Bishop Martyn’s new book An Intercultural Church for a Multicultural World: Reflections on Gift Exchange will be launched this week at the Anglican Network of Intercultural Churches’ conference in Leicester.
The book includes contributions from Bishop Saju, Bishop Lusa Nsenga-Ngoyo, who was previously the diocese’s BAME Mission and Ministry Enabler, and Jessie Tang, our Intercultural Ministry Director. It brings together some of the learnings from our Intercultural Worshipping Communities programme together with Bishop Martyn’s experience of ministry and mission in different contexts, both in the UK and West Africa, and reflections on scripture.
The book will be launched with a presentation from Bishop Martyn and the three contributors, followed by Q&A.
Bishop Martyn said: “I hope that this book can serve as a local offering to the wider debate about how the church nationally and locally might better represent the cultural diversity of the communities which it is called to serve. It is certainly not meant to be the final word on what it means to practise interculturalism, but I hope it can stimulate reflection and discussion in worshipping communities across the country so that people of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds feel fully included in their life and mission and together we are better able to appreciate the gifts of every member of the Body of Christ.”
The book opens with a Foreword from Bishop Lusa Nsenga-Ngoyo, which covers how and why the Intercultural Worshipping Community programme began in Leicester, and ends with an Afterword by Jessie Tang, who talks about some of the challenges of taking an intercultural approach alongside stories of positive changes coming out of our IWCs. Bishop Saju’s chapter on hospitality explores how hospitality is an important theme throughout the Bible, woven into stories of salvation, and how Indian traditions of hospitality can be a gift to the Church in England.
Central to the book is the theme of gift exchange, as a framework for intercultural relationships as well as in ecumenical and interfaith contexts. Bishop Martyn explores how the practices of generous giving, radical receptivity and transformative thanksgiving can help ensure the dynamics of gift exchange are healthy, fair and ultimately glorifying to God.
As well as looking at intercultural theology and liturgy, Bishop Martyn explores how the concept of gift exchange could have wider societal applications, in policy areas such as education and integration, so that our society is one where all people are able to contribute and their gifts are recognised and cherished.
The book has received endorsements from Revd Dr Richard Sudworth, National Inter Religious Affairs Adviser for the Church of England, Debbie Clinton, Co-Director of Vision and Strategy for the Church of England, and the Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Archbishop of Canterbury said: “One of the most encouraging developments in the church today is the growth of intercultural congregations. When I encounter churches that have taken seriously the cultural diversity of its community and its congregation, I’ve been a witness to the heart of the gospel: gift-exchange and reconciliation in Christ. Martyn points us not only to what is possible but what is a necessary journey for the church in and for a multicultural world.”
The book is available for purchase at Christian Resources Leicester as well as online from Church House Bookshop and Amazon.
The Church Times and Church House Publishing will be hosting a free webinar with a panel discussion about the themes of the book on Tuesday 28th May. As well as the authors of the book, the panel will include Revd Dr Richard Sudworth, Revd Anjali Kanagaratnam, and be chaired by Revd Canon Dr Sharon Prentis.