How is Culture Like an Iceberg?

The journey toward becoming an intercultural church is both a spiritual calling and a practical challenge. As part of the ongoing development of the Intercultural Tool Kit, several foundational resources have been identified to help congregations move from a "multicultural" presence to true "intercultural" engagement.

One such resource is “How is Culture is Like an Iceberg?”. This resource starts with the D.I.E. method which can be found in Getting the Most of your Intercultural Cohort. It can be summarized like this. 

• Describe: What I See & Hear - What is going on? (General agreement)
• Interpret: What I Think – What is it happening? (Alternative explanations possible)
• Evaluate: What I Feel – How do I feel about it? (No one else has to agree)

Employing the D.I.E. framework in our faith communities can be successfully introduced when we think about culture as an iceberg. Dr. Robert Cousins, in his role as director of the Tyndale Intercultural Ministry Centre (TIM Centre) describes culture this way in the book From the Margins to the Centre: the Diaspora Effect.