I think there's two answers (probably among many others, but these are the two I've gotten so far):

1) Part is the perspective of where you live and come from. I've spent so much time in wards so chock full of diversity that in many ways I don't at all relate to the worries of lack of diversity in the church. Now, going back to a ward in Utah or any lily-white American suburb quickly reminds me that most American church members live in such wards and have the experience you talk about and that I partially grew up with too, but the church is diversifying by sheer growth outside it's traditional demographic bounds. We may just have to expect that most wards on the Wasatch front are always gonna be pretty non-diverse, but that's as much a function of local demographics as anything. Go to a ward in Louisiana, or New York City, or Brazil or Hawaii, or London, or...well, you get my point...and it's a different picture altogether.

2) The culutural aspect is a bigger challenge though. We did come out of a certain cultural and historical background, and the culture of the church does and to some extent likely always will reflect that. But as we grow as a people, we need to constantly be re-considering the questions of where the dividing line between truth and culture is. But also - and I think this is something that people who take a hard line either way on these cultural issues generally fail to sufficiently consider - is the question of how to maintain our unity even as we grow. In a lot of ways I think the New Testament church and the struggles between Jewish and Greek/Gentile members provide a lot of lessons for us. Very similar issues were a *huge* struggle for the church in Paul and Peter's day and involved cultural customs as well as doctrinal issues and real struggles to define what those boundaries were. So the church has been here before. Granted it didn't work out so well last time, what with that whole apostasy thing and all :) But given we've got a promise things will work out better this time, and given that slow communication was a huge part of the problem back then which we've largely overcome these days, I like to think we can take some lessons from the early church, examine the world we live in today, always keep in mind Christ's admonition to be one along with his example of loving all regardless of where they came from, and find our solutions via the Spirit. How's that for a vacuous but hopeful message? :)

Uh - because everyone is uncomfortable with something they don't expect? It has nothing to do with color of skin or diversity of cultural background and everything to do with being thrown for a loop. The fact that everyone relaxed once they got used to the idea of the difference is a sign that there is nothing wrong with the "diversity acceptance level" of the ward.

Nice anecdote, Drew. In response to point 1 that Jamal makes: Utah wards maybe always be a certain way, but many people think this is an issue (or even a problem) because it's those whitebread Utahns who originated and continue to dictate ideas of sacrament acceptability and what is reverent or irreverent, etc. The guidelines are written by upper middle class white people and then applied to everywhere on earth, and that might be construed as detrimental to local culture, or unnecessary, or at the very least boring.

And I think to say that that's how God wants it is silly. The demographics are changing and it takes the church a while to catch up. A policy against, say, guitars and drums in sacrament meeting isn't an eternal principle, or even relevant to the gospel. It's more like a cultural habit, which later became policy based on someone's Puritan-influenced ideas of proper worship, perhaps coupled with distaste for the more boisterous worship styles of other churches.

Being a boring whitebread Mormon myself, this isn't a big issue for me, but I can certainly see where people who feel strongly about it are coming from. Our meetings tend to be austere, to say the least. I definitely wouldn't mind a change of pace.

Just for clarification, this ward was not in Utah. It was a Texas ward in which I had this experience. I have attended wards in Texas, California, Tennessee and North Carolina and have had similar experiences.

SilverRain,

For me, it has a lot to do with ethnicity and culture. I think one of the primary reasons many members are uncomfortable when experiencing cultural differences in the Church are because the current rules and instructions passed down from Church leadership prevent these cultural differences from being displayed and uphold our current culture as a predominantly white Utah church.

I can see the pros and cons of upholding this culture. In this post I have chosen to focus on a con and that is the exclusion of other cultues and ethinicities which could hinder missionary work to these people.

A recent article in the Washington Post outlined what many analysts feel Church growth hass declined -

"Analysts cite several reasons for the cooling off, including the declining birth rate among U.S. Mormons; a drop in the number of missionaries since 2002 as a result of tighter recruiting standards; and Mormons' reluctance to embrace local cultural practices to advance their missionary work, a reluctance that complicates the effort to make overseas converts.

"Other faiths 'are willing to express the local culture in many ways that the LDS has been slow to do' said Richard N. Ostling, co-author of 'Mormon America,' a book about the faith. 'Should missionaries have to wear white shirts and ties [worldwide]? Do all of the hymns have to be approved in Salt Lake City? Do appointments have to be as centralized as they are?' "

I'm not saying this is right or wrong, and ultimately I trust in the divine leadership of our general authorities. But I definately think its a valid question and can't be written of as the mere uncomfortableness. I just don't think its that simple.

I seem to remember reading about a time when meetings were conducted according to the spirit. Must have been nice.

There's a cartoon at Mormon Mormon that addresses the limits of diversity in the Church.

http://mormonmormon.com/post/25392181

There are a number of special interest branches, wards and even whole stakes in
California.
They include military, sign language, spanish, cambodian, hmong, tongan, samoan, chinese, korean and vietnamese.

The ward building I grew up in is now strictly spanish speaking and my parents ward was moved to another building.

Interesting post. In our SLC suburb ward we were taught well yesterday by two returned missionaries, one black and one white. The musical number was similar to the one Drew described. A young man who seemed more black than white played the piano and sang a "modern" version of "I Stand All Amazed." As a white-bread member, I was momentarily caught off guard, but the Spirit wasn't offended, so I put aside my prejudices. Oh, BTW, it was the white elder who had invited the musical number.
PS. Also, I know our bishop is attentive to detail, yet open-minded, and after all he was responsible for the meeting, not me. I am responsible to control my thoughts and my hesrt, thus seeking to have a greater charity for all. I think we all look forward to the day when all races and colors mixed together in the uniqueness of the individual child of God.

I think there is a similarity between how we appropriately worship and experiencing spiritual gifts. In the very early days of the church, Mormons whould have been considered charasmatic, with people swinging from the rafters. Literally. Joseph Smith gave some good insight into this. He said that spiritual experiences were always dignified, and that the important part of spiritual communication was the content.

I think it is important to keep our worship services dignified. It does not take very much in terms of music choice, instruments, etc. before we cross lines.

I was not in attendence of course, so I don't know how this performance was presented. But even if it was appropriate itself, I imagine the bishop will be more careful in the future about what he approves for musical numbers.

There is plenty of opportunity to express culture. That is what cultural halls are for. Worship services are different.

#9 Eric Nielson hit the nail on its head: Worship services are different than other meetings! Did anyone notice that the playing of “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipe at President Hinckley's burial was appropriate, and quite moving, but definitely would have been out of place at the funeral? Time and place makes a difference and we need to learn to understand what should, and should not, be done, according to the occasion. Some music we love may not be appropriate for a church service.

Eric and Dan,

I repsectfully disagree! I suggest that what we find appropriate is based on our culutral and social background and experiences. Others that have a different cultural and social background would find the same thing very appropriate.

I contend that it is not the Spirit that is offended in many cases, but a simple chemical reaction that is produced by social conditioning. And this social conditioning may prevent bringing diversity in the Church.

Can't we just admit we are white honkies that like Church to be a certain way? ;)

I think it is a combination of culture and spirit. I think the term 'dignified' is a good one and should guide our decisions. Style is more a cultural thing, and a dignified spirit is a spirit based thing. Unfortunately there will be those who will desire to push boundaries of what is dignified or not, and thus policies are developed.

But again, worship services are not really a place where cultural presentations are necessary.

Eric,

I agree with you in that policies are needed to keep worship services dignified. I want to write a follow-up post to this that explores the benefits of our culture in keeping the Church unified.

But I do think we make cultural presentations in our sacrament meetings and Sunday school.

Yes we do. But that is different from we should, or that we need to.

For any who are interested there have been several conference talks on this topic. A quick search at lds.org for sacrament music will give you the list. My favorites came from Packer and Oaks.

We also had a lively discussion about the 'evils' of diversity at BofJ once upon a time here.

I believe there is often a confusion between what is habitual and familiar and what "should" be.

One of the most complex challenges for me in coming to my understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ is sorting out what pieces of LDS living are the word of God and what pieces are the preferences and opinions of men. I want to hold tight with all my might to the former. I can take or leave the latter. The trick is recognizing which is which.

In the essay "People Like Us", David Brooks addresses the issue of how people often given lip service to the value of diversity while in practice being most comfortable surrounding themselves with other who are much like themselves.

I recall a church dinner I attended some years ago in a predominately white-bread ward that was blessed with a cluster of women from various regions in south and central America. Capitalizing on their talents, the Relief Society president asked them to team together to put on a tamale dinner. Little did this well intentioned RS pres know, each region represented by these women had VERY different ideas of the "RIGHT" way to make a tamale! No direction had been given as to which recipe would be used. There was a moment when the conflict over who would rule in the kitchen became quite heated and those lovely Latin ladies nearly came unhinged as they each defended the superiority and appropriateness of their own type of tamale which had been handed down for many generations.

Ethnocentrism is rampant in the LDS community, as it is in many segments of society. It effects how church members perceive and interact with those not of our faith AND how we respond to our own members who do not fit the cookie cutter norm we have come to expect.

As for what music is or is not appropriate in a worship service...I am certain sure that I will never be in full agreement with the policies that get set on this. But I will support those policies and full well recognize that the decision for these standards DOES matter, and is better left in hands other than my own. In grad school I did a research paper on the affect of Muzak on shopping behavior. I was amazed by the pile of evidence regarding how this scientifically engineered background sound clearly influenced how people felt and behaved. Pitch and beat of music have tremendous power - regardless of which words are set to it.

I DO in principle believe there are many things that are appropriate in a fireside or social gathering at a church that would not be appropriate in a worship service. Sorting out the details of WHICH things are good to go and which should be avoided is a whole other kettle of fish.