Reviews – Intercultural Ministry: Hope for a Changing World
Intercultural Ministry: Hope for a Changing World
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Dr. Mary E. Hunt
Co‐director, Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)
"The ministers who wrote these chapters are intent on building intercultural communities that embody new forms of church and society. Sharing a common faith does not guarantee anything about common life, common worship, or common action. But with the creative, concerted, compassionate efforts reported here, we discover new ways to advance that work. This is a compelling resource for forward-looking congregations and students of ministry."
Lester Edwin J. Ruiz, MDiv, PhD
Senior Director, Accreditation and Institutional Evaluation, The Association of Theological Schools, The Commission on Accrediting
"Buried deep in the subterranean recesses of this thoughtful, provoking, timely collection of essays representing the breadth of world Christianity is the fundamental, and ultimately transformative, not to mention far‐reaching insight, that diversity, multiculturalism, inclusion, in and for theological education and ministry, are not enough. Their futures, and indeed the future of our planet, depend on the creation and nurture of intercultural competencies that are not only practical, but learned; critical but also hopeful; uncompromising, while being gracious; strategic, and at the same time tactical. This is a volume that will not only disturb but also comfort, disrupt as well as protect, both the faithful and the cynical, providing readers with 'solid' resources and 'liquid' perspectives for ministry and the living out of their lives—especially in these deeply troubled and troubling times. Intercultural Ministry is a must‐read for all peoples of goodwill who desire the 'creation of the fundamentally new that is also fundamentally better' as they aspire to repair our broken world."
Dr. David H. Jensen
Academic Dean and Professor in the Clarence N. and Betty B. Freierson Distinguished Chair of Reformed Theology, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
"This impressive collection of essays gathers years of wisdom from seasoned pastoral leaders. By combining personal narrative, theological reflection on current events, and practical suggestions for the church, the authors offer abundant resources for pastors, scholars, and students engaged in the work of intercultural ministry. They do not sugarcoat the many challenges of this work in our time, but they do offer the outlines of hope for a more intercultural future."
Rev. LeDayne McLeese Polaski
Executive Director/Directora Ejecutiva ‐ BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz
"In pulling together the fifteen essays that make up Intercultural Ministry: Hope for a Changing World, editors Grace Ji‐Sun Kim and Jann Aldredge‐Clanton have done a great service to congregational leaders seeking a faithful way forward in the midst of the one of the defining challenges of our time – the fact that in a world of ever‐increasing mixing of races, ethnicities, and nationalities, the vast majority of churches remain stubbornly segregated. Acknowledging that creating intercultural communities is often a 'disorienting, shocking, and at times, traumatic' process that never occurs without conflict and never comes to completion, the authors clear away naiveté and dismiss simplistic answers, offering instead a vision that is honest, complex and nuanced enough to actually be helpful. Even while addressing the difficulties, the authors offer testimony to the transformative power of such communities along with a stirring reminder that these churches continue a story that began with Christianity's first congregations, the power necessary to create them being inherent in our faith itself and the Spirit that gave it birth."
Rev. Leslie Robin Harrison
Itinerant Elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
"Grace Ji‐Sun Kim and Jann Aldredge‐Clanton have done a phenomenal work as they gathered essays from a diverse group of religious leaders to discuss the creation and implementation of intercultural ministry in their communities. A copy of this masterpiece should be in every theologian's library as a reference book which gives understanding to the importance of the creation of intercultural ministries as we attempt to live in our diverse communities which are constantly changing."
Rev. Al Tizon
Executive Minister of Serve Globally, Evangelical Covenant Church, and author of Missional Preaching
"For those committed to reflect God's diverse future today, Intercultural Ministry is an invaluable tool. What passes for multicultural church today is often a surface mix of people of different races and ethnicities, but they essentially share the same culture. This book challenges us to go deeper—too deep perhaps for some!—as it provides the theological and practical resources to move the church toward genuine interculturality. It calls for openness on our part to the Spirit's work to change the heart and soul of the church, and not just its face."
Dr. Marvin A. McMickle, PhD
President and Professor Church Leadership, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School
"Creating and sustaining a ministry that embraces diversity within the leadership and the membership has been the great challenge of the church from its inception. This book is a much-needed guideline on how to overcome those barriers."