Ho-Ming Tsui on Learning to Speak the Language of Love in a Multi-Generational, Multi-Lingual Church
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In this episode Jason talks with Ho-Ming Tsui, the Lead Pastor of Richmond Hill Christian Community Church — a large, multi-ethnic church outside of Toronto.
Throughout this interview Ho-Ming talks about the challenges of leading an immigrant church with multiple cultures coexisting. He discusses low context culture and high context culture, the difference between the two and the challenges each has for leadership.
He highlights the natural tendency for aging churches to grow upward and inward — upward in age and inward in focus. Instead, the church must go down and out — downward in age and outward in mission. Ho-Ming challenges the listener to reject comfort, embrace change and re-shift our ministry focus for the sake of the next generation.
The conversation also discusses how pastors are not called to lead churches that are just in the city, or against the city but, rather, for the city. This pandemic cannot shut down the church that exists for the benefit of the surrounding city; instead it may be the catalyst for a missional renaissance in the modern, multi-ethnic churches in our nation — a season of renewal rather than a season of reaction.
The dialogue takes a helpful dive into dealing with criticism as a young leader fighting for healthy change. Ho-Ming points out that “Leadership is about disappointing people at a rate they can take.” In other words, if you are not disappointing people, you are probably not leading. Given the impossibility of pleasing everybody, he discusses the importance of taking time to set-up healthy communication channels, listening well and spending the extra time required to fight for clarity.
The interview draws to a close with a reminder on the importance of emotional health as a leader during this season, and a word of encouragement for pastors as we pioneer ministry together in the middle of an on-going global pandemic.
Ho-Ming Tsui
Ho-Ming is the Lead Pastor of Richmond Hill Christian Community Church, a multi-generational, multi-lingual church just outside of Toronto. He completed his undergraduate degree at Queen’s University, and went onto graduate studies at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston. Ho-Ming speaks frequently at conferences in Toronto and has traveled to Asia, Europe and Africa to teach as well. He is an avid guitarist and loves all things sci-fi. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Katie, they have three children.
“If you’re not disappointing anyone, you’re probably not leading.”
Youtube Links
We have also posted some of our favourite sections of this interview on our Youtube Channel - here is one of them:
“One lesson I’ve learned about reaching different ethnicities is if you don’t speak their language, you can still speak the language of love.”
Have You Heard About the Explore Alpha Webinar?
On September 1st @10AM (PST), Jason Ballard will be hosting an Explore Alpha Webinar for those of you who are considering or interested in running Alpha Online at your church for the first time or are wanting to reboot your Alpha. This webinar is meant to help you envision how Alpha can fit within your church’s mission and calendar as you move into the fall. Jason will spend time talking about how Alpha has worked in creating a space that people are excited to bring their non-christian friends to and how it works in the online context. There will also be time for Q&A. You can register here today!
Coming Up Next
Darrell Johnson & Tim Hughes
Next week, we are going to be releasing a very special episode. Tim Hughes, author of Here I Am to Worship and lead pastor of St Luke's Gas Street Church recorded a conversation with Darrell Johnson centred around the book of Revelation. Darrell wrote a book called Discipleship on the Edge, a brilliant commentary on the book of Revelation. This conversation, as is the case with any dialogue involving Darrell Johnson, is profoundly clarifying and theologically rich.
