do you know that there are cross-culturalism and leadership associated with cross-culturalism existing within the Church?

Of the Churches that you have visited, have you seen things that contrary to cross-culturalism and if so, what and how is it expressed.

How do you feel when you see things that are done that seems to be contrary to cross-culturalism?

How do you assess whether the church is an exemplar in the realm of cross-cultural leadership?

What is your definition of cross-cultural leadership?

13, 16

How do you define a church that is truly cross-cultural?

What is your definition of leadership?

17, 19

Where, do you think, is the origin of this leader's effort towards cross-cultural leadership?

5, 11 6, 12 7, 14 10, 15

18, 22 20, 9 21

What evidence, observation do you have of cross-cultural leadership within the Church?

How do you feel why a church is not cross-cultural? What actions do the Church requires of those that he leads to ensure cross "culturalism" is on a continuum?

Given the definition of culture what comes to your What is your relationship with the leader of mind from your experience in Churches the church?

How has the leader personally demonstrate his understanding of cross-cultural leadership?

What actions have the leader taken to advance cross Utilizing the definition of leadership in, “culturalism�? identify what type of key leader is in your Church What is the most critical competency needed for Should cross-cultural leadership be specific cross-culturalism? to the United States, or should it extend across the globe?

How is the communication of the need for cross-culturalism addressed in the Church?

23

How do you feel about the Church in general from a cross-cultural context?

24

Identify actions should the church should do less of as it relates to cross-cultural leadership.

25

Any other comment regarding this culture based on the study being conducted?

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RUPERT A. HAYLES, JR. brackets by taking the phenomena for in-depth inspection by taking it apart and dissecting it so that it can be defined and analyzed. As this analysis was being formed utilizing bracketing and insights from another researcher, the resulting table emerged with questions categorized and aligned with specific overall themes. This can be seen in Table 3.

Table 3. Interview Questions Related to Major Themes Primary Research Question: How do people who are friendly to the gospel (churchgoers, evangelical Christians, and pastors) experience cross-culturalism in a church environment?

Secondary Research Question: What role does leadership play in a church remaining monoracial and ethnocentric?

FINDINGS The overall approach to the findings required the researcher to approach the questions with two, particularly broad categories. These two categories are (a) cross-culturalism and (b) leadership which are tied to the overall research question and a particular sub-question. Four dominant themes, hereafter mentioned as tower of strength, emerged from the study: diversity and people who are different than who I am, weird and discomforted, deliberateness and intentionality and cross-culturalism is intertwined and begins with leadership.

Themes Derived from Coding Process The first category—diversity and people who are different than who I am—was broken down into the following codes: indicators (79), inclusive of mono-racial (20) and ethnocentric (7) and definition (14). The codes that were synthesized into this category were specific to cross-culturalism focused on the first primary research question. This gave credence to the fact that to speak of cross-culturalism speaks to understanding if there are mono-racial or ethnocentricity with the experienced environment. It also indicates that there are indicators of the presence of cross-culturalism and also to focus on cross-culturalism there must be a fundamental agreement that foundational definition must be in place.

The second category—weird and discomforted—was broken down into the following codes: communicated (16) and feelings (46). This is another focus related to the primary research question focus on cross-culturalism, but helps to ensure that in order to have cross-culturalism, there must be

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some basis to understand how is that communicated or signaled within the environment and specifically the feelings that church attenders internalize as they experience or does not experience cross-culturalism within the church context.

The third category—deliberateness and intentional— was broken down into the following codes: facilitators (41), barriers (49) and definition (18). This addressed the primary research question focused on cross-culturalism. The evaluation of the interviews indicates that to be genuinely cross-cultural, there needs to be deliberateness and intentionality in action which is executed through specific facilitation, elimination or recognition of barriers and a firm understanding of the definition of cross-culturalism.

The fourth category—cross-culturalism is intertwined with leadership—was broken down into the following codes: feelings about leadership (46), expectations (37), attributes, (39), behaviors (54), modeling (21) and other (4). This fourth theme is specific to the secondary research question that focused on leadership. There is specific coding structure regarding how participants felt about leadership with the cross-cultural context and the expectations that are required to ensure cross-culturalism remains a foundation.

Additionally, it is important to note that emanating from the findings is that some attributes and behaviors are consistent with cross-cultural churches that are observed and so the consistency of modeling within this environment.

Question 1 through 3 These questions were demographical and foundational in nature. The questions add color to the overall study, however, through the analysis, they were determined not to serve the purpose of adding to the analysis. Question 1 stated: How long have you been at or been involved in your church?

Question 2 stated: Is there a reason why you don't attend?

Question 3: stated: If you do not attend church, does any of the reason for not attending church has to do with the lack of cross-culturalism? The responses to these questions would form the basis of some analysis that relevant to understanding the participant’s church attendance history and the relationship to cross-culturalism and Christian leadership.

Question 4 through 25 The conflation of the topic of leadership and cross-culturalism and the coding methodology implemented before individualized coding strategies led to the incorporation of questions three through 25. Given the generations of questions around this topic, the researcher took the approach of

Cross-Culturalism and Christian Leadership Table 3: Interview Questions Related to Major Themes MAJOR THEMES

Diversity and People Different that Who I am

Weird and Discomforted

Deliberateness and Intentional

Cross Culturalism is intertwined and begins with Leadership.

CODES WITH FREQUENCY COUNTS

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Indicators (79) Inclusive of Mono-racial (20) and Ethnocentric (7)

4. How do you know that there are cross-culturalism and leadership associated with cross-culturalism existing within the Church?

8. How do you assess whether the church is an exemplar in the realm of cross-cultural leadership?

13. How do you define a church that is truly cross-cultural?

Definitions (14) Communicated (16) Feeling (46)

Facilitators (41)

13. How do you define a church that is truly cross-cultural?

10. Given the definition of culture what comes to your mind from your experience in Churches 21. How is the communication of the need for cross-culturalism addressed in the Church?

6. How do you feel when you see things that are done that seems to be contrary to cross-culturalism?

7. How do you feel why a church is not cross-cultural?

23. How do you feel about the Church in general from a cross-cultural context?

4. How do you know that there are cross-culturalism and leadership associated with cross-culturalism existing within the Church?

20. What is the most critical competency needed for cross-culturalism

Barriers (49)

5. Of the Churches that you have visited, have you seen things that contrary to cross-culturalism and if so, what and how is it expressed.

24. Identify actions should the church should do less of as it relates to cross-cultural leadership.

Definition (18)

11. What is your definition of cross-cultural leadership?

16. What is your definition of leadership?

22. Utilizing the definition of leadership in, identify what type of key leader is in your Church

Feeling about leadership (46)

15. What is your relationship with the leader of the church?

Expectations (37)

14. What actions do the Church requires of those that he leads to ensure cross “culturalism” is on a continuum?

20. What is the most critical competency needed for cross-culturalism?

Attributes (39)

17. Where, do you think, is the origin of this leader’s effort towards cross-cultural leadership?

18. What actions have the leader taken to advance cross “culturalism”?

20. What is the most critical competency needed for cross-culturalism?

Behaviors (54)

12. What evidence, observation do you have of cross-cultural leadership within the Church

Modeling (21)

9. Should cross-cultural leadership be specific to the United States, or should it extend across the globe?

19. How has the leader personally demonstrate his understanding of cross-cultural leadership?

18. What actions have the leader taken to advance cross “culturalism”?

Other (4)

25. Any other comment regarding this culture based on the study being conducted?

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RUPERT A. HAYLES, JR. grouping questions specific to the two significant research questions as displayed in Table 3. The results below relating to the major themes is that all questions were addressed in particular capture of the four tower of strength themes.

TOWER OF STRENGTH 1: DIVERSITY AND PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT THAN WHO I AM The questions specific to the sample were fourfold: (a) question 4, how do you know that there are cross-culturalism and leadership associated with cross-culturalism existing within the church, (b) question 8, how do you assess whether the church is an exemplar in the realm of cross-cultural leadership, (d) question 10, given the definition of culture what comes to your mind from your experience in Churches and (c) question 13, how do you define a church that is truly cross-cultural? This inquiry resulted in specific reflective thoughts consistent with the codes. The result of the reflection yielded five themes: indication of cross-culturalism, cross-culturalism inclusive of mono-racial and ethnocentricity and defining cross-culturalism (see Table 4).

Table 4: Diversity and Seeing Different People Frequency Theme 79

Indications of cross-culturalism

20

Cross-culturalism and mono-racial

7

Cross-culturalism and ethnocentricity

14

Towards defining cross-culturalism

Indications Of Cross Culturalism There are primary indicators that exist within the realm of cross-culturalism. These indicators vary by interview participants. Fredrik indicated that: You have people from different cultures that are represented in the church, not just one culture. Not only limited, but they become very subjected, their outlook of the world and their interaction with the world, and that seems to become constricted to them. I'd rather diversity when you can garner different things from different groups and maximize your potential.

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In similar vein Breen gave a simple statement: I think the first thing is that there're people there that don't look like you."

Carlston added: I moved to New York City after college. I grew up in Philadelphia, and there's very much a divide between white and black. There's a lot of cultures and steeped history there as to why it is that way, but it's stark. Current church bends younger, but it has a wide range. I liken it to New York, because it's not even like we want to be cross-cultural, so Pastor had the vision to be cross-cultural. I'm not sure if when he speaks it, he's trying to convince people that he wants it. New York is a unique place in the world. You have that ability to be cross-cultural without even trying.

He's attracted largely African Americans. I was there, and I enjoyed it. I wanted it to be cross-cultural too. He's got a good message. His message was not tied to any culture.

Probably at certain churches, they attract certain cultures or certain parts of the culture, just in the way they present, just in the style. See, feel, experience, interact. It's your interactions too with people and how they interact with you, their willingness to interact there. To me, I'm seeing it in a big observance kind of way and also in the interactions."

Breen gave depth to his simple statement by elaborating on the impact of cross-culturalism and the indicators to that of an international organization: I think the other thing is you have people different cultures who represent themselves in their clothing, their dress, attire and their speech and their language and their dialect. Looking at a cross-cultural church, you're not just hearing an Afrocentric tone; you're hearing tones from the world. I think the beautiful thing about knowing a church that is cross-cultural is representing what we call the United Nations. You go into the United Nations you should feel the presence of different cultures and nationalities that are respected in one place. That's how I identify them in a different place, different people that requires a different response.

Julian agrees and frames the indicator's relation to diversity: I think the ways I know cross-culturalism exists in our church is number one, the reality of having somewhere between 60 to 80 different people from different countries of origin. Just maybe within the last six months, one time the pastor asked people where they were born. I think it was almost 80 different countries represented just in one weekend.

So I think, first of all, the definition of the people that are physically there. Number two, there's a diversity of leadership. There's diversity of people up front. So people that are involved in all the different aspects of public ministry are

RUPERT A. HAYLES, JR. reaches out and is able to communicate, fellowship and be able to develop a moment in space and time for us to grow together with people who don't look like the skin I live in.

Natalie stated: I define a church that is truly cross-cultural, again, by its membership being diverse, its leadership being diverse, and worship and preaching being cross-culturally inclusive.

There is diversity in the congregation, diversity in the leadership, and the acceptance of the different cultures and the different perspectives. For instance, I'm from Haiti, so my culture, at our church right now we use flags to tell people this is where to go. In my culture, it's kind of taboo to use those types of flags because it signifies the worship of something other than God or it's associated with.

TOWER OF STRENGTH 2: WEIRD AND DISCOMFORTED The questions specific to the sample were fourfold (a) question 6, how do you feel when you see things that are done that seems to be contrary to cross-culturalism? (b) question 7, how do you feel why a church is not cross-cultural (c) question 21, how is the communication of the need for cross-culturalism addressed in the Church, and (d) question 23, how do you feel about the Church in general from a cross-cultural context? This inquiry resulted in specific reflective thoughts consistent with the codes. The result of the reflection yielded two themes: feelings in the minds of cross-culturalism and communication as a key component of cross-culturalism (see Table 5).

Table 5: A Feeling of Weirdness and Discomfort Frequency Theme 46 Feelings in the midst of cross-culturalism 16 Communication is key

Feelings In The Midst Of Cross Culturalism Participants had strong opinions regarding the concept of cross-culturalism and how they feel in churches that were either actively cross-cultural or those that are not. When inquired as to how the participant felt about cross-culturalism, a significant theme of negative emotions was expressed if the congregation was not cross-cultural. Fredrik indicated: It kind of upsets me, because I think that you are, as an entity or as an individual or an organization, that you are not

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making the best out of the opportunity of maximizing all the benefits that cross-culturalism represents and that it can represent. I'm trying to figure out how I feel when I see that.

It's almost like I'd rather not be there. That's how I kind of feel. Because I think at the bottom of it all I'm pretty sure that there's going to be a lack of objectivity, and there's going to be this sense of where we know what is right and we know what the best thing is and they don't.

Keiley stated: I guess it makes me sad because we are – it's great when we can learn from each other and not just be in our silos of culturalism. Because I don't think that's the way God meant it to be. I think he meant for us to get to know other cultures and learn from each other and work together and cross those cultural divides.

Fredrik went further and expressed: I think I don't feel right because if that mono-racial group, non-diverse group tends to be limiting, and I don't want to be limited. Not only limited, but they become very subjected, their outlook of the world and their interaction with the world, and that seems to become constricted to them. I'd rather diversity when you can garner different things from different groups and maximize your potential.

Natalie expressed concern: As a leader of the church that I belong to, it kind of makes me feel what other people of the same background as I am would feel or would think about this church or maybe someone who is visiting for the first time or who is not really a member, but has visited a couple of times, but doesn't really know much about the church. It kind of raises questions. I feel uncomfortable because of my background. The uncomfortableness is directly in response to the flag example. In other instances I may feel angry. If it's something that I view it as not being Christ-centeredOf course. Not the uncomfortableness, because I expect to be uncomfortable at times, because if I feel that, we should be embracing other cultures through missions and we're not following that, then to me that's not biblically accurate.

Feelings towards cross-culturalism and if it didn't exist created discomfort and the respondent being uncomfortable in a non-cross cultural environment. The discomfort is only possible if the respondents are self-aware enough to understand the concept and connect the concept to their environment. Carlston felt that it was unnecessary even to mention the concept of cross-culturalism, but just to allow it to occur naturally. Carlston stated: I feel like the message of Jesus Christ spans all cultures. So to be too culturally keyed in on one area, I think it's unneces-

Cross-Culturalism and Christian Leadership sary. I don't see why there should be any cultural divide. We all believe the same thing, and there really shouldn't be those barriers, especially within the church. You bring your culture outside of church into church.

Breen summarized the feeling: I think he meant for us to get to know other cultures and learn from each other and work together and cross those cultural divides. So we had that experience with cross-culturalism, and then when you see things that are not as comfortable for one race as to the other race it did bring attention to something that's wrong, where it puts me into the place where I am now where I'm concerned about humanity.

I don't think there's a certain level of discomfort if it's not pointed directly at me. I feel sensitive to that person's needs.

Communication Is Key How the Church expresses and communicates the concept of cross-culturalism impacts the experience that congregants have. The communication is key. Fulk questioned whether it matters or not how it is communicated or whether it does: Well obviously, there's a need. You need inclusiveness. You need everyone to be playing well together. I'm not sure how they do it. I'm not sure what they do so if they are looking at say they are a company, say they're a company and are looking at a target market or an audience, they need to increase their number of Parishioners or their number of fees, they come into the church office or how do they do that? Does it matter who is giving it to them? Not really. I don't know if that's how they work.

Fredrik supported the concept of specific communication and he indicated: The leadership, from the primary leader to all the other different tiers of the leadership, they are reminded that their presentation and the content of their speech should embrace diversity. So it's communicated via sermons. Whenever there is any speaking opportunity, it's inculcated in there, where they let folks know that they don't do it specifically, but we avoid things in our conversation or the way that we speak that would only be understood by just one culture. We say things in a way where all the different people that are there can understand what you're saying. That's kind of one way.

I'm not too sure after that.

Keiley indicated a kind of subtleness to how the concept is communicated: I would say – I would say it's fair, because we – you know, we have professed every year, and we definitely highlight the need for praying for the nations. And so it's there. Per-

haps it could be more. I wouldn't know in what way. Events.

Events, morning services. You know, I guess I would – I'm gonna change that answer. It's more than fair. The communication is there because it's during services. Pastor Johnson, he especially encourages the staff to have their passports ready and to be – think internationally, thinks worldwide, versus just locally.

Julian concurred: I think in our church, it's just a common thread and consistent drumbeat, not in an excessive way, at least for me.

TOWER OF STRENGTH 3: DELIBERATENESS AND INTENTIONAL The questions specific to the sample were fivefold: (a) question 4, how do you know that there are cross culturalism and leadership associated with cross culturalism existing within the church, (b) question 5, of the Churches that you have visited, have you seen things that contrary to cross culturalism and if so, what and how is it expressed (c) question 11, what is your definition of cross cultural leadership, (d) question 20, Given the definition of culture what comes to your mind from your experience in Churches What is the most critical competency needed for cross culturalism and (e) question 24, Identify actions should the church should do less of as it relates to cross cultural leadership. This inquiry resulted in specific reflective thoughts consistent with the codes. The result of the reflection yielded three themes: keys to facilitating cross-culturalism, acknowledging barriers to cross-culturalism in the environment and defining cross-culturalism in execution (see Table 6).

Table 6: Being Deliberate in Actions Frequency Theme 41 Keys to facilitating cross-culturalism 49 Acknowledging barriers to the environment 18 Defining cross-culturalism in execution of life

Keys to Facilitating Cross Culturalism To have an environment of cross-culturalism, certain expressions are necessary. Someone decides to ensure that the concept of cross-culturalism is actualized and becomes consistent with the organizational values. The participants

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RUPERT A. HAYLES, JR.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rupert A. Hayles, Jr. is the President of The Center for Emotional and Spiritual Development and Executive Pastor of TLCC.org. He is certified in many emotional intelligence instruments and has coached ordained as well as lay leaders.

He has over two decades of leadership experience with corporations such as Prudential Financial, Merck and Cytec Industries. Currently a Ph.D. candidate at Regent University focusing on Emotional Intelligence and Fruit of the Spirit, Rupert has a MBA from Wharton School and undergraduate degrees from Seton Hall University. His book includes, “The Church and Emotional Intelligence”, “The leader’s and student guide to the Church and Emotional Intelligence” and a secular business book- “Practical Strategy, Aligning Business with Information Technology”. He is an organizational strategist, author, lecturer and adjunct professor.

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