Bridging the Diversity Gap: Leading Toward God's Multi-Ethnic Kingdom

by Alvin Sanders

In a diverse, divided world, pastors and church leaders are faced with the question of how to lead across ethnic lines to bring healing and unity to the body of Christ. How can the church more accurately reflect the vision of God's kingdom, gathering together every tribe and nation? It all begins with leaders whose minds and hearts have been transformed by the gospel. Author Alvin Sanders believes the church is facing a chairos moment—the right time—to address the issue of ethnic division and tension within the church. Through this book, he offers a how-to resource for Christian leaders to lead their organizations in a majority-minority, multi-ethnic America. Bridging the Diversity Gap is for pastors and ministry leaders who want a biblical process and principles, informed by the best academic thought on race and ethnicity, to engage with an ethnically diverse church or organization and guide them toward becoming one in Christ.

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

Reviews

[John Pawlik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must read for anyone leading or serving in a ministry or organization that is attempting greater racial diversity. If your ministry is mostly white and you are trying to do something to make it reflect the kingdom of God more, this is a practical handbook on how to make that happen. A groundbreaking book on religious sociology was written by Emerson and Smith was published in 2000. It painted a bleak picture of the current racially segregated state of the American church and demonstrated the history of how we got here. It offers few solutions though, only principles.
Both authors said another book would need to be written to successfully lead to solutions to the issues their research fully unearthed.
This book does that, it takes the knowledge of the problem and tackles them directly through Sander’s years of experience helping churches and non profits become more multiethnic. It asks hard questions of us, such as what hills we are willing to die on to make our church look like the kingdom of God. It’s a short book that brings a breath of clarity to the tumultuous times we now live in, in the panic of racial division in this country, I thank Alvin Sanders for his perspective and wisdom on what is likely the most pressing issue the American Church deals with today.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few books I've read that looks at growing in oneness and diversity through the lens of leading a church or Christian organization through transformational change. I found it to be biblically and socially informed, practical, and wise. This is not an academic or theoretical book, but one written from thoughtful reflection on real-life ministry experience. The last section ("Learning Lab") includes summaries of key points in the book, and application questions for discussion among ministry leaders. Though awareness (and some of the language) surrounding these topics has evolved in the 10 years since its publication, I'm not aware of a more helpful book for church or ministry leaders who want to lead toward growth in biblical oneness and ethnic and cultural diversity.

[Taylor McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is an amazing book. I would recommend that everyone read this book and the content is so informative, helpful and challenging if you work within the context of any Christian organization. He focuses most of his content on how to apply it on an organizational level so it's extremely useful!

[Ben Larzabal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content in this book is excellent but the editor failed tremendously. Much of the book is disorganized, lacking natural connections from one section to another. It is so bad that some of the charts/tables have words and phrases cut out of them. I can only hope the author finds a better editor who will help him put together a second edition.

[Brian Sturtz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers lots to consider. For one thing the author offers a lot of "how to" insights and resources for church leaders to consider as they deal with the issue of race and the church. The author includes a learning lab and case study at the end of the book.

[Tim Wester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't seem to have good illustrations of putting it practice or application

[Arloa Sutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

In our highly racialized society, the Church should be leading the way toward reconciliation, modeling before a world torn apart with conflict, what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves. Christ has given the Church the "gift of reconciliation" with which to bless the world. Yet it often seems like an uphill battle to build and sustain multi-ethnicity and multi-cultural understanding within our churches and institutions. Refined and tested in the crucible of real life leadership, Alvin Sanders has written a positive and practical guide for Christian leaders who are willing to undertake the deeply spiritual work of "asset-based diversity development". This book is an invaluable resource that should be required reading for all ministers and lay leaders who are ready (or not) to become intentional about embracing reconciliation as the mission of God in our fallen world.

[Matthew Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction and guide to leading organizational change towards a Christ-centered multi-ethnicity. Sanders promotes an "inside out, top down, and all in" philosophy. I especially appreciated how Sanders showed the biblical/theological underpinnings of the goal and also didn't sugar-coat the obstacles to achieving success. Full of sobering realism with no "silver-bullets," yet hopeful for real progress. The author clearly speaks from experience which lends authority to his counsel. And it ends with a test (a case study) to see if you've been paying attention. Recommended.

[Pete Kersker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for anyone in vocational ministry. Sanders challenges all of us to be culturally aware in our churches. While you may not agree with all of his methods or conclusions, he certainly addresses the elephant in the room. He also asks the right questions.

[Aaron Case · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book is primarily about integrating diversity in the church, it contains other nuggets of leadership wisdom as well. The section on leading change was invaluable to me.