Book Review: The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah

Soong-Chan Rah is the Milton B. Engebretson Assistant Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. He has experience in church planting, as well as campus ministry experience. He also serves on several boards, such as the Catalyst Leadership Center, and he has involvement across many organizations, such as the Boston Ten-Point Coalition. His upbringing as a Korean American second generation immigrant is deeply reflected in his life work as portrayed in this book.

The thesis of this book is that Christianity, in the United States, needs to be released from the captivity of the white, Western American culture, in order for the gospel to spread effectively into the future. Rah accomplishes this feat by organizing his book into three different sections.

In the first section, he outlines the way Christianity in the United States has been held captive to the white, Western agenda: individualism, consumerism, materialism, and racism have all contributed to this. In the second section, Rah illustrates the widespread effect that the white captivity of the church has had on the shaping of Western Christianity. He does this by addressing the church growth movement, mega churches, the emergent movement, and the way that Western Christianity has spread and impacted Christianity in many non-Western contexts. In the last section, Rah gives examples of how the inspiration for change may come from nonwhite expressions of Christianity in America. He gives examples from the African American church, the Native American Christian community, the immigrant church, and second-generation immigrants.

Because of my reflections on this post, I would give this book a 5 out of 5. It is definitely a must read for every North American church leader.