115

Kwiyani, Harvey. 2020.

Multicultural Kingdom: Ethnic Diversity, 
Mission and the Church.

London: SCM Press.

isbn: 978-03-3405-752-9

Reviewed by Sabrina Müller
University of Zurich, Switzerland 
sabrina.mueller@theol.uzh.ch

Harvey Kwiyani was, until recently, a Lecturer in African Christianity and 
Theology at Liverpool Hope University. He has been appointed as CEO of 
Global Connections (the UK Evangelical Network for World Mission Agencies) 
and is also leading a Master’s programme in African Diaspora Christianity at 
the Church Mission Society in Oxford. Kwiyani grew up in Malawi, has lived in 
Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the USA, and now lives in the UK. During 
his time in the USA as a PhD student in Mission Theology, he realized that he 
was only reading about white mission theologians (male) in his studies and 
wondered what African voices could contribute to the discourse. His PhD and 
his book Multicultural Kingdom were based on this thought. The focus is then 
on the two-in-one question of what African mission theology can contribute 



E c c l e s i a l  F u t u r e s :  Vo l u m e  3 ,  I s s u e  1

116

to the western discourse and, more practically, whether African mission can 
religiously animate the secular west. His questions also lead directly to ques-
tions of diversity and racism. Therefore, he combines his missionary theological 
concern with the concern to open the discourse to voices from other parts of 
the world.

His latest book, Multicultural Kingdom, is divided into eleven chapters. It 
begins with the image of the mosaic and ends with an appeal to break up the 
monocultural setting in the churches (Chapters 1 and 11). In the first chapter, 
the author narrates personally and narratively how he realised that the church 
should be a multicultural mosaic. In doing so, he refers to his home country 
Malawi, where he experienced church as fundamentally multicultural and 
polyphonic. He experiences this differently in the Western context, and in this 
book, specifically in the British context. The church is segregated, people of 
different skin colours and backgrounds do not worship together (Chapter 1). 
From there Kwiyani builds his argument, first drawing attention to the growth 
of Christianity in Africa and the growth of migrant churches, and then charting 
the missionary movements from Asia, Africa and Latin America to Europe. In 
doing so, he notes that Europe itself has become one of the new and central 
mission fields (Chapters 3 and 4). At the end of Chapter 4, Kwiyani reveals the 
concern and aim of his book: “It is the argument of this book that a proper 
engagement between British and non-Western Christians resident in Britain 
will enrich British Christianity, and hopefully help it rediscover its missional 
impulses to re-evangelize Britain” (61).

In the fifth chapter, the author presents the multicultural Christian reality 
in Britain with the conclusion that the number of Asian, African and Latino 
believers far exceeds the number of white British (Chapter 5). In Chapters 
6–10, Kwiyani discusses the chances of a multicultural church and a multicul-
tural kingdom. In doing so, he argues theologically, drawing on the practice of 
the early Church, insights from contemporary theology and his background. 
In Chapter 10, the author first introduces a multicultural inclusive church and 
then discusses three concepts that can increase diversity in congregations and 
churches: Hospitality, Learning to listen and Cross-cultural relationships. At 
the end of Chapter 10 he states that a new post-colonial theology in a multicul-
tural world is needed, one “that will discredit the racial prejudices that prevail 
in the Church today. In Christ, race should not matter” (142). In conclusion, the 
author draws a church of the future that is colourful, diverse and multicultural.

Multicultural Kingdom deals with two exciting phenomena that many 
theologians, pastors and believers in Europe are not even aware of: the rapid 
growth of migration churches and the re-missionization of Europe. Both topics 



Sabrina Müller—Multicultural Kingdom

117

are marginal or non-existent in the theological discourse and church practice of 
traditional state and national churches. The book does an excellent job of rais-
ing awareness and at the same time shows the biblical contexts of justification 
and the opportunities of a multicultural church. The strength of the book lies 
in the many, often personal, narrative sections. Kwiyani excellently illustrates 
experiences that have shaped his thoughts and how his reflections relate to 
practice. At the same time, this book offers an African theological contribution 
to the European situation, which is highly exciting. The weaknesses of the book 
lie in three areas:

1. There is some repetition, which does not offer a new perspective on the 
discourse.

2. Not all concepts have been clarified: Christianity and Church are some-
times used analogously. Mission theology mainly refers to the Protestant 
mission, which is then again used as a concept for the whole mission theo-
logical discourse.

3. I would have liked to see more critical questioning of whether and why 
mission, especially from a multicultural perspective, is necessary at all. 
Does Europe need to be re-missionized, and if so, what are the decisive 
arguments for this, apart from the biblical motives and the decline of 
Christianity in Europe?

Despite these critical points, I highly recommend this book. It takes the reader 
on a multicultural journey in their own context, brings to mind things that are 
only marginally considered and is, especially through the narrative parts, very 
catchy – even while on the last page, the story of Kwiyani’s mother from the first 
page was still fresh in my memory.