Transforming ministry partnership in America: The Foursquare Church of the USA and immigrant pastors.

摘要

America is a land populated by immigrants from the nations of the world. In recent years, an increasing number of immigrants to the US are Christian pastors who seek to plant churches in partnership with the Foursquare Church of the USA. Some immigrant pastors arrive to the US having escaped the storms of persecution, while others carry the flame of revival from the new centers of global Christianity. While it would seem that immigrant pastors would fit in with the Foursquare Church, there exists a significant divide between the church and the immigrant pastors, a divide characterized by a distinctive lack of partnership.;This study examines the growing divide and hindrances to partnership, then proposes strategies to unite the Foursquare Church in the USA. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with key Foursquare leaders in the USA as well as Foursquare immigrant pastors now in the USA. Grounded theory was utilized and revealing theories emerged regarding the divide between the Foursquare Church of the USA and the immigrant pastors coming to partner with it. The results not only demonstrate this divide but also provide the keys to bridging this distance with a transformational ministry partnership. This partnership promises to see a renewed growth in churches in the USA as the established church adjusts both heart and structures to team up with the vibrant immigrant ministry force coming from the nations.