How might God use the rediscovery of one’s cultural and ancestral roots to form a more faithful, whole-bodied expression of Christian worship and identity?

"You need to press into the fullness of who God made you to be."

In this episode, Kenny Wallace shares his experience as a Black man reclaiming the fullness of his identity, incorporating his heritage as a son of a Choctaw mother, a Pawnee father, and ancestors who endured enslavement. Kenny describes how recovering Indigenous ceremony, African American resilience, music, and embodied worship has become central to his Christian faith. Through stories of ancestral songs, naming traditions, feathers found on prayer walks, Revelation 21’s vision of worship from every nation, and his ministry at Mosaic Intercultural Church of London, Kenny paints a vivid picture of what it means to worship with all five senses—mind, body, culture, and community. His experience challenges the truncated, cerebral forms of Western Christianity and opens wide the invitation to worship with the fullness of who we are. Grounded in scripture, guided by Indigenous Christian elders, and animated by hope, Kenny offers a compelling witness to God’s reconciling work across cultures and generations.

Key Moments

1. “My ancestors were brought over from Benet and Togo as slaves to the US, and they were told they couldn’t speak their language or play their music. But still, in spite of all of that, there was a vibrant faith and hope that God would carry us through.”
2. “There was this resilience that came through the trials and tribulations of slavery—this connection to God and His power and His provision for us—that was passed down through the generations.”
3. “You need to press into the fullness of who God made you to be. You need to press into what it means to be an African American and a Choctaw man.”
4. “When I read Revelation 21 and understood what was going on, my heart was like: this is why You’ve written my story. This is why You’ve had me go through this path to understand who I am—because You want this in worship.”
5. “There are aspects within my culture, and within your culture, that need to be used to glorify God. You need me, and I need you.”
6. “Liturgy is the work of the people. If you come in here, you’re going to work—you’re going to worship the Lord with the fullness of who you are.”

About the Contributors

Kenny Wallace is a musician, dancer, worship leader, and scholar holding a doctorate in worship studies. A man of African American, Choctaw, and Pawnee heritage, Kenny’s ministry centers on embodied worship, intercultural reconciliation, and honoring Creator God through the fullness of cultural expression. He serves at Mosaic Intercultural Church of London in Ontario, teaches across North America, and brings gifts of song, dance, prayer, and artistry wherever he travels.

Nikki Toyama-Szeto is the Executive Director of Christians for Social Action and host of Credible Witness. She writes and speaks globally on justice, discipleship, and the credibility of Christian public witness. Through CSA, she equips leaders and communities to engage the world’s complexities with courage, humility, and hope.

Episode Outline

• Kenny recalls ancestral spirituals: “hold on just a little while longer… everything will be all right.”
• Embraces African American, Choctaw, and Pawnee ancestry as a gift from God, reclaiming what racism tried to erase.
• Explains “Creator” as Yahweh, the Supreme Being present in daily life and creation.
• Receives a prophetic call: “press into the fullness of who God made you to be.”
• Confronts resistance: “we’re just playing Indian… you need to go somewhere else.”
• Rooted in Christian Scripture as the guide for discerning what honors God.
• Guided by Indigenous Christian elders: Terry LeBlanc, Randy Woodley, Casey Church, Richard Twiss.
• Revelation 21 reshapes his theological imagination—every culture brings its required “tribute of worship” (doxa).
• Family moves from caution to pride, celebrating Kwanzaa and learning Indigenous practices.
• Embodied worship activates all five senses: sacred medicines, dance, movement, sight, sound, and smell.
• Critiques Western worship’s truncation toward “just the mind” and sermon-centered services.
• Describes Mosaic Intercultural Church’s full-participation liturgy: “the work of the people.”
• Demonstrates reconciliation embodied in his own ancestry—Choctaw slaveholding history reconciled with African American lineage.
• Witnesses cross-cultural joy: Dutch CRC congregants dancing behind him in worship.
• Ends with a Cherokee morning prayer-song inviting all creation into worship.

Indigenous Christian Worship And Cultural Identity

• Kenny recalls ancestral spirituals: “hold on just a little while longer… everything will be all right,” grounding worship in African American resilience.
• Describes reclaiming heritage as African American, Choctaw, and Pawnee as an act of Christian wholeness.
• Frames “Creator” as Yahweh present in creation, consistent with Indigenous Christian theology.
• Shares the prophetic call: “press into the fullness of who God made you to be.”

Reclaiming Heritage and Overcoming Resistance

• Confronts church pushback including the painful remark, “we’re just playing Indian… you need to go somewhere else.”
• Describes using Scripture as discernment while honoring Indigenous elders like Terry LeBlanc, Randy Woodley, Casey Church, and Richard Twiss.
• Highlights the importance of Christian contextualization for Indigenous believers.

Revelation 21 and Multicultural Christian Worship

• Revelation 21 reshapes his imagination: every culture brings its “tribute of worship” (doxa) into the New Jerusalem.
• Sees his cultural gifts as required offerings before God, not optional embellishments.
• Connects the vision of heaven with present-day worship: “Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.”

Embodied Worship and the Five Senses

• Calls out Western Christianity’s truncation of worship to “just the mind” and sermon-centered services.
• Teaches embodied worship through movement, dance, sight, smell, and sound, using sacred medicines such as sweetgrass and cedar.
• Notes that dance, spinning, and physical movement are biblical acts of worship.

Intercultural Church and Community Formation

• Mosaic Intercultural Church’s liturgy welcomes diverse peoples through participation, movement, and communal response.
• Emphasizes liturgy as “the work of the people,” not a performance.
• Describes post-service community life lasting hours as an extension of worship.

Reconciliation Through Ancestry and Story

• Reflects on the painful history of Choctaw slaveholding intersecting with his African American lineage.
• Embodies reconciliation within his own ancestry: “if it can happen in me… surely we can work this out.”
• Invites worship that honors God-given cultural fingerprints in every community.

Cross-Cultural Worship and Hope for the Church

• Dutch CRC leaders dance behind him during worship, offering a glimpse of Revelation’s multi-ethnic kingdom.
• Encourages Christians to discover how Creator placed gifts in their cultures, not just his.
• Closes with a Cherokee morning song inviting all creation into worship.

Indigenous Identity, Ancestral Resilience, and Christian Hope

“From the African American side, from the black side. My ancestors were brought over from Benin and Togo. Okay. as slaves. To the US and they were told that they can't speak their language, they can't play their music, they said, in order to be good Christians, you have to sit in the balcony and ask permission from the masses to go use the bathroom.

But still, in spite of all of that, there was a vibrant faith and hope that God would carry us through. That resilience that came through the, the trials and tribulations, that was slavery, right?

That connection to God and his power and his provision for us, that's something that was passed down through the generations.”

Cultural Restoration, Church Resistance, and the Cost of Wholeness

“And so I began doing what he said. He said, learn as much as possible. So I went to Uncle Google and Auntie YouTube and started learning as much as I could. and then eventually started, engaging with. People from various places… and what I found was that as I began to try to bring that into the church, initially there was. This question? what, what is happening? Oh, that's just Kenny's thing. Like he's…and one of the places where I served, I actually had someone tell me, we're just playing Indian. You need to go somewhere where we're not just playing Indian… And it was painful. It was like, I am not trust, just trying to play at something. Like I'm actually trying to teach you that there are aspects within my culture, but also within your culture that are, need to be used to glorify God and you need me and I need you.”

Revelation 21, Cultural Tribute, and Worship in the New Creation

“I was reading Revelation 21 and, it was describing the new Jerusalem, the Holy City, and it talked about the kings and the nations were bringing in their, in, in English it says their glories, but the word in Greek is doxa. And that's where we get doxology from. That's where we get worship from, right?

And so all of these different kings and nations were bringing in their worship. Which, if you're looking at it and you're just like, well, why didn't he just say, a king or whatever? No, these was a specific requirement that was brought in as tribute from every culture… my heart was like. This is why you've written my story. This is why you've had me go through this circuitous path to understanding who I am… because you want this in worship. You are requiring this from me.”

Production Credits

Credible Witness is brought to you by the Rethinking Church Initiative. Hosted by Nikki Toyama-Szeto. Produced by Mark Labberton, Sarey Martin Concepción, and Evan Rosa

Special Thanks to Our Partners for This Episode

Arrabon: Cultivating communities of healing and reconciliation. To learn more, visit arrabon.com

Missio Alliance: Providing a place for the Church to address today’s cultural challenges. To learn more, visit www.missioalliance.org

Credible Witness is brought to you by the Rethinking Church Initiative. Produced and edited by Mark Labberton, Sarey Martin Concepcion and Evan Rosa. Hosted by Nikki Toyama-Szeto.

Special thanks to Fuller Theological Seminary, Christians for Social Action, and to Brenda Salter McNeill, whose book inspired the title of the show.

For more information, visit CredibleWitness.us.