Five years ago, New Hope Church in northwest Minneapolis embarked on an intentional journey to become a Christ-centered community for all people. While Pastor Steve Goold will say that the journey—“with all its beautiful havoc and precious blessings”—has been worth it, it’s not been without challenges.

The journey began when Steve and other church leaders recognized that their surrounding region was rapidly changing demographically. “We are called to be ambassadors for Christ and His kingdom,” Steve says. “And that can be done so much more effectively when the church reflects the entire body of Christ.”

Through a nine-week sermon series and multiple Q&A sessions, the leadership team shared with the 3,500-member congregation—then 99-percent Caucasian—the biblical calling and kingdom opportunity to see the diversity of the community represented within the church.

“Jesus Christ is the author of radical change,” Steve says. “Salvation, repentance, transformation, sanctification all describe that radical change. And becoming a multiethnic congregation also means radical change.”

Therefore, Steve warns that the journey of becoming a multiethnic church is not for the faint-hearted. Leaders must pursue it with their eyes open as wide as their arms.

“This sort of thing is uniquely, viciously and persistently opposed by Satan,” he explains, “because to the degree that Satan can keep people divided and isolated, the work of the kingdom of Christ will remain impaired.”

New Hope’s leaders kept their eyes fixed on God’s promise to use all things, even opposition, to accomplish His purpose. “Some folks said, ‘We didn’t sign on for this, and we are leaving,’” Steve remembers. “So we said, ‘OK, you leave with our blessing.’ Others actively opposed it, and then we had to remain unswerving and trust God’s sovereignty.”

New Hope Church now includes nearly 150 non-Caucasian family units. Steve advises others who undertake the same journey: “You will probably experience times of discord, of discouragement, of division, desertion and deception.

"There will be repeated moments when you have to go back to the beginning and ask, ‘Why is it again that we are doing this?’”

Still, Steve says, “becoming a Christ-centered, multiethnic congregation is a God-exalting purpose, and therefore nothing can ultimately triumph over it.”

“Whatever the adversity or costs,” Steve says, “they have all been wonderfully worth it.”

Kristen Kimmel is a writer and project manager with Journey Group, in Charlottesville, Va.