United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation As an Answer to the Problem of Race (Paperback)

~ (Author), Michael O. Emerson (Author), George Yancey (Author), Karen Chai Kim (Author) "The apartheid government of South Africa established three segregated communities on the south side of Johannesburg under the Group Areas Act: Soweto, Lenasia, and Eldoradopark..." (more)
Key Phrases: multiracial congregations, multicultural worship, multiracial churches, African American, United States, Native Americans (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"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

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195177525
• ISBN-13: 978-0195177527
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #313,794 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for Christians, December 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation As an Answer to the Problem of Race (Hardcover)

A multiethnic group of authors (white, black, asian) tackle the topic of multiethnic Christian congregations (defined as congregations where no race makes up more the 80% of the congregation). These churches are rare today, and the authors lay out the argument for the need and benefit of multiracial congregations. From the sound theological basis the authors lay out to vignettes about successful multiethnic churches to debasing contemporary arguments in support of segregation, this book has it all. You will come away with a better understanding of the multiethnic church and the need for more such churches today, as well as an excitement for the task ahead.

14 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars We need better answers, February 26, 2004

By	John Roxborogh (Dunedin New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation As an Answer to the Problem of Race (Hardcover)

I would like to be more positive about this book than I feel able to be. It asks some good questions and it does tell some great stories. The cause of desegration in church and society, and the need for credible multicultural Christian witness certainly requires a combination of theology, history and sociology such as this book attempts. However in my view the overall treatment is unnecessarily disappointing.

Difficulties relate to taking Christian support for desegration as the exegetical key to the authors' historical and biblical understanding, a naive hermeneutic between New Testament past and contemporary present, a somewhat populist and slightly moralistic tone, and an inability to come to terms with the size of the multicultural issue. In addition some overaching difficulties derive from the authors' apparent assumption that the congregation is the fundamental unit of church, the one in which the cultural diversity of the church always needs to be represented. A wider view of what constitutes church and a less simplistic linkage between past and present would have greatly improved the quality and application of their research.

The North American historical experience at the heart of the their concern is, however tragic, neither universal in the problems it created nor of global relevance in the solutions it has tried. The reading of history through the lens of this experience has not only affected the reading of biblical and historical sources, it has also led to a new paradigm of what the authors believe to be a Christian imperative. How quickly we have moved from justification of "homogeneous unit principles" to the equally inadequate idea that all congregations must be multiracial! There seems to be a lack of understanding about what is involved in applying examples from the New Testament era into patterns of church life today. Can't we do better than this?

The development of governance and worship cultures for multicultural congregations is more difficult than seems to be acknowledged. I agree many more congregations and denominations need to face that challenge. However there also need to be times and places where the other things that have to be addressed in Christian life can be dealt with without a constant stretch to accommodate a different way of doing things. Both multicultural and monocultural are important, and at different times each has their place. Denominations in particular need help at working with multiple cultures which do not just make assumptions that one dominant culture knows what is best for the rest. Power easily lies in the hands of just one cultural group. I do not get a sense of the authors coming to terms with these dimensions too much. Something is needed beyond toleration and compromise to actually finding a way through it all. A bit less prophetic imperative for a new model church and bit more sophistication about what realising Christian values actually entails would help the credibility of their passionate concern.

While there are moving stories of courageous efforts and symbolic actions in support of racial desegration, the long haul remains complex. Sometimes it is the needs of minority cultures not just the prejudice of dominant cultures which lead to different groups having their own churches.

This may be a book which should not be ignored, and it will hopefully inspire work which is more sophisticated in its hermeneutics. We need to look to global as well as USA experience to delve more deeply into what is actually involved in making Christian multiculturalism work. The authors are right about one thing. Our churches do not find it easy to embody at one place and at the same time the diversity of cultures that are part of the Body of Christ.

5.0 out of 5 stars Racial Reconciliation in the Church, July 31, 2007

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

Emerson has convened a multicultural team of co-authors to follow-up his earlier work "Divided by Faith." In "Divided by Faith," Emerson argues that Evangelicals, when they have done anything at all to work toward racial reconciliation, have been too individualistic in their approach.

"United by Faith," then argues that the biblical and effective approach is the multi-cultural congregation in which no one race makes up more than 80% of the congregation. The authors explain the biblical and social need for such congregations. They then follow with hope-giving success stories which provide the philosophy, principles, and practices necessary to obtain the biblical social vision of the multicultural people of God.

Implied, but not highlighted or extracted in detail, is the truth that such congregations can and should then do two things: 1.) Be a visible testimony exhorting the world to "go and do likewise." 2.) Take a stand against societal racism and promote racial reconciliation and justice.

The strength of the book is the theological/biblical development of the argument that God's purpose in history is united multi-cultural worship. From the first church in Jerusalem in Acts 2 to the eternal worship of the Lamb in Revelation 7:9-10, the authors highlight this eschatological goal of God.

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