What do we mean by 'intercultural church ministry'? What steps can churches make to move from being 'mono-cultural' towards being 'inter-cultural'?

Each group of people shares a pattern of doing things: its culture. As cultures from around the world mix more and more, communities can be mono-cultural or multi-cultural.

When we read about the great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue in Revelation 7:9, we see an 'inter-cultural' community united around the throne.

In order for churches to reflect this vision of heaven, they need to move from mono- or multi-cultural to inter-cultural: welcoming people from all cultures, being blessed by then, and blessing them.

In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director) is joined by Justin Gill (FIEC's Intercultural Ministry Advisor) and Tim (a form FIEC pastor with experience in intercultural ministry) to explore what intercultural church is and how we can make steps towards being more intercultural in our churches.

Show notes

• FIEC Leaders' Confernece 2025 (fiec.org.uk)
• Reflecting Heaven: building an intercultural church where you are (fiec.org.uk)

About In:Dependence: In:Dependence is FIEC’s official podcast, where you’ll hear conversations on topics for church leaders.

About FIEC: We are ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠a fellowship of Independent churches⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with members of the family across England, Scotland and Wales. Our mission is to see those Independent churches working together with a big vision: to reach Britain for Christ.

00:00 - Introduction

01:09 - What do we mean by "culture"?

05:58 - Is intercultural church a biblical idea?

11:30 - How do we recognise the culture of our community?

14:30 - Recognising cultural blind spots

16:22 - Evolving a church culture

23:31 - How do we move from mono-culture to inter-culture?

30:49 - Reflecting Heaven, November 2025