When attending Seminary, a constant thought that came to me while listening to theological lectures and studying our assigned reading was how to interpret the material into our mother tongue and how to transfer the ideas into concepts our people would comprehend.  I knew it would be a challenge to be faced when my husband and I returned to the local church.

One of the serious tasks for all teachers, preachers and pastors is to correctly apply principles expressed in the language and cultures of the Bible to our contemporary cultures.  This exercise requires us to discern which of our cultural practices may not be ethically Christian.

Working with a Samoan-Tokelauen church in the United States we are face the additional challenges of cross-cultural communication.  Which elements of our church life are genuinely Christian and Adventist and which are "missionary" or merely American- or Samoan-Adventist?  And how do we hold together a congregation that is itself mixed culturally?  We have a large proportion of church members who speak Samoan and understand the culture well and a larger proportion who are American-raised and understand the Samoan language and culture to some extent.

The younger generation, most of whom are American-born or raised, understand the language of their parents but speak English more fluently.  The difference in language orientation is evident during the Sabbath services.  The entire church meets together for the first part of Sabbath School, which is held in Samoan.  When the children and youth separate for their classes they are taught in English, though there is sometimes pressure from older members for the senior youth to be taught in Samoan.  

For the divine service the members less fluent in Samoan respectfully tolerate listening to a mostly Samoan-language, traditional style of worship where the elders lead and perform most of the liturgy.  

Before I preached my first sermon at our church, I was well-prompted to use as much English as Samoan by my Youth Sabbath School Class.  They excitedly asked if I was going to preach in English.  I made sure to apologize to the adults for using so much English, since I had heard that one of the criteria they had used while selecting their current pastor was whether or not he spoke Samoan in church.

In our culture, the afternoon youth meetings are well attended by the entire church family, including the adults.  But even though these services are led by the young people whose first language is English, the meetings are conducted in Samoan.  The quarterly business meetings are mostly conducted in Samoan and the young people do not seem to take an active interest in these meetings, perhaps partly due to language orientation as well as to cultural expectation.  In strict Samoan culture practice, the young are expected to be seen and not heard except when requested.  

To what extent the use of the Samoan language in church services affects the preservation of culture is not quite known.  As the saints gather each week, the church naturally becomes a center of social life.  Unconsciously perhaps, the church tends to serve as a surrogate for the 'absent' society of village and community in the islands where the chiefs reign (in support of the church, of course).

The Samoan chief system is a very orderly hierarchical social mechanism for conducting the affairs of the family, village and community.  The chief--usually of a very large extended family--is responsible for the welfare of the family unit.  In turn, his or her word is given such great respect that it is not questioned.  When the community chiefs gather in their council, the paramount chief assumes the leading role in decision making.

Interfacing the hierarchical chief system with the basic organizational structure of the Adventist church can present power issues that may be very painful.  If a high chief serves as a deacon and a non-titled person as the head elder of the church, the shift in leadership roles between the community and church could be a daily transition to be performed with earnest prayers for humility.

The church's primary mission is to live and teach the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Yet the people who come to worship present another need--to preserve their culture and teach it to their children.  "When in America, hold on to the culture of your ancestors" is the expectation of most parents for their children.

What culture to preserve becomes a problem when church members disagree on facets of the culture itself and its relevance to Christianity.  The missionaries to the Samoan islands and pioneers of the Samoa Mission prohibited Samoan dancing for church members.  Today, there is a movement among many here in the United States to practice Samoan and Tokelauen dancing as part of our cultural heritage.  There is heated argument from both sides of the debate.  

Another controversial area is "the fine mat."  These mats are an integral part of Samoan culture serving almost as ceremonial currency.  Any time there is a feast, a funeral, a wedding, the arrival of an important guest or departure of a community member, or any other occasion for making presentations to dignitaries or special people, fine mats are used.  These mats are woven from a local plant and are distinct from sitting mats or sleeping mats.  They can be small, quickly made and cheap or large, finely woven and very expensive.  A three-by-three foot mat, not so finely woven, might be worth ten dollars.  A fifteen-by-fifteen-foot, finely woven mat might be worth five thousand dollars.

Generally, the mats are not used for any utilitarian purpose.  They are not used as carpets or displayed as wall hangings.  They are stored away as family treasures.  But the Adventist Church in Samoa proscribed the giving and receiving of fine mats by its members.  Recently the executive committee of the Adventist Church in Samoa voted to remove the prohibition on fine mats, but it is still controversial.  In this country, many members quietly receive and give fine mats, but not publicly.

Undoubtedly, there are also differences in the practice of Adventism among in the Anglo churches throughout the United States.  This presents problems, especially for our young people and new members.  For instance, most churches no longer seem to need afternoon youth meetings, while the Samoan-Tokelauen churches cannot seem to thrive without the full Sabbath schedule of meetings.  Some churches engage in volleyball games on Sabbath and our young people find that an attractive Sabbath afternoon activity, to the consternation of their parents.  Make-up, movies, and jewelry are still controversial issues for our churches.  

To what extent, then, can the church become a social medium for enhancing our cultural practices?  As the Samoan-Tokelauen churches in the United States today face the problem of how to cope with the merging cultures of the island-raised members and the American-raised members, many solutions are being explored.

The recognition of the merging cultures in the Adventist churches of today is a beginning.  Acknowledging these different cultures and working through them seems to be less stressful for the members as well as the pastors than denying and suppressing their existence. Resorting to at least a bilingual and bicultural approach to preaching and teaching is inevitable in attempting to reach all members of the mixed-culture church.   Perhaps the church can sponsor Samoan and Tokelauen language, art and culture classes for the children and young people when feasible.  Parents fluent in the language and culture of origin may be encouraged to speak and teach it to their children on a daily basis.

A Samoan-Tokelauen church would not really be such if it were not for its cultural values where the community, Sabbath afternoon youth meetings, Sabbath potluck feasts, gifts, long funeral services and strong familial ties abide.  Yet, diligent prayers for the Holy Spirit’s guidance and wisdom in coping with the merging cultures while upholding biblical truths are essential in Adventism today.