Crossing the Ethnic Divide: Racial Reconciliation in American Evangelicalism

Team Members/Contributors

Kathleen M. Garces-Foley University of California, Santa Barbara Contact Me

About this dissertation fellowship

Among American evangelicals the racial reconciliation movement, which seeks to heal racial divisions primarily through the creation of multiethnic churches and parachurch organizations, has become a central agenda within the last ten years. The identification of the racial reconciliation movement with neo-conservative, anti-structuralist views and a “colorblind” approach to diversity has led scholars to overlook the breadth of voices under this umbrella movement. This dissertation privileges the marginalized voices for racial reconciliation, namely voices of evangelicals of color and young evangelicals, in an attempt to complicate our understanding not only of the movement but of the evangelical subculture as a whole and where both may be headed. Through an ethnographic study of two multiethnic evangelical communities in Los Angeles, I examine how evangelicals committed to “unity in diversity” hold these two values in tension in religious life.

In this dissertation I argue that the driving force behind racial reconciliation is young, cosmopolitan evangelicals who have been raised in diverse urban settings and have internalized the value of diversity taught through the multicultural curriculum of public schools. In response to their demand for diverse churches, ethnic-specific churches are increasingly adopting a multiethnic identity. A common strategy multiethnic evangelical communities use to overcome ethnic tensions is the “theology of discomfort.” This theology turns on its head the idea that church is supposed to be a place of familiarity and challenges members to embrace the discomfort of cross-cultural exchanges as they fulfill God’s great commission. By stressing the sacrifices required and validating boundary crossers, multiethnic churches inspire members to bear the costs of diversity.

Image Title Year Type Contributor(s) Other Info
  Crossing the Ethnic Divide 2004 Dissertation Kathleen M. Garces-Foley