I just completed this work on Monday. It gave me a beneficial way to give reflections on where we are at the moment. 'We' refers to the staff and laity of Arlington UMC in Nashville, TN where we live in a diverse community of over 40 languages with persons from economically rich to poor.
Part One of work explores the biblical mandate to cross artificial borders. In this section he explores three areas: Jesus' prayer in John 17; the boundary crossing that occurs in Acts tying together Jewish and Gentile believers; and the letter of Ephesians that speaks of diverse people being made one in Jesus.
Part Two explores what he calls "core commitments" of a multi-ethnic church. They are as follows: embrace dependence; take intentional steps; empower diverse leadership; develop cross-cultural relationships; pursue cross-cultural competence; promote a spirit of inclusion; and mobilize for impact. In this section he challenges the theme that has been taken from Donald McGavran's work in Church Growth which does encourage us to work on attracting people just like us. To that Deymaz would ask, 'Is that what Jesus did?'
Part Three tells stories of three local churches using the "core commitments". The first illustration was a local church planted in a diverse community. The second told of how a declining church that crossed the 'boundaries' in order to grow. And the third told of a transformed homogeneous church becoming heterogeneous.
Let's say it was worth my reading. It gave me a means to determine where we are at the moment. That is we are in the areas of "empowering diverse leadership" and I am seeing the possibility of further "developing cross-cultural relationships" by requesting a leadership feedback team that crosses cultures.
2 comments:
Thanks, John, for the kind review of my book! So glad you found it helpful. My new book, Ethnic Blends:Mixing Diversity Into Your Local Church, is will be released by Zondervan/Leadership Network on April 1. It discusses seven common challenges of day to day multi-ethnic ministry and is much more in the trenches, filled with insight for overcoming the obstacles in creating a united, diverse, community of Christ-like faith and love.
If you get a chance, I invite you to share some of this blog as a review of my first book on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Building-Healthy-Multi-ethnic-Church-Congregation/dp/0787995517
Here's info for the second book, which by the way, has been designed for use in training staff and laity alike.
Ethnic Blends
Mixing Diversity Into Your Local Church
by Mark DeYmaz and Harry Li
Zondervan/Leadership Network, April 2010
http://www.amazon.com/Ethnic-Blends-Diversity-Leadership-Innovation/dp/0310321239
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji52TQgCPU0
One in Christ with you,
Mark DeYmaz
www.mosaicchurch.net
www.mosaix.info
I just completed this work on Monday. It gave me a beneficial way to give reflections on where we are at the moment. 'We' refers to the staff and laity of Arlington UMC in Nashville, TN where we live in a diverse community of over 40 languages with persons from economically rich to poor.
Part One of work explores the biblical mandate to cross artificial borders. In this section he explores three areas: Jesus' prayer in John 17; the boundary crossing that occurs in Acts tying together Jewish and Gentile believers; and the letter of Ephesians that speaks of diverse people being made one in Jesus.
Part Two explores what he calls "core commitments" of a multi-ethnic church. They are as follows: embrace dependence; take intentional steps; empower diverse leadership; develop cross-cultural relationships; pursue cross-cultural competence; promote a spirit of inclusion; and mobilize for impact. In this section he challenges the theme that has been taken from Donald McGavran's work in Church Growth which does encourage us to work on attracting people just like us. To that Deymaz would ask, 'Is that what Jesus did?'
Part Three tells stories of three local churches using the "core commitments". The first illustration was a local church planted in a diverse community. The second told of how a declining church that crossed the 'boundaries' in order to grow. And the third told of a transformed homogeneous church becoming heterogeneous.
Let's say it was worth my reading. It gave me a means to determine where we are at the moment. That is we are in the areas of "empowering diverse leadership" and I am seeing the possibility of further "developing cross-cultural relationships" by requesting a leadership feedback team that crosses cultures.
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