Three wise men, some shepherds from the fields, and two brand new parents, all crowding round a little manger where the Son of God is resting peacefully.
It’s a familiar picture to anyone who has a Nativity set at home, and it’s also a stark reminder of God’s heart to include everyone, from all nations and socio-economic positions, in the good news of the gospel, from the wise men in the East to the shepherds down the street!
Today, the Church still seeks to reflect God’s desire for all to worship Him, and for churches that are intentional about being intercultural, that comes with questions about what it means to make everyone feel welcomed and appreciated in church families, even though members have different cultural backgrounds.
At Thatcham Baptist Church in Berkshire, local believers have been learning how to organize their Christmas plans in a way that includes and celebrates the different cultures represented in their community.
Six years ago, the church’s congregation primarily consisted of white British and white South African believers, reflecting the area’s middle-class, affluent demographic, according to Sarah Wylie, Thatcham’s church coordinator.
Things have changed drastically since then. First, the church was delighted to be joined by families who had left Hong Kong. Then, in 2022, the Home Office began using a local hotel to accommodate people waiting for decisions on their asylum claims. It wasn’t long before some Christians who were housed there turned up at the church. Members of Thatcham Baptist spent the following months working out how to welcome and love the growing number of people seeking asylum who joined their community after coming to the UK from various countries, including Iran, Central America, and places in Africa.
This included plans for celebrations on Christmas Day in 2022. Thatcham Baptist members hosted a traditional English Christmas lunch, celebrating together with some of those seeking asylum, many of whom had come to the UK alone. Rather than the church footing the bill, a church member donated the costs for the ingredients and a gift card for each attendee.
One young man was so touched by the invitation that he remarked, “I just don’t understand why you’re doing this for us, because we can’t repay you.”
The church family endured another momentous shift when the hotel stopped housing people seeking asylum in December 2023, and those who were still waiting for their decisions were moved to other locations.
But God has continued to bring people from diverse backgrounds through the doors of Thatcham Baptist. Most recently, the congregation has been joined by a number of people from Ukraine, Nigeria, and Ghana, who’ve come to the UK on work visas.
Liz Spencer, a deacon at Thatcham Baptist, said the church once again embarked on a journey to integrate their new members: “[We were] trying to work out how we could make them feel welcome, and not just ‘you can come and fit in with us,’ but how we could go beyond that and make them feel they were contributing something to our community as well.”
With this desire in their hearts, the church has endeavoured to give members from global majority backgrounds opportunities for leadership this Christmas season. At a recent baptism on the first Sunday of Advent, five Nigerian members led worship. At the church’s upcoming family carol service, which a couple with Nigerian and Ghanaian heritage will lead along with others, they plan to infuse an ‘African flavour,’ which will involve listening to a Yoruba worship song, and Bible readings in Twi, Afrikaans, Yoruba, and English.
Sarah said the church wants to host a space “where people can share and experience the cultures that we still consider are ‘new’ here.”
“We notice that people who are new(ish) in the UK are keen to respect the host nation and so don’t push themselves forward,” she added, saying she hopes that giving a couple with African heritage the chance to lead an entire service will encourage other African members to lead events in the future.
There are also plans to host a Christmas lunch for those who don’t have family members in the UK, where the church will come together, and people will bring what they can, including food from their own cultures.
Thatcham Baptist has had to learn a lot in its effort to be more intercultural, and for Sarah, one of the biggest lessons has been adopting a mindset of humility.
That’s involved listening to people from other backgrounds and asking questions, rather than telling, she said.
“I’ve been trying to learn to ask the second question,” she explained, saying that while it’s easy to ask a brother or sister one question you’re curious about, like ‘what does Christmas look like in Ghana?’ It’s important to dive deeper and ask the second question, like ‘why do you do it like that?’ or ‘what does that mean to you?’ instead of being quick to only focus on how we do things in the UK.
As Adam Martin, the international director of Intercultural Churches, said in his talk on “Leadership, Power and Cultural Humility” at Converge 2025, humility, which can be awkward and vulnerable at times, is also what can spark revival.
“Jesus taught us that this is how the kingdom comes. Not through power but through humility. Not through lording it over others, but by kneeling down beside them,” he said.
On January 17th 2026, Thatcham Baptist is hosting an Intercultural Churches workshop and celebration of worship across cultures, in partnership with Songs2Serve. You can sign up for the events here and here.
