One Body, One Spirit: Principles of Successful Multiracial Churches

This was a wonderful book in provoking ideas how we can change the most segregated hour in America...the hour we are in our churches. However, it can be used to consider diversity in all of its shapes and sizes. Learning styles, gender, and ethnicity could be cracked open by a considered and dedicated attempt to become "multiracial." As a lay person, my challenge is how to gently prompt leadership into consideration of these ideas.

George Yancey opens his book by reminding the reader that multiracial churches have existed throughout our countries history, and he proposes 7 principles of successful multiracial church leadership, which can alleviate "race fatigue" and lead to healthy sustainable churches in the future. The bulk of the book, chapters 5-12, is taken up with the proposing of 7 great principles of successful churches and unpacking the same. The principles are inclusive worship, diverse leadership, overarching goal, intentionality, location, personal skills, and adaptability. Yancey tackles the question of whether multiracial churches should exist by dispelling two formidable arguments from the church growth and cultural pluralism paradigms. As one author interviewed explains, "there are a lot of people in (urban cities) who will not believe in a message that is spiritual if it does not express itself in a global, holistic way." Despite the overwhelming biblical evidence presented for the planting and revitalization of churches to be multiracial, Yancey makes it clear that monoracial churches are not a "sin", in and of itself, saying, "Some churches do not have an opportunity to create racial diversity because there is not racial diversity in the community around the church." Yancey makes a marvelous point that the tendency of some to accept colorblindness as an aspect of anti-racism, are in effect discounting the very real racial alienation that exists in our society; hence, are injuring people of color similarily to how white flight injures by insult. That is "colorblindness" as an ideology implies ethnicity and culture do not matter, which is an insult. Yancey names another ideology that most are not even aware of - "the dirty little secret that we are a racially segregated society and we are comfortable with this segregation. Many people feel that to admit to this comfort is to admit to being comfortable with racism, and we do not want to be perceived as racist." Yancey has this advice for leaders of multiracial churches - one can continue to believe perspectives from their own racial culture but to be successful in a multiracial setting one must intentionally pursue a fusion of horizons with the perspectives of the other, not just accommodate but value the perspective of the other. One Body, One Spirit is a compelling must have resource for any one serious about the journey to a successful multiracial church. Yancey also supplies a rich appendix including the questions from his Lilly funded research.

Although almost intuitive, Dr. Yancey's study of multiracial churches confirms the nature of racially (and culturally) inclusive congregations. I have taken his 7 Principles and used a slightly modified version to describe multicultural churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, as well as to set goals for churches aspiring to be be multicultural. Dr. Yancey is also a good presenter. Very practical, very concrete, highly readable.