EMQ » April–June 2018 » Volume 54 Issue 2
[memberonly folder=”Members, EMQ2YearFolder, EMQ1YearFolder”]Book Review
Intercultural Ministry: Hope for a Changing World
Edited by Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Jann Aldredge-Clanton
Judson Press, Valley Forge, PA, 2017
ISBN: 978-0817017798
256 pages
USD $19.99
Reviewed by Pam Arlund, Global Training and Research Leader for All Nations Family.
Intercultural ministry is “the defining theological line of the twenty-first century.” So begins this volume of fifteen essays that seeks to answer the question: “how do we build healthy communities that bring us together as next-door neighbors and global neighbors?”(vi).
Firstly, while most of the authors appear to believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father, not all do. For most readers of this compendium, this would likely be a basic divergence from evangelicalism. And while most would likely agree that current American Christianity is grappling with how to understand the LGBTQ community, readers should be aware that at least four of the writers in this book feel this is simply a lifestyle to be celebrated. For this reason, and because the scope of the book is limited to American Christianity, the book disappoints.
Having said that, there are some fine individual articles within the book. The book does allow access to voices that many ministers might not normally hear. Several articles by African Americans challenged me to rethink if my local community is doing enough to embrace all peoples in terms of leadership and power sharing. Several authors, notably Katie Mulligan, are deliberately provocative in terms of their approach to their topic. Some might be offended by this tone, but the articles are well written and well thought out. I felt that the strong language was appropriate to the topic, but not all will feel this way.
The best article in the book in terms of building a theological line that will reach the 21st century is the article by Rev. Peter Ahn. He is one of many different of Asian American voices in the book. Rev. Ahn builds the case that the best way to build healthy communities is “to find our commonality in our weaknesses, not our strengths” (151). While some of the other authors seemed to elevate humans, he raises Jesus high so that Jesus can raise frail human beings high. It seems to me that this is the heart of the evangelical message, and he stated it beautifully. Some other authors missed this altogether or didn’t quite hit the mark.
This volume is written primarily from the perspective of intercultural ministry within the United States. However, as an American working in a global context, the issues of power sharing are also being debated on a world stage right now. So, in that sense the book also has global applications, but the readers will have to search for those themselves.
For Further Reading
Elmer, Duane. Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2006.
Ehlig, Bill, and Ruby K. Payne. What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty. Highlands, Tex: Aha! Process, Inc., 2012.
Walston, Vaughn J., and Robert J. Stevens. African-American Experience in World Mission: A Call Beyond Community. Pasadena, Calif: William Carey Library, 2009.
