Gray makes a strong case for why multiethnic churches are essential to how we live out the gospel in community. I liked the book, but my personal reaction was more muted for two reasons. I already am part of an amazing multiethnic church outside of the US, with people from dozens of nations and all services and church activities held in two languages, a small glimpse of eternity in the present. So, while I appreciated Gray's scriptural support for what I experience, I didn't need to be convinced of the truth of his thesis. Secondly, the focus is more for those in leadership. Gray provides wisdom on how to build or transform current churches to be multiethnic. While there are good points for all readers, much of the later part of the book, which focuses on practicalities for leaders was less relevant for me as an active church member. I do highly recommend this book to church leaders and to all readers who are wrestling with how to build a multiethnic church community.

There have been a swell of conversations within the American church over the last few years about what it looks like to be a multiethnic congregation, to have people from many nationalities and cultures worshipping together in one church family. There are other books that can 0ffer a historical survey to explain why this tends to be rare in the United States, but Gray's motivation in writing this book is to give a biblical perspective on why we as Christians ought to pursue this in our churches and he offers practical advice on how to move towards that goal.

Through his experience of planting Transformation Church, a multiethnic church in North Carolina, Gray has personally walked through many of the situations and challenges that can arise in a diverse church. He also shares encouraging anecdotes about the change he has seen in people in his congregation. One story that stuck with me was about a couple who came to the church with racist attitudes towards him as the pastor, but as they came to trust and follow Jesus, God changed their hearts so thoroughly that they are now joyfully involved and serving at Transformation Church alongside people of color and different nationalities.

Despite not being in a leadership position in my local church, I found this book to be incredibly helpful. Some of the specific details may be most helpful for pastors or elders, but the biblical perspective and overall vision for an multiethnic church can be inspiring to anyone who reads this. My church has had conversations about how we can pursue and encourage diversity in our congregation, but our area does not have many multiethnic churches that we could glean wisdom from, so it was helpful for me to read about how the Transformation Church was planted and how they do things as they work towards becoming increasingly diverse.

I'm grateful for Dr. Gray's willingness to share his experience in this book, and I think it would be a helpful read for anyone who is engaging or hoping to in engage in conversations about how their local church can move towards diversity.

A big thank you to Derwin L. Gray, Nelson Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and honestly review this book!

Derwin Gray provides a rare and essential perspective into the formation of multiethnic churches for the present day, by going back in time and seeing how the early church established an enduring example. The book is filled with scripture to support Gray's emphasis that local churches of diversity "have the power to teach us to love by placing us in relationship with others we do not know." This book is a gem for pastors, church planters, elders and deacons—among other leaders in a church structure.

American evangelical churches need a book like this more than ever—not just for the burgeoning recognition that too many churches are homogeneous in their racial and socioeconomic demographics but for the fact this country is obsessed with advancing the American dream; and sadly, the church often leads the way here. Gray does an outstanding job in showing how to untangle this mess through deliberate intervention and grace-filled practices at the local level.

As a church member/non-elder or deacon, I picked up this book thinking I might still inherit a call-to-action. I read there are things I can do, such as becoming more intentional about my community of friends and growing connections with those who are of a different race or background than myself and inviting them to church. But if my church is homogeneous, there is little else I can do if my pastor is not reading this book. Fortunately, I have a pastor who values diversity, but clearly this is not the case for most churches.

Gray provides a statistic about the fact that a predominant amount of church bodies are not growing and he interprets this as a fail. However, small and stable churches may better attend to the needs of the local body than booming megachurches that are so big they cannot rightly disciple their members.

These last two quips are minor. A subtle emphasis is placed on "vision casting", which from my observations tends to be an expression that belongs to megachurch builders who tend to see church through a business model lens. However, Gray also communicates he understands church to be a "family" and not a business. So that's a relief but it was a distraction nonetheless. Similarly, the reference to "partnering with the Holy Spirit" in selecting leaders comes off a bit folksy and trite.

Overall, this is a great book for church leaders. Church members may also find some benefit.