Intercultural Development
John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, emphasized the universal scope of God’s love and the call to “spread scriptural holiness throughout the land,” which includes cultivating empathy, understanding and justice across cultural boundaries.
Intercultural competence is not just a skill—it is a spiritual discipline that helps us live into the fullness of Christian community, where every person is valued as part of God’s diverse and beloved creation. By engaging tools like the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), we commit to growing in grace, dismantling barriers and embodying the inclusive love of Christ in our churches and communities.
The Horizon Texas Conference is dedicated to cultivating inclusive, culturally responsive leadership and laity. As part of this commitment, we have adopted the IDI—a research-based tool that helps individuals and groups assess and develop their intercultural competence. To date, both the Cabinet and the Board of Ordained Ministry have participated in guided IDI training, and we are now expanding this opportunity to congregations and leaders across our districts. This work is crucial in supporting our vision of a church that reflects the diversity of God’s kingdom and engages all people with grace and understanding. It is this vision that inspires our commitment to intercultural competence, sending out “followers of Jesus seeking the loving, just and free world God imagines for all people.”
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