One Body in Christ: A Strategic Planned Changed Project in the Church Assembly in Toronto Transitioning an Ethnic Church Into a Missional Multi-Ethnic Church Through the Adoption of the Local Majority Official Language in the Sunday Service

Abstract

This study is a project of planned change transitioning the language employed in the Sunday service of the Church Assembly in Toronto from Chinese to English. The purpose of the change is to create an environment that can retain our next generation and attract other ethnic groups in our neighbourhood to attend our meetings. The long-term goal, of which this project is a part, is to become a missional church. This involves transforming a mono-ethnic congregation into a multi-ethnic congregation following John Kotter's eight-stage model of change, reduced to four phases (preparation, implementation, consolidation, and conclusion) for this project. The preparation phase involved the young people leading Sunday worship in English. The implementation phase was guided by a one-year plan during which the use of the Chinese language in the Sunday service was gradually reduced. During this time, data was gathered using narrative research, appreciative inquiry, surveys, and interviews from the service groups and congregation. The short-term goal of language change was realized, greater openness to a multi-ethnic congregation was developed, and progress was made toward the long-term goal of becoming a more inclusive, open-minded, and missional community of faith.