Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church: Mandate, Commitments and Practices of a Diverse Congregation (J-B Leadership Network Series) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: church growth movement, mobilize for impact, embrace dependence, African American, United States, Holy Spirit (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas is influencing a systemic rethinking of things and setting an example that few churches to date have been willing to address.”--From the preface byU.S. Senator Mark L. Pryor

 

“We cannot ignore the topic of multi-ethnic churches as we live in a multi-ethnic world. Mark DeYmaz writes [with] practical insight, not from theory but from leading an extremely strategic multi-ethnic church that is paving the way for so many others.”

--Dan Kimball, senior pastor, Vintage Faith Church, Santa Cruz, California, and author, They Like Jesus But Not the Church

 

“Mark DeYmaz has provided the body of Christ with the answer to one of its most embarrassing dilemmas: Sunday segregation. Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church is a very biblical plan for church leaders committed to building a church that looks like the world in which they minister.”--Miles McPherson, senior pastor, The Rock Church, San Diego, California

 

“This book unpacks theological and practical principles for local churches interested in truly serving their neighboring communities in an increasingly diverse America.  It paves the way for the future of the local church and the next generations of its leaders.”--D. J. Chuang, director, Asian American Church Research at Leadership Network and executive director at L² Foundation

 

“Drawing from his invaluable experience as a multi-ethnic church pastor, Mark DeYmaz writes with keen practical insight and foresight.  For those committed to building multi-ethnic churches for Christ in an increasingly diverse culture, this is a must read.”--Dr. Paul Louis Metzger, professor, Christian Theology and Theology of Culture, Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Portland, Oregon

 

  “Here’s the book many of us have been looking for—a book that lays a solid biblical foundation for the multi-ethnic church and includes the building plans!  Whether seeking to plant a multi-ethnic church or transform a homogenous congregation, this book will inspire and show the way.”--Jonathan Seda,senior pastor, Grace Presbyterian Church, Dover, Delaware

 

Product Description

Through personal stories, proven experience and a thorough analysis of the biblical text, Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church illustrates both the biblical mandate for the multi-ethnic church as well as the seven core commitments required to bring it about. Mark DeYmaz, pastor of one of the most proven multi-ethnic churches in the country, writes both from his experience and his extensive study of how to plant, grow, and encourage more ethnically diverse churches. He argues that the "homogenous unit principle" will soon become irrelevant and that the most effective way to spread the Gospel in an increasingly diverse world is through strong and vital multi-ethnic churches.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (October 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787995517
• ISBN-13: 978-0787995515
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #172,156 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Your Father's Multi-cultural Book, November 3, 2007

By	Robert W. Kellemen "Doc. K." (Crown Point, IN United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Not Your Father's Multi-cultural Book

Mark DeYmaz has the credentials to write this book: pastor of the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, a multi-ethnic and economically diverse church where men and women from more than thirty nations currently worship God together. And he writes it unlike so much of what has recently been penned on the topic. He artfully integrates theory/theology and methodology/practice.

He unites these twin themes around seven core commitments of a multi-ethnic church: embrace dependence, take intentional steps, empower diverse leadership, develop cross-cultural relationships, pursue cross-cultural competence, promote a spirit of inclusion, and mobilize for impact.

Pastor Miles McPherson has said it well. "Mark DeYmaz has provided the body of Christ with the answer to one of its most embarrassing dilemmas: Sunday segregation. Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church is a very biblical plan for church leaders committed to building a church that looks like the world in which they minister."

Church leaders already along the path and those no where yet near the path all need this book. It's challenging exhortations, biblical explanations, and practical implementations are invaluable.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of
Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for every church leader, February 20, 2008

By	Andrew Wilson (Christchurch, NZ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Being in leadership at a multi-ethnic church I have read most of the books that are considered landmarks in terms of coming to grips with the `race' issue in the local church. Mark DeYmaz's book is unique in terms of what it offers.

It is unique because it does not focus on issues of racial reconciliation. It does not focus on issues of cultural anthropology and sociology. This book starts with theology and finishes with practice.

Many of us have started multi-ethnic churches because it was the `right thing to do' - and it is the right thing to do. Many of us have started multi-ethnic churches out of a sense of calling or leading from God. What Mark has done is show that this sense of calling corresponds to a mandate from God that is thoroughly biblical. It is the heartbeat of God.

Mark does not ignore issues of power or the very real stench of systemic racism within the church. He challenges these issues head on. It is neither the untested musings of a seminary theologian nor the pragmatic response of a frustrated practitioner. This is a book written from the perspective of deep theological insights and strong exegesis backed by years of practical involvement in multi-ethnic ministry. This book is theology in practice.

As such there are stories and examples that inspire any in multi-ethnic ministry and resonate for others involved in similar ministries. This book is not a how-to book although there are basic principles and guidelines in the second section of the book. These simply reflect the difficult path that you walk down when you are involved in multi-ethnic church.

This book rightly challenges all of us who are involved in the local church. In a world where segregation does not happen at school, at sport, in marriage, in almost every sphere of society, why does it still happen at church? How disconcerting it must be for a teenager who comes to faith and has known diversity in every aspect of their life only to find a segregated church.

Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church is compulsory reading for our leadership team. Every church leader should read this book regardless of the diversity or homogeneity of their church. Then after reading this book they should answer this question from the book?

If the kingdom of heaven is not segregated, why on earth is MY Church? (adapted from page 4 of the book I have changed THE to MY).

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Multiethnic Church: Biblical Mandate?, May 14, 2009

By	Beryl Banks "BerylRB" (www.rca.org/netcommunity) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mark DeYmaz writes my type of book, a list of seven-core commitments "that preach," a clear biblical mandate for building a healthy multiethnic church, and testimony from the field of the three primary situations that pastors find themselves in: planting, revitalizing, and transforming churches to live into the multiracial future that we imagine, and God is preparing for us in Glory.

I found refreshing DeYmaz' connection of the biblical mandate for transforming the homogeneous church and the follow through with a testimony from Village church in Oregon. Real pastors in places where the church may not be healthiest, but is experiencing fruit, need more than just a prophetic word, or denominational edict to be the healthiest they can be, they need to be convinced by the word of God. As with all three testimonies, the reader will be encouraged, and identify with real struggles along the road to revitalization, planting, or transforming.

My favorite part of DeYmaz' book is the exposition of the John 17 prayer of Christ. This identification with the glorification events of Christ in the final week, to building a healthy multiethnic church, I must admit, caught me completely by surprise. Basically, Jesus prays that we may all be one, most remember or exegete that part fine. DeYmaz goes to the next step asking the question, "Why does Christ pray so fervently for future followers to be completely united as one?" The point is that Jesus isn't just making a high-priest statement of fact rather a declaration of what the healthiest church would look like, and the source of the power to fulfill the Great Commission - being one.

Jesus broke down the dividing wall not just between God and Man, but between Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. Do we believe it enough to transform, revitalize, and plant the places where we gather to conform to the prayer of Christ? Is the God we propagate powerful enough to make a way for this complete image of unity of which Jesus prays? Or will we continue living with an impotent God only able to create worship spaces of ethnic homogeneity. I believe this is part of the challenge of DeYmaz' book.