By HUNN CHOI
Introduction
Polycentric leadership has emerged as one of the most effective approaches to addressing the complexity of today’s global church. Over the years, I have seen how monocentric leadership, whether hierarchical, personality-driven, or centralized, often struggles in multicultural and globalized settings. In contrast, polycentric leadership distributes authority, encourages collaboration, and promotes accountability across multiple centers of influence. It is both organizationally effective and biblically rooted, reflecting the shared discernment of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, the Pauline vision of the body of Christ, and the Trinitarian fellowship of God.
This case study reflects my ministry experience at All Nations United Methodist Church (ANUMC) in Lexington, Kentucky, where I served for many years. ANUMC is a multilingual, multi-congregational church consisting of four communities: an English-speaking, multi-ethnic group; a Korean congregation; a Hispanic congregation; and a bilingual French-English African congregation. Instead of functioning as four separate groups, ANUMC intentionally integrated governance, worship, fellowship, and mission into a unified community.
Although rooted in the United States, the lessons of ANUMC still influence my ministry in the Philippines today. Cultural values such as bayanihan (communal solidarity) and pakikipagkapwa (relational personhood) reflect the same polycentric tendencies and challenge deeply rooted monocentric systems, including dynastic politics, clerical monopolies, and patron–client hierarchies.
ANUMC: A Multicultural and Multilingual Church
From the beginning, ANUMC aimed to honor differences while promoting unity. Each congregation worshiped in its own language, but they also gathered regularly where multiple languages were intentionally included. I remember the beauty of hearing Scripture read in English, Korean, Spanish, and French; songs sung in various languages; and prayers spoken in different tongues. This practice of linguistic hospitality was not just practical. It was theological, reminding us that every culture has a place at God’s kingdom table.
Governance reflected this same dedication. Leaders from all four congregations worked together on a shared council, making decisions through dialogue and consensus. It was not always easy, but through those conversations, I saw a hermeneutical community forming — a group that listened and learned across cultures to understand God’s mission together.
Polycentric Leadership in Practice
In daily life, polycentric leadership was shown in simple yet meaningful ways. Fellowship was built through shared meals, prayer gatherings, and cultural events where trust grew across congregations. Ownership meant that no one saw themselves as a guest; each group took responsibility for the entire church’s mission. Even in practical tasks like cleaning or preparing worship spaces, every congregation took turns, demonstrating servant leadership together.
The core of our shared life was in multicultural worship, which we held eight to ten times a year. These gatherings were lively and intricate. We practiced linguistic hospitality by presenting scripture, prayers, and songs bilingually on stage, while other languages were heard through wireless headsets. Each lead pastor took turns preaching in English, delivering sermons influenced by their cultural backgrounds. For me, hearing the gospel proclaimed through African, Hispanic, Korean, and multiethnic voices was transformative; it broadened my own understanding of God’s Word.
Multicultural governance upheld these commitments, embedding diversity into the council and ensuring that authority was shared structurally rather than relying on personalities. In outreach, the church’s polycentric spirit came alive. When we organized community-wide events, all four congregations contributed from the start. I recall festivals where songs, testimonies, and food from every community fostered not compromise but genuine collaboration.
Theological Grounding
As I reflected on ANUMC’s life, I saw how its practices are deeply rooted in Scripture and theology. The early church in Acts discerned God’s will through shared dialogue; Paul described the church as one body with many essential members; and the Trinity itself exemplifies unity without eliminating diversity. These biblical images shape our shared experience of living.
I also recognized that several theological themes effectively reflected our experience. We often lived through what scholars call an Ephesian moment, when cultures are preserved yet transformed by God’s kingdom. We wrestled with ideas of cultural captivity and freedom, understanding that no single culture should dominate the gospel. We maintained a creative tension between diversity and unity, between present realities and future promises. During difficult times, we found communitas in liminality, where shared struggles deepened our solidarity and mission. And ANUMC truly became, for many, a home within a home—a place where migrants and locals could belong while still maintaining their own cultural identities.
In this way, polycentric leadership was not just an organizational model but a theological reality, embodying a mission “from everywhere to everyone.”
Polycentric Resonance in the Philippines
Now, as I serve in the Philippines, I see how these lessons resonate with me. Filipino cultural values already embody polycentric logic. Bayanihan — the practice of neighbors working together to carry a house — reflects shared responsibility and solidarity. Pakikipagkapwa — a relational understanding of personhood — grounds leadership in empathy and reciprocity.
At the same time, the church here faces monocentric pressures: political dynasties consolidating power, patron–client ties reinforcing inequality, and clerical monopolies limiting lay leadership. Polycentric leadership offers an alternative vision. I see it in grassroots fellowships, lay initiatives, and community efforts where authority is shared, accountability is mutual, and leadership is participatory. My time at ANUMC has helped me recognize and support these expressions in the Philippine context.
Outcomes and Implications
The results of polycentric leadership at ANUMC were clear. Shared authority promoted intercultural trust, boosting confidence even when conflicts occurred. The common council created a structural change, uniting multiple congregations into one shared body instead of keeping them separate.
Through multilingual worship and the practice of linguistic hospitality, we experienced spiritual growth, discovering that God’s Word was larger than any single culture. Translation and bilingual participation ensured that no voice was left out, making worship not only accessible but also a theological act of equality. Outreach demonstrated missional creativity, becoming more inclusive and authentic by incorporating many voices and shifting mission from “to” or “for” others toward a true “with.”
Communities also experienced cultural preservation and change: each maintained its identity while remaining open to transformation under God’s reign. In this process, the church gained freedom from cultural captivity, ensuring that no single culture dominated but that the whole reflected the fullness of God’s people. Finally, the shared challenges of sustaining this kind of community-generated communitas in liminality lead to a deeper solidarity that renews identity and mission together.
Conclusion
For me, All Nations United Methodist Church remains a vivid reminder that polycentric leadership is not only possible but also productive. Through fellowship, ownership, maintenance, multicultural worship, linguistic hospitality, multicultural governance, and outreach, ANUMC challenged monocentric patterns and embodied gospel-shaped collaboration.
Its story continues to influence my work in the Philippines, where bayanihan and pakikipagkapwa support polycentric leadership while challenging systems of domination. Together, these contexts point toward a future where leadership is not about hierarchy or personality but about shared discernment, mutual accountability, and relational trust.
In a world where monocentric models struggle with complexity, I believe polycentric leadership provides the church with a way forward: one that is biblically faithful, culturally resonant, and globally relevant.
Hunn Choi
HUNN CHOI is a dedicated missionary and retired United Methodist Church pastor currently leading the All Nations Mission Center. With extensive experience in congregational development and academia, he serves as an adjunct professor at several institutions, including Asbury Theological Seminary. His work focuses on multicultural hermeneutics and developing new forms of multicultural churches to embrace diversity in a globalized context.
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References
Castells, Manuel. The Rise of the Network Society. 2nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Choi, Hunn. A New Form of a Multicultural Church for Today’s Multilingual Context. Doctoral dissertation, Asbury Theological Seminary, 2023.
Choi, Hunn. Polycentric Leadership in the Philippine Context: An Anthropological, Theological, and Missiological Reflection. Unpublished manuscript, 2025.
Handley, Joseph W., Jr. Polycentric Mission Leadership: Toward a New Theoretical Model for Global Leadership. Fortress Press, 2023.
Heifetz, Ronald A. Leadership Without Easy Answers. Harvard University Press, 1994.
Photos courtesy of Hunn Choi.
