The Color of Church: A Biblical and Practical Paradigm for Multiracial Churches ebook

by Rodney M. Woo

Rodney M. Woo Churches and Church Leadership English

In this thought-provoking book, Rodney Woo establishes a biblical foundation for multiracial ministry.

In this thought-provoking book, Rodney Woo establishes a biblical foundation for multiracial ministry. is the senior pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, and a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) and Houston Baptist University. He also travels for preaching engagements, trains other pastors in how to make their church multiracial, and coauthored People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States. Dr. Woo holds degrees from East Texas Baptist University and SWBTS. He and his wife have three sons.

The Color of Church book. In this thought-provoking book, Rodney Woo establishes a biblical foundation for multiracial ministry, provides a clear picture of the current reality of the relationship amongst the races in our society and churches, and offers practical guidance to help implement multiethnic ministry.

In his recent book The Color of Church Rodney Woo serves the church well by arguing that God’s vision all . This book has a number of key strengths

In his recent book The Color of Church Rodney Woo serves the church well by arguing that God’s vision all along has been to gather to himself a multi-ethnic assembly and that our earthly assemblies should reflect the diverse heavenly assembly of Revelation 7 (section 1). As he makes his case, Woo warns of the impending obstacles in the transition toward. This book has a number of key strengths. The first I’ll mention is that Rodney Woo reminds us just how much our flesh fights against God’s vision for humanity, which is why the move toward multi-ethnic ministry has to be intentional.

In this thought-provoking book, Rodney Woo establishes a biblical foundation for multiracial ministry, provides a clear picture of the current reality of the relationship amongst the races in our society and churches, and offers practical guidance to help implement multiethnic ministry. Woo takes the reader step-by-step through the multiracial transformation of a congregation.

The Color of Church adopts the definition that a multiracial congregation is composed of racially diverse .

The Color of Church adopts the definition that a multiracial congregation is composed of racially diverse believers united by their faith in Christ, who make disciples of all the nations in the anticipation of the ultimate racial reunion around the throne of Go.

The Color of Church weaves together not only biblical and theological insights of racial reconciliation, but . Woo divides the book into four sections. Part 1 gives the biblical foundation for multiracial and multiethnic churches.

The Color of Church weaves together not only biblical and theological insights of racial reconciliation, but also real-world practice. Woo became pastor of a church in Houston in 1992 that was in a transitional neighborhood where Caucasians were increasingly becoming the minority. He gave the church the vision for creating a multiethnic community of worship that was not limited by race or socio-economic boundaries. Woo states that beginning with creation, God has placed the imago Dei in every person.

In 2009, Dr. Rodney Woo wrote, The Color of Church: A Biblical and Practical Paradigm for Multiracial Churches, a book that documents the story of Wilcrest Baptist Church and how other churches can learn to develop more multi-ethnic church congregations. In June 2011 Jonathan Williams was called and accepted the position as the senior pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church.

Transform a homogenous church into a multiracial one by following the strategies used by the church in the book. Plan for worship services that will appeal to a mutlicultural audience by readling section three with worship leaders and discuss how to apply best practices. Curated by Janet Hoover. Thanks for sharing! Feedback helps our team better curate our resource library.

The Color of Church - eBook. The Color of Church: A Biblical and Practical Paradigm for Multiracial Churches. Rodney Woo. B&H Books, 2009, ePub. Availability: In Stock. B&H Books, 2009, Trade Paperback.

In this thought-provoking book, Rodney Woo establishes a biblical foundation for multiracial ministry, provides a clear.

As pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church in Alief, Texas for over seventeen years, Dr. Woo led this church from an all-Anglo declining congregation in a transitional neighborhood into a multiracial congregation that is now more than sixty-five percent nonwhite with more than forty-four different countries represented.

The Color of Church unfolds the story of how God has helped Wilcrest understand the biblical principles of a multiracial church that He progressively revealed in Scripture. Each chapter parallels the biblical model or mandate and the Wilcrest transformation story from a uniracial to a multiracial congregation. In 1992, Wilcrest had 180-200 people in worship of which 98% were anglo. Today, the congregation of 450-550 is represented by 44 different countries with an anglo population of less than 40%. The Color of Church adopts the definition that a multiracial congregation is composed of racially diverse believers united by their faith in Christ, who make disciples of all the nations in the anticipation of the ultimate racial reunion around the throne of God.

Duktilar

I expected a simple book with simple answers. Many books can be scanned for important thoughts and skip paragraphs to get to the heart of a chapter. But Woo's thoughtful and reflective writing doesn't waste time getting to significant and thought-provoking insights and I learned the sequential nature of the truths necessitated careful reading throughout. Although others may find their journey to multicultural congregations fraught with different challenges, Woo did not have a manual to follow in his process, and shows that a church truly seeking the guidance and favour of the Lord can navigate challenging waters with grace and confidence. I appreciated Woo's honesty and transparency throughout the book. Having not grown up in a racist society, I learned a great deal about the challenges of leading a church from where they are to where God wants them to be as a multigenerational, multicultural congregation.

mr.Mine

Had to read this book for a Leadership course in seminary and is proving to be useful for that presentation and hopefully for church growth at large

Funny duck

The book provides Churches with critical insight regarding how the world has changed and how Churches can minister and reach the rainbow of cultures in today's world.

Glei

Rodney M Woo, The Color of Church: The Biblical and Practical Paradigm for Multiracial Churches (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2009)
Reviewed by Darren Cronshaw
Originally reviewed in Australian Journal of Mission Studies, Vol.4, No.1 (June 2010), 59, 67.
Rodney Woo is pastor of a church he has led through a whole change process to become a vibrant multicultural church. Its mission statement became: `Wilcrest Baptist Church is God's multiethnic bridge that draws all people to Jesus Christ, who transforms them from unbelievers to missionaries.' Most churches in America (93%) are monoethnic with 80% or more worshippers from one ethnic group. Woo longed for greater diversity, and over the last 17 years Wilcrest has changed from to a congregation that was 98% Anglo to one that now embraces 44 nationalities and no one ethnic group is more than 40%. His definition of a multicultural church is inspired by Revelation's picture of heaven of `every nation, tribe, people and language' worshipping together, and wanting to start that earlier.
The book extensively treats the biblical basis for multicultural church interspersed with the process Woo used for introducing change. Biblically Woo traverses Genesis to Revelation and from Babel to Pentecost, celebrating how God brings people together from all people groups to worship. He celebrates Christ connecting with the Samaritan woman and dismantling the walls and veil between God and different people groups. He outlines the early church's journey in embracing Gentiles and crossing geographic and cultural barriers. His theology affirms the multicultural church as one church, one family, the body of Christ and as a powerful expression of unity in diversity.
He also tackles racism and prejudice head on with a call to repentance and reconciliation. Racism is perhaps more explicitly an issue in the American context of racial conflict and lingering segregation on Sunday mornings, but there are lesson to learn for Australian churches where racism can still rear its head.
Interspersed with the biblical and theological reflection, the book is an inspiring case study of Wilcrest's transformation. Woo came with a clear vision for a multicultural expression of church. To introduce change, he used Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God to suggest God has the right to interrupt and change us. He took leaders away on a weekend retreat, formed a collaborative vision and communicated the mandate for multicultural ministry to the congregation. And he particularly leveraged change through introducing new leaders, cultivating worship that connects with different cultures and championing mission trips.
Some of Wilcrest's turning points for change were:
* Appointing leaders and staff from different cultural backgrounds.
* James Darby, the first black minister to students, led the church in a reclaim-the-streets march that opened the eyes of the church to the city and the city to the church.
* Accepting that if anyone enjoys more than 75% of worship then they are probably not trying to integrate diverse cultures - and inviting people to be content with less than total satisfaction!
* Starting a second distinctive service but not running separate ethnic services.
* Realising different cultures value different music, length of service and noise levels.
* If people's worship style preferences are like fingers on a hand, expecting people to change only one finger over at a time (Alvin Reid's `hand model' for change).
* Sending people on mission trips that connect with members' home countries, and not just to help and lead but to partner and serve alongside and under nationals.

People are usually more comfortable with homogenous church but Woo challenges churches to at least reflect the ethnic diversity of their community, and at best point ahead to God's hospitality for all people. Wilcrest's experience shows people have to compromise worship preferences, release prejudice, move outside comfort zones and relinquish control. But broadening the cultural colour spectrum of church cultivates acceptance, global perspective and learning about God from diverse cultures. One young adult said sharing meals with people of different cultures was significant: `This has helped me become a more complete and mature person as my eyes have opened to the cultures around me, which has allowed me to develop a better sense of who God is and how to interact with other people' (p.107-8).
This is a book for students and teachers of mission and multicultural ministry, and local church pastors and leaders interested in multicultural ministry. It is also a helpful case study for anyone interested in change management. What I loved most was hearing the story of this one church's transformation, the costs and benefits, and the passionate heart of the pastor that led the process. In Melbourne where one in three people were born overseas and one in four speak a language other than English at home, it leaves me wondering where is God calling us to cross over? How will we step-out riskily to reach all nations in Australia and beyond?
Darren coordinates leadership training with the Baptist Union of Victoria.

Sharpbrew

I have been a Southern Baptist Pastor for thirty-three years and involved with convention leadership in four church plants. In my heart I have always disagreed with the SBC on the "ethnic grouping" ideology of church planting. The scriptures simply do not teach this.

Dr. Rodney Woo addresses the biblical perspective on this subject. What a breath of fresh air! I have seen no work of this biblical caliber that honestly addresses racial issues. Southern Baptists and other main line denominations are dodging this problem.

This book is far past due and should be a must read for every pastor in America (or any nation). I want to say thanks Rodney for this awesome work. It truly reveals the heart of God for all people. My prayer is that God will fan the fires of this book into as many leaders and layman's hands as possible.

God has convinced me that one of the primary things hindering true revival in America is racial tensions that are not being addressed in our churches. And therefore we stay segregated. We are not being honest before God!
If you truly have a heart for God and his people you will not want to put Color of Church down until you have finished the very last page. It is that kind of a book!

Bob Freeman

Voodoolkree

This book is an essential tool for all churches and church members who desire to develop more diverse congregations. It is well written and documents the unique story of Wilcrest Baptist Church and their journey to become a multi-ethnic church.

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Fountain_tenderness

Having led small churches that resisted all kinds of change, I thought this book was thought-provoking. If we aren't trying to bring EVERYONE to Christ, and worship Him together, we may be doomed.