Contact: The Shaping Power of Intentional Interaction

Personal interaction―contact―with those different from ourselves provides us with new understandings, greater respect, and reduced prejudices toward others. We should not only be driven to come into contact with others for the purposes of understanding and reconciliation, but as Christians, we are obliged to come into contact with others not despite―but because of―who they are, where they come from, what they look like, or any perceptions we may have about them, because Jesus has come into unconditional contact with us.

Providing understanding of what contact is and how it looks, author Tyler White takes the reader through an examination of the current cultural climate―focusing on the state of communication, biblical and theological themes of contact, the relevancy and vitality of cultural competency and orientation, personal stories and case studies of people who have experienced successful contact.

The social theory that is discussed in this book, contact theory, has been thoroughly researched in academic and other scholarly settings, however very little analysis, if any, has been conducted in the sphere of Christian community. Contact examines what it would look like to apply contact theory in the lives of Christians in a practical accessible way.

Tyler White has been engaged in multicultural work environments and communities in the culture-rich city of Atlanta for several years now. He moved to Atlanta in late 2016 to work with a non-profit refugee resettlement agency. His experience, although still young, working with people from all over the world combined with some unanswered research questions, ignited a passion for writing this book. Tyler has also worked in the field of cultural exchange, assisted with other book projects, spoken at events, and spent time volunteering with refugee ministries in Europe. Tyler earned a BA from Mississippi State University, a MA from Liberty University, and is currently a PhD candidate at Columbia International University. Contact him if you have a pick-up basketball game going on.