A few weeks ago I had the privilege of delivering the keynote address at Converge 25, the Intercultural Church UK conference, hosted by my dear friend Adam Martin in Harrow, London. The theme “Discipleship in the Multicultural Church” set the stage for a rich and timely conversation.
I’m always a little surprised and very encouraged when large groups of people gather for discussions like this, and this conference was no exception. The turnout was amazing and the diversity of the venue was truly inspiring. African, Afro-Caribbean, Asian, Latin American and white British participants, as well as a few Europeans and Americans, all came together to reflect together on what it means to follow Christ across cultures.
My 20-minute talk was certainly short considering I wrote a book on this topic, Multicultural Kingdom (2020), but it was based on three pillars.
1. A story of cultural diversity
In the 1800s alone, nearly 20 million people emigrated from England.
The first pillar aimed to root the discussion in the realities of current immigration trends and the anti-immigrant sentiment that has shaped the summer in the British hemisphere. I reminded the audience that in the 1800s alone, nearly 20 million people immigrated from Britain to the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and other parts of the British Empire.
In other words, almost a third of the Europeans who left the continent in the 19th century were from Britain. This is why some people say, “We are here because you came to us first.” This is the enduring legacy of empire. As an empire expands, it causes a huge movement of people towards its center.
According to the 2021 Census, at least one in five people in the UK are black or brown, a reality that reflects the historic breadth of the UK’s global presence. This growing cultural diversity is not an accident of history, but part of the continuing story of a world shaped by imperial movements and encounters. And it won’t stop anytime soon.
2. Theological model
Our common theology often leaves us unprepared to truly engage with culturally different people.
Second, I raised the concern that our prevailing theology often leaves us unprepared to truly engage with people who are culturally different from us. Naturally, most of our ecclesiologies are rooted in the cultural soils in which they emerge. However, this cultural embedding, while inevitable and indeed desirable, can be limiting if it prevents us from recognizing the theological legitimacy of other cultural expressions of the Christian faith.
In reality, we have not yet developed a solid theology of intercultural encounters. It is a theology that looks at the image, and dare I say, the fingerprint, of God in other peoples and other cultures, and allows our diverse churches to coexist and enrich one another in worship.
The task before us, then, is to imagine a form of church life in which differences are not merely tolerated but embraced as a theological gift, revealing more fully the holistic nature of the body of Christ.
Regarding this question of discipleship in the church (a central theme of the conference), we have not yet developed a mature intercultural model that fosters true mutual learning, where Western Christians can truly listen and learn from their non-Western sisters and brothers. Much of what passes for multicultural discipleship still operates within inherited frameworks that privilege Western norms and reinforce the racial hierarchies that characterize the Body of Christ.
Some of the “whitest” churches I’ve ever encountered were primarily black or brown.
What is common in many churches that call themselves “multicultural” is not mutual transformation but the subtle assimilation of others into the dominant culture, which some understand to reflect “whiteness.” In fact, some of the “whitest” churches I’ve ever encountered were primarily black or brown. This is striking evidence of how deeply internalized such cultural and theological patterns have become.
A true cross-cultural model of discipleship must be rooted in the very life of the Triune God, and its communion is characterized not by hierarchy but by mutual immanence within each other (as developed in the theological concept of perichoresis). Therefore, an intercultural model must take seriously and embody the language fleshed out in diverse human cultures. Such a theology calls us beyond assimilation to relational reciprocity, a form of discipleship that reflects the committed love of the Trinity and allows the church to become, in fact, a communion of difference.
3. Intentional interaction
Third, I had a thing or two to say about the segregated nature of Christian worship in this country. Racism and nationalism continue to poison our eyes and distort both our theology and our witness. We erect boundaries of color, culture, and nation and treat them as social realities when they are actually spiritual obstacles, veils that hide the image of God in other humans.
The church has sanctified cultural domination as a divine mission.
Too often, the church has sacralized cultural domination as a divine mission and confused the Great Commission with projects of assimilation and domination. The tragic result is a mission to eliminate rather than reconcile.
Let me be clear: we cannot make disciples of the nations while worshiping the idol of nationalism. We cannot preach a love that tears down walls while we are busy rebuilding them with our own hands. The Gospel calls us not only to make disciples of all peoples, but also to eliminate the prejudices that favor one people over another. There is no unrepentant discipleship, and no culture will ever recover from the lie of nearness to God.
Differences are gifts to be celebrated, not problems to be solved.
The true mission begins where supremacy is lost: at the cross. At this point, the wall collapses. Here a new humanity emerges, living in communion rather than conquest. In this kingdom, differences are gifts to be celebrated, not problems to be solved. If we are to become a reconciled people, we must first become a reconciled people, a community in which all cultures reveal the diverse wisdom of God. Until the church transcends its own divisions and embodies this love, our message will remain empty. Our mission must reflect a God who loves all the world without exception.
Global Witness Globally Reimagined, originally published on Harvey’s Substack. Republished with permission.
Dr. Harvey Kwiyani is a Malawian missionary scholar and theologian who has lived, worked, and studied in Europe and North America for the past 20 years. He studied African Christianity and African theology for his PhD and has taught African theology at Liverpool Hope University. Harvey is also the Founder and Executive Director of Missio Africanus, a missionary organization founded in 2014 as a learning community focused on unlocking the missional potential of African and other ethnic minority Christians living in the UK. Most recently, he was appointed African Christian Program Leader for CMS (UK) Pioneer Missionary Training, and his book Decolonizing Missions was published in August 2025.
