The American Church in Black and White

Navigating Minefields to Become God’S Intercultural Community

The American Church in Black and White is a book born out of the authors love for Gods church. It was shaped and given form and text in the crucible of the authors experience as a pastor of several Indiana congregationscongregations that attempted to create a Christian, counter-narrative, to the tragic narrative and legacy of our nations history of slavery and racism. Cautiously optimistic in tone, the author posits that if the American church is going to live into Christs prayer request for His church to be one (John 17:21), if the church is going to deal effectively with the fallen powers and win people to the Lord, then Christians will have to face and overcome the complex and tragic history of racial antipathy in this country; also, the church will have to learn how to successfully navigate a spiritual and cultural minefield. The author has distilled the three main cultural controversies (mines) that can explode/implode the churchs intercultural hopes, down to:1) Culturally-Based Worship Preferences 2) Culturally-Based Views on Ministerial Authority, and 3) Biblical Hermeneutics in Black and White. It is the authors conviction that in spite of these areas of potential conflict, God has given the church the power to become an intercultural community that is distinctive, attractive, and authentically Christian