Pear Tree: The Journey of an Intercultural Church

This blog is going to take us through the journey of Pear Tree Church hub, a location of Derby City Church. Here, I’ll share some of the joys and challenges along the journey, and lessons learned about intercultural church. We are launching this new hub on Sunday, 12th April 2026. Pear Tree is a multicultural and multi-faith suburb of Derby; an incredible melting pot of cultures and nationalities. Our vision is to have a church that is intercultural from its inception, to serve a community where there is rich ethnic diversity. We want to demonstrate the unity in the diversity of the Kingdom, through our intercultural and intergenerational approach. We also look to do this through partnering with other churches in Pear Tree and Normanton, as we all seek to build the Kingdom. Derby City Church received a prophetic word in 2015 about digging wells in our city. Our prayer is that the Pear Tree church hub would be a wellspring of life to the local community.

It might be helpful, at this point, to define an intercultural church. I have the privilege of being part of the team at Intercultural Churches Home – Intercultural Churches. This is how we have described this vision:

“An intercultural church is not simply a church with a diverse congregation.  Intercultural Churches intentionally create spaces where everyone feels valued, building relationships across cultural boundaries and promoting unity. They reflect the vision of God’s kingdom, where every nation, tribe, and tongue come together to worship the King.

By embracing differences, intercultural churches become a vibrant expression of the body of Christ, united by faith and love. Whether through shared leadership, cultural celebrations, community outreach or mission, these churches strive to model the inclusivity and love found in the gospel”.

So, that’s what we are seeking to do, by taking a group of approximately 30 adults and 20 children from Derby City Church, a wonderfully diverse church of many nations and generations, and moving to a new location. We are hoping that we can start our journey with the intention of being intercultural from the get-go. We will eat together, and share food from our various home nations, we will sing intercultural worship songs in various languages. We will get used to hearing scripture read in many languages. We will hear from many different people on Sunday, who all reflect a different facet of God’s Kingdom. And we will learn together, what it means to truly embrace our differences, and celebrate our unity in diversity. If you’re along for the ride, we hope you find this blog an encouragement on your own intercultural journey.

Let’s go!