The basic, pretty obvious answer is “not exclusively.” It’s multiethnic, yes. It’s from the future, certainly. But I just got a look at their elder team, and it looks very interesting:
Erwin McManus- Lead Navigator
Robert Martinez- Navigator, Finances, Global Adventures, Counseling
Enrique Vazquez- Finances
Rick Yamamoto- Imprint, Prayer
Greg SooHoo- Small Group
Eric Bryant- Navigator, heads up the Leadership Team
That’s three Hispanics (Erwin is Salvadoran descent, I believe) on this list, then Yamamoto is Japanese (right?), and SooHoo I believe is a Chinese name. Bryant is Apple Pie. I say all this in a good way! My hunch is that the Mosaic folks don’t necessarily preach directly about ethnic diversity, but rather embody a fullness of the kingdom which, frankly, should be emulated as a model of multiethnicity.
We need a deeper explanation. Where’s Jaime Puente when you really need him?
Scott said,
July 6, 2006 at 4:11 pm
I think the leadership of Mosaic is great, and I know many people that are members and really like the church. I also think if I had to chose between modeling & not speaking about ethnicity or speaking about ethnicity without any tangible modeling, I’d prefer the former. I agree that Mosaic is doing a good job at the former.
Having said that, I have questions about the model of what seems to be an intentional choice not to talk about race & ethnicity. I’m not sure if that is actually true, but my own experience has held that to be the case at Mosaic.
Again, I think they are doing amazing things with evangelism & the arts & engaging this generation. I’m just not sure a silent policy in LA – with all of the immigration (not just Hispanic) and ethnic diversity – is a great decision.