Lexington Books The Diversity Paradox: Seeking Community in an Intercultural Church

In recent years, a sense of community has declined throughout the United States. This trend is especially evident among younger generations, whether measured by civic participation, political involvement, or religious affiliation. Central Community Church-an intercultural congregation located in Tampa Bay's urban corridor-has responded to this trend by promoting "community" as an organizational metaphor. The Diversity Paradox: Seeking Community in an Intercultural Church explores the ways in which that metaphor was co-constructed by Central Community's racially/ethnically diverse leaders and members, as well as limitations and tensions that emerged from those efforts. After surveying the three prevailing views of community: community as physical space, community as disembodied concept, and community as communicative process, Jenkins builds upon four years of ethnographic fieldwork in order to fully understand this community. He concludes by introducing an original theoretical concept called the "diversity paradox": an emphasis placed upon one potential understanding of diversity which, paradoxically, limits opportunities for alternative expressions of difference. Review Overall the author was successful in detailing this four-year ethnographic study. A major strength of the book is the amount of relevant research literature used throughout the study. . . Thus, the book would serve as an excellent book in qualitative research and organizational communication research courses.-- "Communication Research Trends"From the very start of this work, J. Jacob Jenkins addresses some of the key issues involved in diversity: what is really meant by the term, and what characterizes the ideally diverse community. Even as he evokes myriad details of the diverse community studied, Jenkins is relentlessly organized, making his points and findings easy for the reader to follow and avoiding losing the reader in mass data exploration. Writing in depth about a compelling case study of a community seeking to build and maintain diversity, Jenkins takes the reader through the triumphs and struggles the community encounters as it maintains diversity through communication.--John C. Meyer, University of Southern Mississippi About the Author J. Jacob Jenkins is an assistant professor of communication at California State University Channel Islands.