United By Faith: The Multi-racial Congregation

Curtiss Paul DeYoung is an Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies at Bethel College, St. Paul, MN, and an ordained minister in the Church of God (Anderson, IN). Michael O. Emerson is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Rice University, and is the co-author of Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. George Yancey is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Texas. Karen Chai Kim is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Houston.

As America grows ever more ethnically diverse, Christian churches remain racially homogeneous. This state of affairs must end, argues this earnest blend of religious moralizing and social science; indeed, church integration is so central both to the Christian mission and to racial equality at large that "the twenty-first century must be the century of multi-racial congregations." The authors, professors either of sociology or "reconciliation studies," base their claims on theology, church history and sociology. They look back to the diversity and cosmopolitanism of the early Church as a model for contemporary Christians, and trace the legacy of racism and segregation in American churches and attempts to overcome them. Drawing on questionnaires, interviews with church members and leaders, and on-site studies of four racially mixed congregations, they probe both the promise and pitfalls of church integration. The authors respond to minority critics who value uniracial churches as hothouses for distinctive worship styles, rallying points for activism and refuges from white social hegemony, and stress that integrated churches can and should guard against assimilationist pressures, preserve the unique cultures of all racial groups and cultivate a racially diverse church leadership. They never quite demonstrate the world-historical centrality of racially mixed congregations, and they concede the aura of awkward dutifulness that accompanies self-conscious attempts at church integration, observing that congregations are not truly integrated until all the racial groups feel somewhat uncomfortable in the resulting milieu. Still, the authors make a good case that this is a cross that Christian churches should take up. (June) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

"Groundbreaking in establishing the moral and ethical basis for multiracial churches. It is truly prophetic in asserting that to be the church of Jesus Christ, the American church needs a multiracial movement." --Religious Studies Review

"Their detailed and, indeed, loving work should spark useful conversations."--Washington Post Book World

"An important book that guides believers toward a post-racial form of worshipping and living together. I look out to my multiracial congregation on Sunday mornings and see that it is beautiful, that it works, and that it is a paradigm for the society we must strive to build in the 21st Century. May this volume increase the places we discover that in Christ there is no East or West."--The Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr., Senior Minister, Riverside Church, New York

"A beautifully explosive exposé of the power of true Christianity to break down any and all barriers of segregation and usher in the new creation of the Spirit wherein no one will be excluded-a courageous, visionary and realistic blueprint for congregations of the 3rd millennium."--Fr. Virgilio Elizondo, Mexican American Cultural Center, San Antonio, and University of Notre Dame

"Finally, we have a reasoned and hopeful response to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s oft-quoted indictment of Christianity in America, that 'eleven o'clock is America's most segregated hour'; a clear and powerful articulation of Jesus' vision of the church as a 'house of prayer for all nations,' projecting a compelling vision for the North American church in the 21st century--racially inclusive, culturally diverse, fully invested in the principle and practice of Christian unity. Together with its companion volume, Divided by Faith, United by Faith demonstrates how Christians can enhance our witness to the world by rejecting racism and modeling reconciliation in our own congregations." --Cheryl J. Sanders, Professor of Christian Ethics, Howard University School of Divinity, and Senior Pastor of the Third Street Church of God, Washington, D.C.

"A radical challenge to the traditional way of doing church. It is a must read for those who know that business as usual is no longer acceptable! It is a Kingdom call that will make some mad and others sad. You may not like or agree with everything in the book, but you will be blessed and stretched by one of the most important books of the 21st century. Read it! Talk about it! Share it with others and watch the walls of racial exclusion fall like the walls of Jericho."--Dr. Frank M. Reid, III, Senior Pastor, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore

"A timely, empowering, and hugely important book for the Church. It accurately details the cultural/ethnic shift in America that, like an avalanche cascading down a mountain, poses a threatening challenge for the church. Can people of diverse communities find spiritual and social fulfillment, a genuine experience of corporate belonging, and loving relationships in the same church? United by Faith shows that this is not only possible but that it was the norm in the early church. As we recognize God's sovereign purposes behind these shifts and embrace them, we will be empowered to present to our fragmented society an amazing 'family portrait' of a loving and caring multi-cultural community of lovers of Jesus. The book's theology is sound, its scholarship excellent, and most importantly, its applications possible!"--Richard Twiss, Enrolled Member, Rosebud Lakota/Sioux Tribe; President, Wiconi International; and author of One Church Many Tribes

"This book was a huge gift to me. It filled in several more pieces to the puzzle we've been working on at Willow, as we move with great internationality toward becoming a multi-cultural, Acts 2 church."--Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church