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Churches, Cultures and Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities
Churches, Cultures and Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities is a book by Mark Lau Branson and Juan Martinez written in 2011. This book is an artful incorporation of cultural anthropology and culture and introduces the church as the center of other intercultural realities of the contemporary world. The book authors denote that it is however not an easy journey for most people. The book is written well and has goals that back up its findings, and the main emphasis of the church is that it has been shaped and guided by cultural scripts as well as the ethnic heritages. As per the book, it is because of self-awareness, belief, habits and mental practices that human beings have found a way to worship and believe in an existing God. The book talks about how human beings’ social life is influenced by organizational, relational and caregiving forms of the individual’s background and their ethnic background. Additionally, the book talks about one’s missional self that is driven by peace, strength, and justice. When human beings accept, and are aware of the existence of different cultures and ethnicity, the perception can be used to also to grow individual mindset on the church and its role as well as embrace and recognize God’s work in the community.
According to the authors, it is the role of the church leaders to give guidance and light to the members of the congregation and advise them on shaping the environment that they live in so that God’s vision can be seen and applied. The book also gives insight into how people should treat others and in a way that pleases God and acknowledges God’s love for one another. The authors of the book use such questions to pose this by asking “How can a church’s leader help people throughout the congregation see Scripture, their context and themselves in a way that is congruent with God’s love for them and the world around them?” (p. 74). The book guides people on how to acquire leadership skills and remain, leaders, while at the same time being strengthened and guided. People are encouraged by the authors to explore the difficulties and challenges in their life by invoking questions like “What biblical, historical and cultural forces have shaped your practices (p.101).
The book also talks about how the church should learn to communicate effectively across linguistic and cultural boundaries. The authors insist that language is important and denote saying that language is “a complex system that weaves meanings, imaginations, and perceptions into a ‘system of representation.’ Language is a way of sorting out reality at the boundary between objects (out there) and concepts (constructs in our mind)” (p. 115).
People have made assumptions about how they speak concerning what is in the world and tend to assume that other people way of language is like ours which is not true. Branson in the text says that a leader should know or rather find a way of communicating with other to strengthen how they relate with one another across despite individual backgrounds. The book emphasizes that a leader should understand that working in a multicultural environment because of the social complexity, as leaders, one ought to be adaptive and use practices that facilitate necessary change in the society. The book talks more of a church with many cultures but at the sometimes gives insight on how such a church can be strengthened and can grow. This book is useful and gives one idea and insights into what one should do to integrate church, Gods mission, and the other cultural contexts as well as ethnicity.
Work cited
Branson, M., & Martinez, J. F. (2011). Churches, cultures and leadership: a practical theology of congregations and ethnicities. InterVarsity Press.