At the 39th General Council, the United Church committed to become an intercultural church. Intercultural ministries embrace diverse ways of being church together, including racial and ethnic minority congregations and ministries, Deaf ministries, and ministries with Aboriginal, francophone, or ethnic majority peoples.

 

United Church layperson Vilvan Gunasingham dreamt of creating a Tamil United Church. None of the existing Tamil congregations in Toronto, Ontario, had the mission and outreach focus characteristic of the United Church. When Vilvan demonstrated in support of Tamil people in Sri Lanka in downtown Toronto in the summer of 2009, he met the Rev. Vicki Obedkoff and layperson Allan Parker, who both were active on the Justice and Global Issues team of Toronto Southeast Presbytery. The strangers connected because of Vilvan’s dream, and that meeting was the beginning that led to the formation of the Tamil United Church Mission in 2011.

 

Though all the congregation members are immigrants to Canada, and thus need help to link with the cultures of the country and the United Church, many have family histories of deep and long-standing Christian faith. Many come from the Methodist tradition and feel comfortable with United Church worship.

 

Intercultural ministry helps the whole United Church as we learn from one another and help the Spirit flow among us.

 

*Image, Rev. Milton Solomon. Courtesy of Tamil United Church, http://tamilunitedchurch.com/

 

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