The Emergence Of A Multicultural Society

Ethnic diversity and the aging of Western societies have dramatically changed the potential composition of the church. Religious organizations will become ineffective if leaders conduct their pastoral care and evangelistic outreach in ways not relevant to the twenty-first century. For some denominations, the rapid pace of change seems to preclude long-range planning; crisis intervention has become both a personal and a church management strategy. However, demographic statistics that portend the shifts in population growth, composition, and geographic distribution provide a foundation for flexible and intelligent planning. Race and Ethnic Demographics Demographers project that the proportion of the United States population that is white and non-Hispanic will decline from the present 83 percent to 65 percent of the population by the year 2010. The 12 percent of the population that is African American will remain steady; Asian and other groups will increase to 5 percent of the popula…