An Examination of the Influence of Attitudes Toward Linguistic Diversity and Immigration Status on the Pastor’s Engagement in Multicultural Ministry

With the growth in cultural diversity comes the opportunity to reach and minister to people from different cultural backgrounds. This diversity also highlights the challenges pastors and ministry leaders face in implementing efforts to reach people from diverse ethnic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. Additionally, the pastor and ministry leader must understand how socio-political, theological, and biblical factors influence opinion and interaction with culturally diverse people. This cultural and linguistic interaction requires cultural humility, “a process of reflection and lifelong inquiry, involves self-awareness of personal and cultural biases as well as awareness and sensitivity to significant cultural issues of others. Core to the process of cultural humility is the researcher’s deliberate reflection of her/his values and biases” (Yeager & Bauer-Wu, 2013, p. 8). Thus, pastors and ministry leaders must develop and demonstrate cultural humility to minister effectively in a diverse environment. To what extent attitudes towards linguistic diversity and immigration status influence how pastors and ministry leaders engage in multicultural ministries is necessary. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine to what extent, if any, attitudes towards linguistic diversity and immigration status influenced the ministry leader\u27s engagement in multicultural ministries by Southern Baptist leaders in Nashville, TN. The study used a correlational method to determine if a relationship existed between linguistic diversity, immigration status and the minister’s willingness to engage in multicultural ministry. The study did not find a correlation between the variables and the Southern Baptist ministry leader’s engagement in multicultural ministry