BOOK OF THE MONTH: Multicultural Kingdom, Harvey C Kwiyani

A call less ordinary (Fusion)

REVIEWER: David Latter

Multicultural Kingdom:

BOOK: Multicultural Kingdom: Ethnic diversity, mission and the church
AUTHOR: Harvey C Kwiyani
(SCM, April 2020) 

Harvey C Kwiyani, an African Charismatic Christian, has written an academic treatise with personal passion. In eleven chapters he presents an argument for encouraging multicultural churches, mainly due to the multicultural world in which we live.

In presenting a religious, political and missional history of the world in much detail, the book looks at the post-William Carey mission years of the late 1700s and the belief that as missionaries moved out from the western world into Africa, South America and Asia, there would be a ‘blessed reflex’: where peoples of these lands would come to the western world in a missional framework. The ‘blessed reflex’ has happened, but probably by default rather than design, where migration in the mid to late 20th century has brought many nations to Britain and North America. The author argues that, as people move, they bring their religion with them and establish churches, based around their nationality, religion and culture. Historically, this was because the receiving countries were happy for people to be welcomed, as long as they kept themselves to themselves; the Windrush scandal is evidenced, as is the more recent trends in Britain and USA to strongly limit the number of migrants.

The Kingdom of God is multicultural; our worshipping communities should reflect this, in style and diversity. The author uses a strong biblical background to support his thesis, including the picture in Revelation where all peoples are joined together in worship. If the Kingdom of Heaven is here now, where is the multicultural kingdom? As leaders and preachers of today’s churches, we need this book to open our eyes and our minds to the reality of God’s people worshipping in a kingdom that is defined by God, not us.

Reviewer: David Latter
David Latter; a Methodist Local Preacher of 40 years and Trustee of LWPT.