"Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen."

The Sunday liturgy at St. James' Church in New Haven, Conn., begins as it does in most other Episcopal churches. But then: "Bendito sea Dios: Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo, ahora y por siempre. Amen." The monthly bilingual English and Spanish service is underway. Later it will feature a sermon translated line-by-line and the energetic reading of both the Nicene Creed and the Lord's Prayer in English and Spanish at the same time.

Many churches in North America find themselves in culturally mixed neighborhoods where this kind of flexibility in worship and community building is not only necessary but highly desirable. The United States, of course, has been ethnically, racially and culturally diverse for most of its history. But the unprecedented growth of Latin American and Asian immigration to our cities and coastal areas in recent decades has presented greater challenges to our parishes and dioceses for diversity in domestic mission and congregational development.

There are more than 200 Episcopal congregations in the nation which offer services in some other language besides English. Among the ethnic groups they reach are Central Americans, South Americans, West Indians, Vietnamese, Han Chinese, Laotian Hmongs, Sudanese, Liberians and Nigerians. A few intercultural churches in major cities such as New York and Los Angeles worship in two or more languages other than English.

But why would Episcopalians think it desirable to be involved with this kind of ministry? Aren't we an English-speaking church for English-speaking people?

"It begins with who Jesus is and his command to make the gospel available to everyone," said the Rev. Canon Carmen Guerrero, former missioner for multicultural ministries in the Diocese of Los Angeles and now the Jubilee officer at the Episcopal Church Center in New York. "Jesus died to bring the whole world to himself. In seeking to bring peoples of many cultures together in the church, we are a living answer to Jesus' prayer to the Father to 'be in complete unity to let the world know that you have sent me'."

In addition to that important theological motivation for intercultural ministry is the knowledge of who we really are as Episcopalians. The Episcopal Church in the United States is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion which is now predominantly non-white, and whose first language is not English. The fact that the great majority of Anglican bishops who went to the Lambeth Conference in 1998 were not from Europe and North America was a striking sign of the global character of our church.

Here in the United States there are now more church-savvy immigrants and refugees coming to live in this country than ever before. Many, especially from Africa and the West Indies, are already Anglicans and know the liturgy as well as we do.

But must we endure the confusion of different languages and cultures in one congregation? Becoming an intercultural church requires a great deal of flexibility. Language differences in mixed congregations are, in fact, only one focal point for potential controversy. Different peoples have varying views on the importance of punctuality, attendance at committee meetings, and appropriate ways of carrying on conversation. One Anglo-American lay leader of an intercultural church with many Hispanic and African members recalls getting himself into a great deal of hot water when he entered a meeting late and did not take the time to greet every person in the room. What he considered to be courteous and expedient was viewed as insulting by others.

But most leaders who are seriously involved in intercultural ministry agree that by and large the pitfalls of intercultural ministry are worth the risk. One important lesson to be learned in an attempt to bring ethnic groups together in fellowship is that there is holiness to be found in ambiguity as well as in order. In the Episcopal Church in the United States we can surely afford to risk a little disorderliness to find God in refreshing, unexpected ways in fellowship with internationals. And Jesus is overjoyed when we do. o

The Rev. Geoffrey A. Little is the priest-in-charge of St. James' Church in New Haven, Conn., and the director of the Church Mission Society, USA, also based in New Haven.