Church in Color: Youth Ministry, Race, and the Theology of Martin Luther King Jr.

by Montague R Williams

Congregational leaders are often unsure how to attend to the complexities of racism and racial division in the United States. One common response is to acknowledge that racism is wrong and then avoid the topic as much as possible. This is especially the case in youth and young adult ministries, as pastors and other youth workers attempt to foster a sense of community and identity that transcends race. While this method may seem helpful on the surface, it ultimately undermines the goal of offering young people authentically Christian mentoring, understanding, and pastoral care. There is a dire need for a practical theological framework that welcomes young people's experiences and questions regarding race into the work of theology and vocational discernment.
In this groundbreaking ethnographic and theological account, Montague R. Williams unearths and examines the realities of race in multiracial and multiethnic youth ministries in the United States. Church in Color invites readers to consider stories of young people in three distinct congregations and witness their longing for a Christian discipleship that grapples with rather than avoids race. Williams further analyzes how young people communicate this longing and why it is difficult for congregational leaders to recognize and respond to it. Finally, placing these findings in dialogue with an in-depth and nuanced engagement of Martin Luther King Jr.'s theological aesthetics, Williams guides congregations to embrace a discipleship that recognizes, remembers, and wrestles with the realities of race, racism, and racial identity.
Church in Color demonstrates the importance of including the questions and experiences of young people from diverse backgrounds in the work of theological construction. It also models how to bring various fields, such as congregational studies, youth ministry, race theory, pop culture, and Kingian theology, together within a broader practical theological conversation. Most significantly, Church in Color charts a path forward for the future of intergenerational Christian communities in a racialized world.

243 pages, Hardcover

Published September 15, 2020

Reviews

[Wesley Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book! Williams exhibits outstanding research skill and emerges as a deeply insightful practical theologian as he dives deep into the cousin logics of "color-blindness" and "post-racialism," exposing both—in all their apparent allure—as covert soft landings for the perpetuation of racism among well-meaning ministers and youth workers.

Taking his interpretive obligation seriously, Williams substantiates his diagnosis of racism's pervasiveness within post-racial ideologies through thorough and accountable ethnographic inquiry. And when he turns to call the church to a better way, he does so not haphazardly, but through a compelling eschatological ecclesiology established through a deep reading of Martin Luther King Jr.'s notion of the "beloved community." This book is not only a helpful guide for addressing racism (and the provision made for it by post-racialism) but, more broadly, offers a prime example of what good practical theology looks like.

Read this book.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think church youth leaders will find help in this book to provide space with their students of color to describe their experiences with racism or racial concerns. The research seems thin, and the author seems to have predetermined his conclusions before the research was conducted. I did find myself yearning for MLK's "blessed community" where there is honor and acceptance for all people, and for the church to be a foretaste of that. Still, I don't suppose that was really the author's point.