At its heart, cultural intelligence is the belief that every one of us has a primary cultural language that scripts our behavior and communication. But we can learn “new” languages. And the more languages we speak, the more effective our communication becomes.
Cultural Intelligence is about knowing the communication needs of the people we are in relationship with so that we can work together more authentically and effectively. To do this we have to be aware of our own invisible cultural scripts and know that our biases can blind us and prevent us from successfully engaging in cross-cultural relationships and ministry.
Our hope in the North Texas Conference is to deploy this team of gifted leaders to support congregational learning where there are cross cultural appointments, or where our neighbors or colleagues may speak a different cultural language. We believe cultural intelligence can help us communicate strategically and learn how to be in relationship. And when we are in relationship our differences will strengthen our common ministry.