Articles
In Consideration of the Christian Faith (Recent Messages)
Wisdom Literature (Mark DeYmaz, sermon notes, October 1, 2023)
An Introduction to Interpreting the Bible (Mark DeYmaz, sermon notes, September 10, 2023)
How can Jesus be the only way to God? (Mark DeYmaz, sermon notes, September 3, 2023)
Why should we believe what the Bible says? (Mark DeYmaz sermon notes, August 20, 2023)
Leadership Files
Disruption at a Glance (Mark DeYmaz)
20th v. 21st Century Metrics (Mark DeYmaz)
Seven Guiding Principles for Advancing Peace (Mark DeYmaz)
Identifying with Christ as a Peacemaker (Mark DeYmaz)
Outreach Magazine articles by Mark DeYmaz (2010 to Present)
- Here Comes the Skinny Cows
- The Theology of the Multi-ethnic Church
- Repurposing the Church: Living Out the Gospel and Leading Change in Culture (ChurchLeaders.com Podcast)
- How Culture Shapes Sermons
- Tithing is Not Enough if Churches Want to Survive (ChurchLeaders.com Podcast)
- Ethnic Blends?
- Should Pastors Know What Congregants Give?
- Mono-ethnic Ministries and Multi-ethnic Churches (Part I)
- Mono-ethnic Ministries and Multi-ethnic Churches (Part II)
Sample Features & Interviews
- Why Churches Might Looking More Like Businesses, Vice News, June 25, 2021
- How will the post-pandemic church pay the bills, Religion News Service, October 13, 2020
- The Multiethnic Church as a Solution to Racism, Influence Magazine, June 16, 2020
- Pastor of multiracial church: Churches must earn green to stay out of red, TBP, December 7, 2019
- Segregated churches lack credibility in a diverse society, Baptist Standard, October 4, 2018
- Pastors, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, SaTtalks, September 12, 2018
- Sacred Spaces: How Your Church Building Can Bless Your Community, Lifeway Research, July 12, 2017
- Mosaic Church Celebrates its 15th Anniversary, Arkansas Times, July 21, 2016
- High Profile, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, December 25, 2016
- Mosaic Church: a Faith That Works, Only in Arkansas, December 22, 2015
- UALR area's fans aim to revive it, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, July 5, 2015
- Mark and Linda DeYmaz on Social and Spiritual Transformation, Little Rock Family, March 1, 2015
- DeYmaz, Mark. “Segregation and the Church: From Where We’ve Come” – Christianity Today: The Exchange, January 21, 2015
(Excerpt) – “From this brief history, and in consideration of current realities, we should recognize that local church diversity is an idea whose time may not yet have arrived but is now well established and here to stay. As I’ve tried to demonstrate, a forerunner stage (prior to 2000) has given way to the pioneer stage of a growing Movement that will again transition to an early adopter stage by 2020 - a time when it's believed that twenty percent of churches will have at least twenty percent diversity in their attending membership.” - Mintz, Zoe. “US churches make moves to become more diverse, less racially segregated” –
International Business Times, December 10 2014
(Excerpt) – “For DeYmaz, instances of racial violence do not necessarily isolate white and African-American communities. In fact, he has seen them do the opposite. ‘Each case that comes to the front brings more and more white evangelicals moving into our camp…’ Kathleen Garces-Foley, a professor at Marymount University who specializes in trends in religion, agrees.” - Meckler, Laura. “How churches are slowly becoming less segregated” – The Wall Street Journal, October 13 2014
(Excerpt) – Theology pushed Mark DeYmaz while he served as youth pastor of a 5,000-member nearly all-white, suburban megachurch outside Little Rock, Ark. In search of diversity, he left in 2001 to start his own multiethnic congregation. …’If the kingdom of heaven isn’t segregated then why on earth is the church segregated?’ said Mr. DeYmaz, who is white.” - Anderson, David; Cho, Eugene; DeYmaz, J. Mark; Lorritts, Bryan; Salguero, Gabriel; and Vu-Heidkamp, Le Que. “Multi-ethnic Churches Lament America’s Racial Injustice” – TIME, August 25 2014 (online: Opinion / Faith)
(Excerpt) – “At its core the scourge of racism presents a spiritual crisis with real life and death repercussions. …The American church must do better in providing spiritual leadership toward a healing response.” - DeYmaz, Mark. “Evangelicals and Politics: Championing Political Positions as if Written in Biblical Stone Hurting Church's Purpose” – The Christian Post, July 11 2014
(Excerpt) – “And therein lies the problem: the deep animus between American Evangelicals (or more specifically Evangelicals ‘...for whom American politics and patriotism are the center of Christianity, at least as communicated in public life’) and an otherwise secular society. Sadly the hostility is today harming our collective cause, hurting our witness, and hindering Gospel advance which is, after all, the very real purpose and mission of the Church.” - DeYmaz, Mark. “The Zimmerman Case and the Credibility of the Church on Racism” – The Christian Post, July 20 2013
(Excerpt) – “…it is Christ's will that we become one with believers different from ourselves…(as) a by-product, racial rifts can be healed; systemic inequities dismantled; and cultural divides bridged. Only in so doing can Christ be lifted up in a demographically polarized and changing society.” - Carroll, Daniel R., DeYmaz, Mark, and Matthew Soerens. “Illegal Immigrants in the Church?” –Christianity Today, February 2011, Vol. 55, No. 2
(Excerpt) – “When it comes to meeting the spiritual, material, and physical needs of immigrants, there is strong biblical precedent for getting involved (Ex. 22:21; 23:9; Lev. 19:33-34; Deut. 27:19).” - Smietana, Bob. “Churches open doors to all” (subscription required to read) – USA Today, September 17 2012
(Excerpt) – Mark DeYmaz, pastor of Mosaic Church, a diverse non-denominational church based in Little Rock, says he believes the number is going to grow. …When Mosaic opened in 2001, DeYmaz said he knew of few diverse churches. Now he knows of several hundred.” - Gowen, Annie. “Churches struggle to meld cultures in an era of diversity” – The Washington Post, March 28 2010
(Excerpt) – “Blending cultures and languages in worship is ‘still ahead of the mainstream, but there's growing interest and growing intent," said Mark DeYmaz, author of the book ‘Ethnic Blends: Mixing Diversity into Your Local Church.’ …’While it's certainly easier to go to church with people who are just like you,’ he said, ‘pursuing what's right from a Christian perspective has never been about what's easy.’” - Holmes, T.J. “Faces of Faith” – CNN, February 22 2009
(Description) T.J. Holmes interviews Mark DeYmaz on CNN Sunday Morning to air concerns related to a proposed bill in the Arkansas legislature that would allow those with concealed weapons permit to carry guns into churches in Arkansas. - Brawner, Steve. “Little Rock Marks a civil rights victory” – The Christian Science Monitor, September 26 2007
(Excerpt) – “There are signs that racial barriers can be overcome. …DeYmaz says that racial differences can never be solved by legislation, education, or other earthly pursuits. ‘Racism is ultimately a spiritual problem, and it requires a spiritual solution, and that's found in houses of faith and houses of worship,’ he said.” - John, Warren. “The World Comes to Georgia and an Old Church Adapts” – The New York Times, September 22 2007
(Excerpt) – “That view is growing more common among conservative Christians, said Mark DeYmaz, a leading proponent of multicultural churches... In the Book of John, Mr. DeYmaz points out, Jesus is portrayed after the Last Supper as praying for unity among his followers, a message he said runs counter to the notion of an ethnically homogeneous church.”