About the event
2023 JaffrayAng Symposium
Beyond Culture:
Kingdom Values in a Fractured World
As Canada continues to navigate what it means to be an increasingly diverse country, the Church needs to intentionally work at embracing the nuances of the diversity of cultures in our midst. The racial conflicts surfacing in our country highlight the fact that our traditional approaches of hospitality and multiculturalism is not enough. Christians have a call to live counter culturally and reflect God’s love to the world around us. This Symposium will examine how the Church can embrace Kingdom values to move beyond our distinct cultures towards becoming a family in Christ by engaging a variety of theological and strategic issues associated with creating, sustaining and replicating intercultural churches which reflect Kingdom values.
2021 JaffrayAng Symposium
Beyond Multiculturalism: Intentional Intercultural Congregations in a Globalizing and Hybridizing World
How does the intercultural church challenge existing models of ministry that tend to be monocultural and ethnocentric?
What kinds of shifts do the historic euro-Canadian churches need to make in the face of declining church attendance?
What does accepting and understanding each other look like in the church given the kaleidoscope that makes up the Canadian mosaic?
Who are some of the people and churches that are developing uniquely Canadian expressions of the intercultural church?
What does sharing church leadership entail in an intercultural church?
What relevance does the intercultural church have for a society that is fractured and segregated?
Event Booklet
2019 JaffrayAng Symposium
The Canadian landscape continues to change as we welcome people from every corner of the world. As an immigrant nation, the church in Canada has historically been on the forefront of assisting new Canadians to settle in this country. But is that enough? Perhaps it is time for the local church to explore what it means to move beyond hospitality into community. Working to understand each other’s issues and challenges in a diverse society, and embracing each other – New Canadians and Old Canadians alike, working together as a community of faith enables us to be a model of unity in our integrated and multicultural nation.
The 2019 JaffrayAng Symposium explored a variety of themes around migration, multiculturalism, and the role of the church in moving beyond hospitality. The papers from the symposium have been published by Tyndale Academic Press. You can get a copy of the book here.
Beyond Hospitality: Migration, Multiculturalism, and the Church
“Beyond Hospitality explores the richness that cultural diversity brings to our communities and our churches. It examines the implications of moving beyond simply being content with being a welcoming nation and a hospitable church. And asks the church, the people of God, to be intentional about addressing the dehumanizing and often painful ways in which we tend to interact with the Other so that we might join God on mission to make a difference in our nation. I trust that as your read these chapters, they will provide you with confidence to intentionally engage your community as part of God’s ongoing transforming work in the lives of people—regardless of culture.”
Dr. Charles Cook, Beyond Hospitality