Cross-Cultural Marriages and the Church: Living the Global Neighborhood

As the number of cross-cultural and interracial marriages in our society grows, our faith communities find they are welcoming into their midst an increasing number of those who are marrying across the traditional barriers of race, language and ethnicity. Such couples inevitably face unique hurdles as they try to forge family systems that function even though they come from disparate backgrounds, and in many cases, have dissimilar expectations of what marriage and family should be. Lawrence Driskill has done a masterful job interviewing and writing up the case histories of 20 cross-cultural couples with church connections. He candidly observes where the largest obstacles have been found and then points out what the church can do to help these families resolve conflicts and establish happy homes. The success stories included highlights of what has worked (concretely) for the various ones whose stories are told here. Specific guidelines are spelled out for those who would minister to the cross-cultural marriages in their own church. -- Midwest Book Review