Review: Models for a Multicultural Church

This is a book that every church can benefit from, regardless of the makeup of their congregation. Models for a Multicultural Church by Kenneth Robert Nehrbass and Eunice Hong is rich with real-life examples from churches all across the United States. Offering a multitude of ideas on how churches can embrace their changing communities, along with an evaluation tool to assess church life, pastors and lay leaders will enjoy hearing of God's incredible work among the nations right at our doorsteps.

Many thanks to Baker Academic, Brazos Press, and NetGalley for providing a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Book Synopsis

Practical Guidance for Understanding and Assessing Your Congregation's Multicultural Posture

In a world where conversations about diversity are often met with both hope and skepticism, it can be difficult to know how to lead a church in cross-cultural practices that faithfully reflect the kingdom of God in its multiethnicity.

From leadership structures to music and preaching styles, cross-cultural ministry postures vary widely and don't always reflect local demographics. Kenneth Nehrbass and Eunice Hong identify five key motives that shape how a congregation engages across cultural and ethnic lines:

• Multiculturality: How intentionally does your church represent multiple cultures in its leadership, worship, and everyday community life?
• Oneness: Does your congregation lean toward unity above cultural distinctiveness or does it try to hold space for both?
• Togetherness: Are members genuinely connected across cultural lines—sharing meals, ministries, and friendships—or mostly coexisting?
• Inclusionary Vision: Does your church's stated mission actively aim to reach and include multiple ethnic groups or is diversity assumed rather than pursued?
• Ethnic Diversity: How closely does your congregation's makeup mirror the diversity of the neighborhood around it?

These five motives combine in different ways to produce one of seven distinct cross-cultural postures—some blending multiple cultures into shared worship and others centering on one dominant culture, with several variations in between. To help leaders discern where their own church falls, the authors introduce the Cross-Cultural Posture Assessment Tool, a research-based instrument built from their study of real congregations that helps congregations discern their current approach. Importantly, they argue that no single posture is inherently better than another; the approach should fit the church's calling, context, and constituency.

Source: Amazon

Book Thoughts

Multiethnic churches was the focus of one of my theses several decades ago, and this book would have absolutely been referenced if it had existed then. Coauthored by Kenneth Robert Nehrbass and Eunice Hong, Models for a Multicultural Church is rife with firsthand personal accounts and secondhand field observations that are synthesized into five all-encompassing church structures that can be further studied and classified according to the MOTIVE model. Standing for Multiculturality, Oneness, Togetherness, Inclusionary Vision, and Ethnic Diversity, this framework provides a useful grid for assessing current church practices and applying a multicultural outlook to church leadership, worship, and programming.

What I appreciate most about this book is that the models aren't restrictive but are rather descriptive postures that can embody any church on the spectrum of wanting to better serve and love its multicultural congregation. Since churches vary across the board based on demographics and leadership philosophies, readers are likely to receive a full gamut of examples that can inspire their own congregations. It's an approach that is welcoming and inclusive of many church traditions, honouring the diversity that exists within the body of Christ. If you're interested in evaluating your church through the lens of multiculturalism and discovering how you can grow in this area, don't miss out on this practical guide that walks you through these overarching models along with real life stories.

Book Summary

• Format of book: 📱
• Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Recommendation: 👍

Book Quotes

As the church engages with matters of injustice, some may feel that the emphasis shifts away from the gospel and toward social concerns. During an interview, one pastor said, “If we’re not careful in seeking Jesus, justice is simply vengeance and the oppressed becomes the oppressor. And so we really need to be careful.” Even as Mae Elise Cannon states, “Various methodologies are offered to solve systemic injustice and to provoke effective change.... However, material change is not enough. Change must go deeper. It must happen on a spiritual level. Lasting and effective change comes when the soul is transformed and true community is pursued.”