About the Book

Book: The Multicultural Church
Author: Dan Willis
Genre: RELIGION / Christian Church/Growth
Release Date: February 21, 2020

Despite the progress our country has made in Civil Rights over the past century, Sunday morning is still one of the most segregated times in America. It seems like the only people striving to lead in the area of racial reconciliation are politicians, activists, and celebrities. Pastor Dan Willis wants to know… Where is the church? What can the people of God do to become leaders again and not just be Johnny-come-lately followers? The art of bringing harmony to the masses lies in the love all should see in the church of God. If the church is to make a difference and return to relevance in this world, the only option is multicultural ministry. If leaders are not prepared to minister to this growing culture, then American Christianity is in danger of becoming nonessential to the body of believers. For years, Dan Willis has led a growing, multicultural Christian community in the suburbs of Chicago. In The Multicultural Church, Dan shares what he has learned, the mistakes he has made, and what can be done to successfully minister to a diverse culture.

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My Review

I felt like the author hit the nail on the head with the churches need in general to become more unified and truly accepting and understanding of all cultures and backgrounds. I particularly liked how he showed tolerance is not really enough because in the end that's just tolerating someone because you have to- not because you truly love them as a Christian brother or sister. While you do have to be careful about muddling theology based on the Scriptures, the church is multicultural and should look that way. I liked how the author brought out that although we may not be able to understand the pain or struggles someone of a different culture has experienced, doesn't mean we can't legitimately empathize with them and validate that pain. I feel like this book is great for pastors and lay leaders looking to reach a diverse world that we live in to look out how to accomplish this, the time it takes, and the changes it takes to be willing to do this. At the heart of it, it's about truly loving one another, understanding one another, and celebrating one another's differences while fellowshipping and learning about the one true God from the never-changing Scriptures.

I received a complimentary copy of this book, and all opinions given are entirely my own.

About the Author

As a boy, Dan Willis’s dreamed of becoming neurosurgeon until the fateful day when, at age sixteen, he was called to “temporarily” take over as pastor of a local church. Dan took that small ministry of sixteen people and nurtured it into the largest multicultural church on the south side of Chicago, consisting of over five thousand members. Today, Dan still serves as senior pastor of The Lighthouse Church of All Nations, in Alsip, Illinois. The driving force of Dan’s ministry has always been one of uniting the races. To look out over the congregation during a typical worship celebration, you will see men, women, and children from over seventy-two different nations. Dan is also a gifted singer, musician, and producer. He founded a community choir called The Pentecostals of Chicago, bringing together black, white, Hispanic, and Asian singers from over twenty Chicago area churches. This group, now known as The All Nations Choir, has six albums to its credit and has performed with artists from Celine Dion to Kirk Franklin, and has served on missionary trips to the orphanages of Kingston, Jamaica.
A celebrated television host, he created and hosted the Emmy-nominated shows Inspiration Sensation and I’m Just Sayin’. Dan has traveled the country ministering and teaching men and women through the Starting Line Prison Fellowship organization and has also been a national and international speaker on the topics of music, ministry, racial reconciliation, leadership, and community development. Dan is the author of Freedom to Forget and most recently, Praise Is My Weapon. Dan continues to live in Alsip with his wife, Linda, and is father to four grown children and eight grandchildren.

More from Dan

I have led a successful and growing multicultural congregation in the Chicago suburbs for over twenty years. I wanted to write a short book packed with practical information sharing my personal stories of successes and failures in cross-cultural ministry.