One Body, One Spirit

When the church began, an amazing diversity of people from different geographic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds gathered together to confess a common faith in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul cast a vision of one body where Jew and Gentile would worship together in unity. The Revelation to John likewise foreshadows an eternal future where all nations will join together at the throne of the Lamb. Sadly, Christianity has not often lived up to this ideal. The history of the church has been marked by continued segregation, ethnic strife and racial division. But at the dawn of a new millennium, hopeful signs of change are emerging. Sociologist George Yancey's groundbreaking research on multiracial churches (including insights from real-life churches and the results of a recent Lilly Endowment study) offers key principles for church leaders who want to minister to--and partner with--people from a variety of racial and cultural backgrounds.