This book is intended as a resource and training tool for multicultural ministry practitioners and other professional Christians working in an urban ministry context. Along with the growing interest in the intentional development of multicultural congregations there is also a significant lack of practical resources to support such ministry. Dan Sheffield brings a missiologist's perspective to this discussion that has been shaped by experience in North America's multi-ethnic reality, by church planting experience in urban South Africa and by ongoing work with pastors in multi-ethnic megacities as diverse as Manila, Mumbai, and Budapest. The Multicultural Leader specifically deals with the role of congregational leadership in embedding the multicultural vision as a way of "seeing." The author draws from social theory, biblical studies, theological reflection, leadership studies, social research and intercultural communication skills to develop a profile of leaders necessary to initiate and sustain the multicultural congregation. The author's conclusion is that leaders in multi-ethnic congregations must move through a personal development process from ethnocentrism to ethno-relativism in order to truly serve as enablers of multicultural congregations. Dan Sheffield is Director of Global and Intercultural Ministries for the Free Methodist Church in Canada. He has served as a church-planting pastor in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and adjunct lecturer at the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa, where he taught spiritual formation and conflict resolution to a multi-ethnic student body.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pound for Pound,
This review is from: The Multicultural Leader: Developing a Catholic Personality (Paperback)
"Pound for Pound" is an expression that is used in the world of boxing to describe a fighter who dominates his weight class more than any other fighter in the other weight classes. Middleweight Roy Jones Jr. held that distinction for a number of years defeating fighters in heavier weight classes.
"Pound for Pound" ... "The Multicultural Leader" is the real deal and contender for the church book read of 2005. Why? Well because it's the only book I know of that integrates the multicultural biblical DNA of the church with modern leadership principles. This little heretical book challenges the underlying idiosyncratic worldview of the modern homogeneous "church growth" movement. "The Multicultural Leader" is divided into three sections: Section (A) "Social Theory in the Light of Christian Ethics" develops a sound basis for the multicultural heterogeneous and incarnational body of believers as the true character of the church. Section (B) "Leadership Factors and Capacities Required" succinctly portrays the leader as Envisioning, Embedding, Embodying, Embracing, Enabling and Empowering. Among many other things, the leader must help the congregation suspend current cultural expectations to become more and more comfortable living with cultural vertigo. Section (C) "The Processes of Transformational Development" describes six stages of church transformation beginning with the exclusive homogeneous formation toward the transformed inclusive body of Christ. The integrated matrix of leadership transformation and church models is a lucid tool for helping congregations figure out where they are and where they must go next. Well researched, biblical and highly relevant for the fragmented church today, this one should be on every church leader's reading list and on the reading list of every seminary - church leadership course. Don't have time to read all those books on church growth and church leadership? "The Multicultural Leader" purposes to transform your thinking, leadership and hopefully your church ... until Jesus comes. "Pound for pound" the best and most helpful read in 2005 in any class ... church apologetics, church growth, mission, church leadership. Rob, P.Eng. M.Div.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Rather disappointing...,
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This review is from: The Multicultural Leader: Developing a Catholic Personality (Paperback)
I found this book to be very disappointing on several levels. Though I always appreciate a book that is concise and readable, Sheffield's "The Multicultural Leader" is simply too short. There were multiple chapters that ended before I thought he was able to fully develop his point. Since I started the book unconvinced that multiculturalism is necessarily the only legitimate expression of the church, this abrupt and incomplete writing style was insufficient for me. I remain unconvinced.
The book also felt a bit like a collection of borrowed ideas, rather than much original thought. I certainly support the notion of standing on the shoulders of others, but Sheffield's work sometimes felt like nothing more than recycled work. Some of this effect was reflective of the brevity of many of the chapters, as previously described. I would have appreciated if he would have taken more time fleshing out his main points, even if they did appropriately originate from others. To be clear, this book is not a total loss. There is some general leadership content in here that was quite helpful, related to enabling others to be empowered and using self-reflection and collaboration as a means to develop our leadership capacity. Some of this was really good stuff. However, that leadership wisdom is broadly applicable and not uniquely tied to becoming a multicultural leader. If you're already completely convinced of the necessity of the multicultural church or if you serve in a situation that is decidedly multi-ethnic, then this book may offer you some helpful inspiration in becoming an effective multicultural leader. And Sheffield offers some general leadership principles that we would all do well to consider and apply. But if you're looking for a book to present a case for the multicultural church, I don't think that "The Multicultural Leader" is sufficiently thorough or compelling to accomplish that goal. Having read this book, I can see that multicultural leadership can be a good thing, but I remain unconvinced that it is essential.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Helpful Book on Multicultural Ministry,
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This review is from: The Multicultural Leader: Developing a Catholic Personality (Paperback)
Of the 4 books I read for a seminary class on multicultural ministry, this one was my favorite. It had a broad view of multicultural ministry and approached the reader gently recognizing that making the transition from mono-cultural to multi-cultural is challenging. I do however still disagree with all the Biblical support in this book arguing that God mandates local congregations to be multicultural, but for me it led me to believe that a multi-cultural congregation is preferable. So I guess it helped me take a step in my journey. Anyway, near the back of the book are 2 charts showing the stages of moving from mono-cultural to multicultural, one showing the stages of a congregation and the other the stages for a leader. I felt like those 2 charts are the real value and summary of the book and so I scanned them and will use them in the future in my ministry. I gave it 4 stars because of how the Biblical support failed to persuade me of any multicultural mandate among local congregations.
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