Foundational Books: Multi-Ethnic Faith Formation

Being the Church in a Multi-Ethnic Community: Why It Matters and How It Works
Gary l. McIntosh and Alan McMahan (Wesleyan Publishing House, 2012)

The face of America is growing rapidly more diverse, and many churches are wondering what it means to carry out the Great Commission in a community where different ethnicities are represented. Being the Church in a Multi-Ethnic Community is an introductory guide, a basic primer for pastors and congregation leaders who are wrestling with how to reach the ethnic groups next door and welcome them into the multi-ethnic body of Christ. Gary L. McIntosh and Alan McMahan offer a research-based overview of the issues, challenges, and essential principles for developing multi-ethnic churches in the United States. Rather than being a one-size-fits-all, this book describes a variety of approaches for bringing multiple ethnicities together into a single congregation. Learn how your church can be effective in welcoming disciples of all ethnicities

Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church
Mark Deymaz (Jossey-Bass, 2007)

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 a multi-ethnic church, writes 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.

Building Intercultural Competence for Ministers
Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, USCCB (USCCB, 2012)

One cannot preach, teach or form persons in the Catholic faith adequately without attending to the ways in which Catholic faith and identity become embodied in culture.The Building Intercultural Competence for Ministers manual is designed to help ministry leaders achieve a basic level of awareness and proficiency in the area of intercultural competency through the five guidelines recommended by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church. The manual provides five modules to assist those leading workshops on building intercultural competence for ministers. The background and proficiency offered by this program is for people of every cultural, ethnic or racial group in the Church. 

Churches, Cultures, & Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities
Mark Lau Branson and Juan F. Martinez (IVP Academic, 2011)

As the church continues to hear and heed Christ's call to reflect the multiethnic character of his people, pastors and lay leaders need to gain skills and competencies to serve in those contexts. The multicultural team of Juan Martinez and Mark Branson has written this book to equip such leaders to create environments that make God's reconciling initiatives apparent in church life and in our missional engagement with neighborhoods and cities. They take an interdisciplinary approach that integrates biblical and theological study with the disciplines of sociology, cultural anthropology and communications. The result is a rich blend of astute analysis with guidance for practical implementation of a deeper intercultural life for the church. Case studies, Bible studies and exercises for personal reflection and classroom use connect the real life and everyday challenges that inevitably arise in multi-ethnic contexts. 

Critical Minds and Discerning Hearts: A Spirituality of Multicultural Teaching
Kathleen Talvacchia (Chalice Press, 2003) 

Kathleen Talvacchia explores the understandings of mind and the habits of heart that she sees as imperative for the work of teaching in a culturally diverse world. She writes that the “spirituality of multicultural teaching entails changing our understanding about those who are ‘other’ to us, rather than merely changing our teaching techniques.” This book goes beyond the “how-to’s” of teaching to offer a pedagogy founded in spirituality, providing teachers with the elements necessary to create a truly multicultural classroom.
 Chapters include: Perceptive Attentiveness, Listening and Understanding, Seeing Clearly, Acting Differently, and Staying Faithful. 

Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World
David A. Livermore (Baker Academic, 2009)

As twenty-first-century society grows increasingly complex, pluralistic, and multicultural, it behooves Christians to communicate effectively between and among diverse populations. Research indicates that missions often fail because of cultural collision and lack of empathy and understanding between different peoples. David Livermore proposes a meta model—based on sound research principles and social science methodology—for helping Christians intelligently navigate the multicultural maze in Cultural Intelligence. The much-needed skill of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) both at home and abroad is the ability to work effectively across national, ethnic, and even organizational cultures. Livermore explains that CQ is not simply learning how to externally modify behavior but is based on inward transformation. His work is replete with assessment tools, simulations, case studies, and reflective exercises. 

The Cultural Intelligence Difference
David Livermore (AMACOM, 2011)

Most people know that some basic cultural sensitivity is important. But few have developed the deep cultural intelligence (CQ) required to really thrive in our multicultural workplaces and globalized world. Now everybody can tap into the power of CQ to enhance their skills and capabilities, from managing multi cultural teams and serving a diverse customer base to negotiating with international suppliers and opening offshore markets. The Cultural Intelligence Difference gives readers: 1) a scientifically validated instrument for measuring their personal CQ score; 2) customized strategies for improving interactions with people from diverse cultures; 3) new findings on the bottom-line benefits of cultural intelligence; and 4) examples of major organizations that use CQ to achieve success.A high CQ points to more than just cultural sensitivity. It is linked to improved decision making, negotiation, networking, and leadership skills—and provides a crucial advantage in a crowded job market. 

Culture-Sensitive Ministry: Helping Strategies for Pastoral Ministers
Kenneth McQuire, Eduardo Fernandez, and Anne Hansen (Paulist Press, 2010)

A practical process guide that offers a useful model for raising multicultural awareness along with helpful ways to deal with cultural diversity in pastoral ministry. 

A Future for the Latino Church: Models for Multilingual, Multigenerational Hispanic Congregations
Daniel A. Rodriquez (IVP Academic, 2011)

Many assume that Hispanic ministry in North America still necessarily focuses on Spanish-language congregations. But over 60 percent of all American Latinos were born in the United States and are now English dominant. Daniel Rodriguez argues that effective Latino ministry and church planting are now centered in second-generation, English-dominant leadership and congregations. Based on his observation of dozens of cutting-edge Latino churches across the country, Rodriguez reports on how innovative congregations are ministering creatively to the next generations of Latinos. In-depth case studies reveal how gifted leaders are reaching beyond their own demographics to have lasting impact on their wider communities. The future of the Latino church is multilingual, multigenerational and multiethnic. Those who "live in the hyphen" between Latino and American can become all things to all Latinos, sharing the gospel in ways that language is no barrier.

Growing Up in America: The Power of Race in the Lives of Teens 

Brad Christerson, Korie L. Edwards, & Richard Flory (Stanford University Press, 2010)

People's experiences of racial inequality in adulthood are well documented, but less attention is given to the racial inequalities that children and adolescents face. Growing Up in America provides a rich, first-hand account of the different social worlds that teens of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds experience. In their own words, these American teens describe, conflicts with parents, pressures from other teens, school experiences, and religious beliefs that drive their various understandings of the world. As the book reveals, teens' unequal experiences have a significant impact on their adult lives and their potential for social mobility. Directly confronting the constellation of advantages and disadvantages white, black, Hispanic, and Asian teens face today, this work provides a framework for understanding the relationship between socialization in adolescence and social inequality in adulthood. By uncovering the role racial and ethnic differences play early on, we can better understand the sources of inequality in American life.

God’s Tapestry: Understanding and Celebrating Differences 
William M. Kondrath (Alban Institute, 2008)

Our differences are our greatest blessings and our greatest challenges, maintains William Kondrath. Theologically and ecologically, differences foster life and growth, but discord within denominations and congregations frequently have to do with the inability of individuals and groups to deeply understand and value differences. In God’s Tapestry, Kondrath shows us how to embrace our multiculturalism—our differences of race, culture, gender, age, theology, language, sexual identity, and so forth. He does this by exploring differences on four levels—personal, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural. He also demonstrates a threefold process for becoming multicultural: recognizing our differences, understanding those differences and their significance and consequences, and valuing or celebrating those differences. 

Honoring the Generations: Learning with Asian North American Congregations
M. Syndey Park, Soong-Chan Rah, and Al Tizon, editors (Judson Press, 2012)

In this intentionally grounded and richly theological volume, the editors bring together ethnically and generationally diverse leaders from pulpit and academy alike to explore the opportunities for ministry in the Asian North American Christian community. Each acknowledges that this community is increasingly challenged by a generation gap, not so much between age groups but between first-generation immigrants and the second- and third-generations. Ministry issues addressed include: pastoral formation, women in ministry, lay leadership, public life, and global mission. Each chapter provides both theological and practical resources for those “in the trenches” of cross-cultural and cross-generational church ministry, regardless of ethnicity.

Hispanic Ministry in the 21st Century: Present and Future
Hosffman Ospino, editor (Convivium Press, 2010)

The Hispanic presence in the Church in the United States is profoundly reshaping the direction and character of Catholicism in this country. Nearly half the Catholic population is Hispanic and it is estimated that by 2050 Latinos/as will constitute the vast majority of U.S. Catholics. Hispanic Catholics as a group bring abundant gifts to the Church in the United States yet together face many challenges. As the century unfolds, the achievements and struggles of Hispanic Catholics will be undoubtedly perceived as those of the whole Church in the U.S. Hosffman Ospino brings an edited collection of essays written by leading voices in the field of ministry and theology that explore the present and future of Catholic Hispanic ministry. The essays were crafted as study documents for a national symposium on this topic and were edited for further reflection in ministerial and academic contexts.

In Search of Wisdom: Faith Formation in the Black Church 
Anne E. Wimberly and Evelyn Parker, editors (Abingdon Press, 2002)

This book is a collection of essays that unlock the way toward wise thinking and the intergenerational transmission of wisdom not only in the Black Church but for all communities that seek to teach the ancient art of discernment. It integrates the understandings of mentoring, discipleship, and healing on both the personal and communal levels. At a time when Christian educators face the need for creating community for a postmodern generation, this book offers a way to seek wisdom from the rich heritage of the black church. Chapters include: Forming Wisdom through Cultural Rootedness, Forming Wisdom through Cross-Generational Connectedness, Wisdom Formation of Youth, Wisdom Formation in Middle and Late Adulthood, and Forming a Spirituality of Wisdom.

The Integrated Church: Authentic Multicultural Ministry
Tracey M. Lewis-Giggetts (Beacon Hill Press, 2011)

The Body of Christ is most effective when all of its parts are working at their maximum potential. We've been stuck in a ministry world full of fear and confusion while trying to do our own version of integrating. The fact is that the "how" of ministry is determined by the "who, when, and where" of culture.The Church should be the greatest advocate for cultural and racial diversity in all of society. We certainly should not lag behind. Part of maximizing the potential of the Church is being sensitive to diverse audiences. The Church should be proactive in reaching and ministering to these audiences without sacrificing the integrity of God's word. The Integrated Church will challenge the discussion of the church's relevance in culture. This collection of stories and solutions will assist church communicators in understanding the variety of people they are called to serve. Begin to understand the struggles, challenges, benefits, and opportunities their culture provides.

Latino Catholicism: Transformation in American's Largest Church
Timothy Matovina (Princeton University Press, 2012)

Latino Catholicism provides a comprehensive overview of the Latino Catholic experience in America from the sixteenth century to today, and offers the most in-depth examination to date of the important ways the U.S. Catholic Church, its evolving Latino majority, and American culture are mutually transforming one another. Timothy Matovina assesses how Latinos' attempts to celebrate their faith and bring it to bear on the everyday realities of their lives have shaped parishes, apostolic movements, leadership, ministries, worship, voting patterns, social activism, and much more. At the same time, the lives and faith of Latino Catholics are being dramatically refashioned through the multiple pressures of assimilation, the upsurge of Pentecostal and evangelical religion, other types of religious pluralism, growing secularization, and ongoing controversies over immigration and clergy sexual abuse. Latino Catholicism highlights the vital contributions of Latinos to American religious and social life, and how their engagement with the U.S. cultural milieu is the most significant factor behind their ecclesial and societal impact.

Leading with Cultural Intelligence 
David Livermore (AMACOM, 2009)

What is CQ? And why do leaders need it in our increasingly connected world? Why are some leaders able to create trust and negotiate contracts with Chinese, Latin Americans, and Germans all in the same day, while others are barely able to manage the diversity in their own offices? The answer lies in their cultural intelligence, or CQ. Packed with practical tools, research, and case studies, Leading with Cultural Intelligence breaks new ground, offering today's global workforce a specific, four-step model to becoming more adept at managing across cultures: 1) Drive—show the interest and confidence to adapt cross-culturally; 2) Knowledge—understand how differences such as religion, family, education, legal, and economic influences affect the way people think and behave; 3) Strategy—monitor, analyze, and adjust plans in unfamiliar cultural setting; and 4) Action—choose the right verbal and nonverbal behaviors, depending on context. Practical and insightful, this indispensable guide shows leaders how to connect across any cultural divide, including national, ethnic, and organizational culture

A Many Colored Kingdom: Multicultural Dynamics for Spiritual Formation
Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, S. Steve Kang, and Gary A. Parrett (Baker Books, 2004)

How do ethnic and cultural diversity affect spiritual formation? A Many Colored Kingdom explores Christian formation and teaching in the church, with a particular focus on intercultural and interethnic relationships. The authors describe relevant aspects of their own personal journeys, presented in compelling narrative form; key issues emerging from their studies and teaching germane to race, culture, and ethnicity; and teaching implications that bring right practice to bear on church ministry. A final chapter contains a conversation among the authors as they respond to one another’s insights and concerns.

Many Colors: Multiple Intelligence for a Changing Church
Soong-Chan Rah (Moody, 2010)

The United States is currently undergoing the most rapid demographic shift in its history. By 2050, white Americans will no longer comprise a majority of the population. Instead, they'll be the largest minority group in a country made up entirely of minorities, followed by Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans. Past shifts in America's demographics always reshaped the county's religious landscape. This shift will be no different. Soong-Chan Rah's book is intended to equip leaders for ministry and outreach in our changing nation. Borrowing from the business concept of "cultural intelligence," he explores how God's people can become more multiculturally adept. From discussions about cultural and racial histories, to reviews of case-study churches and Christian groups that are succeeding in bridging ethnic divides, Rah provides a practical and hopeful guidebook.

New Wine, New Wineskins: How African American Congregations Can Reach New Generations
F. Douglas Powe Jr. (Abingdon Press, 2012)

New Wine, New Wineskins helps African American congregations understand and benefit from the cultural shifts we are now experiencing. Many African American churches once thought they were immune to the cultural shock waves in our streets and neighborhoods. They simple argued that they have always been all about participation and being relational; yet like many churches, their numbers continue to decline. African American churches must find a way to reclaim their missional orientation, while at the same time remaining true to their historical identity and witness of speaking truth to power. The goals of justice and bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ in this time, require new practices and fresh ideas—new wine. The old framework just won’t work any more. We need new wine skins. 

Nurturing Faith & Hope—Black Worship as a Model for Christian Education
Anne E. Streaty Wimberly (Pilgrim Press, 2004)

What is happening in our worshiping congregations that nurtures us in our search for faith and hope and that does so in ways that evoke within us the answers we seek? In Nurturing Faith and Hope, Wimberly invites readers to critically reflect on their own experiences in worship and the ways in which they are being nurtured—or would like to be—during worship. Worship has emerged as a place where education takes place. This renewed interest is due to three factors. There is 1) research that shows diminishing effectiveness of existing instructional forms of church education; 2) a recognition that worship services continue to be the heart of congregational life; and 3) an increasing embrace by many that worship is a holistic orientation to Christian education. The resource is divided into three sections: Nurture for Belief Formation. Nurture through the Events of Baptism and Holy Communion, and Nurture through Pathways of Preaching, Music Making, and Praying.  

One Body, One Spirit: Principles of Successful Multiracial Churches 
George Yancey (IVP Books, 2003)

Sociologist George Yancey’s pioneering research on multiracial churches offers key principles for church leaders wanting to minister to people from a variety of racial and cultural backgrounds. Insights from real-life congregations provide concrete examples of how churches can welcome people of all heritages, giving them a sense of ownership and partnership in the life of the church. Based on data from a landmark Lilly Endowment study of multiracial churches across America, this volume offers insights and implications for church leadership, worship styles, conflict resolution and much more. 

Pathways of Hope and Faith among Hispanic Teens
Ken Johnson-Mondragón, editor (Instituto Fe y Vida, 2007)

Building on the National Study of Youth and Religion, leading Catholic and Protestant experts recount in unprecedented detail the experiences of God, faith, community, youth ministry, and family among the fastest-growing segment of young people in the country—Latinos. The book includes young Hispanics describing their faith and hopes in their own words; an understanding of the major issues affecting their religious development and life prospects; and strategies for improve your ministry or family life with insightful pastoral recommendations. 

The Post-Black & Post-White Church: Becoming the Beloved Community in a Multi-Ethnic World
Efrem Smith (Jossey-Bass, 2012)

Efrem Smith, an internationally recognized and innovative African-American leader, offers a workable plan for connecting theology, practical ministry models, and real stories of people in multi-ethnic Christian communities. Using the example of Jesus, Smith develops a theology of multi-ethnic and missional leadership. Embracing urban and ethnic subcultures such as hip-hop, this book provides a rich mix of multi-ethnic church development, reconciliation theology, missional church thinking, and Christian community. The book provides a common-sense approach to creating a multi-ethnic Christian community. It includes practical ministry models and real stories of people who are members of thriving multi-ethnic congregations. This book is a blueprint for missional, multi-ethnic Christian community.

Singing The Lord’s Song In A New Land: Korean American Practices of Faith
Su Yon Pak, Unzu Lee, and Jung Ha Kim (Westminster John Knox, 2005)

Singing the Lord’s Song in a New Land explores how faith practices work differently in a racial/ethnic community. It is the only book to focus solely on ministry in Korean American churches. The authors identify eight key practices and explain how they are unique to the Korean American church: keeping the Sabbath, singing the faith, praying together, remembering the generations before, shaping the generations ahead, building community, piety, and hospitality.

Something Greater: Culture, Family, and Community as Living Story
Jeanne Choy Tate (Wipf and Stock, 2013)

Will the next generation still honor the values of caring for others and contributing to community life? The psychology of individualism that underlies American life is no longer adequate to guide a future filled with diversity. America's children may have wings to soar into the future, but they lack roots connecting them to a shared heritage. Something Greater explores the impact of individualism on American child-rearing practices, and its inability to deal with diversity while sustaining life together in families and communities. By contrasting the intergenerational values of biblical and Chinese communities and current infant research with her own experiences in San Francisco's Chinatown, the author reveals how the living stories of heritage that lie at the heart of human development speak to a deep American hunger for shared values and connectedness in family and community. 

Soul Stories—African America Christian Education (Revised Edition)
Anne E. Streaty Wimberly (Abingdon Press, 2005)

Soul stories link persons’ everyday life with the Christian Scriptures. The soul stories in this revised volume take on a cross-generational orientation with emphasis on linking stories of family identities, events, relationships, and story plot with Bible stories and exemplary Christian faith stories. Chapters include: A Story-Linking Process, Exploring Self and World through Story-Linking, Exploring Relationships and Events of Our Lives through Story-Linking, Exploring Life Meanings through Story-Linking, and the Pivotal Role of Scripture in Story-Linking and How to Choose Scripture. 

Worship across the Racial Divide: Religious Music and the Multiracial Congregation
Gerardo Marti (Oxford University Press, 2012)

Many scholars and church leaders believe that music and worship style are essential in stimulating diversity in congregations. Gerardo Marti draws on interviews with more than 170 congregational leaders and parishioners, as well as his experiences participating in worship services in a wide variety of Protestant, multiracial Southern Californian churches, to present this insightful study of the role of music in creating congregational diversity. Worship Across the Racial Divide offers a surprising conclusion: that there is no single style of worship or music that determines the likelihood of achieving a multiracial church. Far more important are the complex of practices of the worshipping community in the production and absorption of music. Multiracial churches successfully diversify by stimulating unobtrusive means of interracial and interethnic relations; in fact, preparation for music apart from worship gatherings proves to be just as important as its performance during services. Marti shows that aside from and even in spite of the varying beliefs of attendees and church leaders, diversity happens because music and worship create practical spaces where cross-racial bonds are formed.