"Historically, both conservative Protestants and mainline churches

in North America have struggled with the question of how to

relate to the cities and the dominant discourse has been one of
neglect rather than engagement."
— Gary Krause
Director, Office of Adventist Mission

"Urban ministry is becoming increasingly important as our nation

becomes more diverse and fragmented. Dr. Skip Bell examines
urban culture and a theology of ministry for the city in easy to
understand terms. He includes case studies of urban ministries
that serve as models. In the final section he provides
characteristics and strategies that provide effectiveness in urban
ministry. This is a well-wri en and strategically important book."
— Bob Whitesel DMin, Ph.D.
Award-winning author of 13 books, founder
of Wesley Seminary at IWU Church health
consultant/coach and director of
ChurchHealth.net

"This book puts prophetic imagination in action. It combines a

well-grounded biblical theology with case studies that function as
parables for the modern day urban Christian. I recommend this
book for those who seek to combine theology as a rationale for
urban engagement with guidelines for effective leadership and
faithful practice in urban contexts."
— Clinton E. Stockwell, Ph.D., Adjunct
Trinity Christian College, Institute for
Christian Studies and University of Illinois
at Chicago

"Skip Bell makes two important contributions. First, he examines

God's view on the city as the underlying basis for urban mission
and ministry. Second, he grounds the practice of urban ministries
in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. A must-read for the urban
mission practitioner!"
— Kleber D. Gonçalves, Ph.D.
Director, Global Mission Center for Secular
and Postmodern Studies Office of Adventist
Mission — General Conference of Seventh-
day Adventists

"I'm so glad Skip captures the mandate of Jesus to serve people

with compassion and relationally. This is exactly what is needed in
mission in the context of our great cities today! Recommend this
book to everyone who wants real, practical solutions."

— Roger Hernandez
Director of Ministerial and Evangelism
Southern Union Conference of Seventh-day
Adventist Churches
Christ in the City
Six Essentials of Transformational Evangelism in the City
Center

Skip Bell
Cover design and layout: Claudia C. Pech Moguel
Interior page design: Claudia C. Pech Moguel Additional copies
available from:
AdventSource
5120 Presco Avenue
Lincoln, NE 68506
www.adventsource.org
402.486.8800
©2018 Skip Bell
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmi ed, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior wri en permission of
the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-62909-629-2
Printed in the United States of America
Foreword
Preface
Introduction

Section One
Section one explores the biblical call to incarnational mission
within today's cities. The section provides a reflection on the
nature of the city, the lives and culture of the people who live
there, and Christian witness in contemporary urban culture.
1. Understanding the City
2. Christ in the City
3. Who Lives in the City?
4. Following Christ Into the City
5. Transformational Evangelism

Section Two
Section two provides case studies that model the presence of
Christ in our cities. The first three clearly demonstrate
relationality, the next four, service, and the final two community
and worship through planting of new faith communities.
Predictably, those essential characteristics are mingled and
overlap. Spirituality is demonstrated in worship and the
transformation of lives inspiring each narrative.
6. A Garden in the City
7. A Place for Artists
8. Where Mercy Trumps Judgment
9. The Stranger in Our Neighborhood
10. One Pregnancy at a Time
11. Changing a Life in Transformational Housing
12. Broken Lives
13. A New and Different Church
14. Birthing a New Church

Section Three
Section three is a concluding call for the church to faithfully
witness for Christ in the urban center. The section describes how
the six essential characteristics are put into practice in the context
of urban mission and ministry. The application forms the meaning
of transformational evangelism in the city.
15. Six Characteristics of Transformational Evangelism in Urban
Mission and Ministry

Appendices
 The weekend a er the September 11 a acks in New York City
and Washington, D.C., Graydon Carter was talking on the phone to
Christopher Hitchens. Carter was then the celebrated editor of
Vanity Fair. Hitchens, a contributing editor to the magazine, was a
trenchant critic of religion, and a leader among the new atheists.
Hitchens was stranded at the Denver airport, and Carter was at
home near Seventh Avenue, Manha an, not far from his office in
Times Square.
While talking, they both heard the familiar strains of the
"Ba le Hymn of the Republic." Intrigued, Carter headed out into
the street and saw a small marching band of African American
teenagers. The marching band was a group of Christian students
from Oakwood College (a Seventh-day Adventist institution, now
Oakwood University). They'd driven to New York City from
Huntsville, Alabama, and were sharing a bit of joy the best they
knew how. Those teenagers touched the heart of the very secular
editor of a very secular magazine in the heart of Manha an.
"Their noble posture and their music held the people around
them like a pair of loving arms," wrote Carter. "At that moment,
and in that place, it was a charm that soothed this savaged
breast."1
Today Christians are called to embrace the cities with loving
arms. Yet, too o en, we have ignored them—extolling the virtues
of rural living against the moral and physical dangers of the cities.
Historically, both conservative Protestants and mainline churches
in North America have struggled with the question of how to
relate to the cities and the dominant discourse has been one of
neglect rather than engagement. And yet, despite this historic
unease and queasiness about cities, Protestants have played a
crucial role in shaping them. Today many urban churches take a
leading role in community organizing, helping the poor and
homeless, providing youth programs and jobs training, offering an
experience of community, and providing education.
There are encouraging signs of increasing urban engagement,
but as it faces the huge and multiplying mission challenge of the
city, the church is still a bit like a deer in the headlights. Cities are
huge, fragmented, changing, expensive, competitive, confusing,
and don't fit into well-defined boxes. They are now the church's
biggest mission challenge. Like the Jewish exiles in Babylon we
find ourselves crying out, "How do we sing the LORD's song in a
strange land?" (Psalm 137:4). We know the melodies and rhythms
of the Lord's song in rural areas, but how do we sing that song
among the strange and unfamiliar noises of the city?
Perhaps we need to start with repentance; confessing that in
the use of our resources (time, money, people) we have continued
to largely neglect the cities. We have worshiped at the altar of
country living, and we are poorly equipped for urban mission. But
then we can turn back to the experience of the Babylonian exiles
for instruction on how to sing the Lord's song. God tells them not
to keep themselves separate from the city of Babylon, but to work
for and pray for its shalom (Jeremiah 29:7). As Skip Bell writes,
"That message is still God's word for the church today."
This is the central theme of Christ in the City. In his six
principles for transformational evangelism, Dr. Bell clearly
outlines how the church is called to organically engage the city
from within, not from outside, or from a distance. It is called to
work for and pray for the shalom of the city—its welfare,
prosperity, health, peace, salvation. And one of the many
strengths of this book is how it explores the theology and theory
of this engagement, but then moves out into city streets for
concrete examples of how this is being put into practice.
Read and share this book. Be blessed and inspired to wrap the
cities in loving arms.
— Gary Krause, Director
Office of Adventist Mission
___________
1 Vanity Fair, November 2001.
 People are moving to the city. Some are immigrants who seek
security and employment among people who share their journey.
Others are children displaced from agricultural communities
where farms have evolved into large mechanized agribusinesses
acquiring family-owned farms around them. The transition is
especially evident among people finding employment in a
technology driven economy. Young graduates of higher education
eager to enter the workplace inevitably make the city their home.
For these reasons and more, cities are growing while rural
communities frequently struggle to maintain their
neighborhoods and economy.
The human migration to the city is not merely a movement to
the proximity of a major metropolitan area. Developed countries
are experiencing a reversal of the decades old tendency to live in a
suburban neighborhood and commute to work. More and more
people of all ages are relocating to true city centers, those places
we call downtown. They are looking for condominiums,
apartments, town-houses, or brownstones within the range of
public transportation or even within walking distance of their
work. This trend is especially true for young professional adults,
and they are changing the characteristics of urban
neighborhoods.
One cannot examine the challenge of mission in the city
without reflection on the changing cultural characteristics of the
urban population. The Gospel has thrived among underserved
populations in the city, especially those of African American
heritage. Likewise, churches have grown rapidly in
neighborhoods where immigrant populations from Central
America, the Caribbean, or South America have se led. There are
healthy Christian churches in Asian neighborhoods. However,
Christianity is rapidly diminishing among Caucasian young
adults of western European heritage, and they are considerably
the largest and fastest growing segment of the urban population.
The nature of that challenge to mission will be explored in
chapter 3 of this book. This book recognizes that reality, examines
mission in that context, and acknowledges that future shi s in
diverse population groups will call for rethinking mission in
similar ways.
The implications for faith and spirituality are evident. The
urban culture in which the Gospel of Jesus is lived, judged, or
shared is distinct. It is a different culture from the rural
communities and country life familiar to many Christian faith
traditions, especially those of the Protestant variety. And it is not
going to change, at least in our foreseeable future. Churches that
do not understand the world of the city, who try to hold on to
their small town or rural roots, will diminish. The urban shi
must not be ignored.
I have undertaken the writing of this book because failure to
acknowledge or to understand the distinct culture of the city
center impairs Christian mission. True, we may reach immigrant
populations who have brought their spirituality with them to the
city. People who suffer in poverty in the city may open their
hearts and minds to the Gospel. Or we may focus mission among
suburban families, sometimes feeling we have reached the city by
efforts to evangelize that sweep through suburban (or immigrant)
neighborhoods. Metropolitan evangelism is wonderful: reaching
people anywhere for Christ is reason for celebration. But we
cannot be faithful while ignoring the distinctive culture of the
true city center.
Related to why I have wri en this book is my relationship with
urban life and ministry. My childhood years through early
adolescence were experienced living in an urban context, and I
continued to work in that environment until entering ministry
a er seminary. That is where my heart is. I have cherished a
vision for service in the city my entire adult life, but, somewhat
regretfully, the scarcity of churches in the city reflecting my
heritage has shaped the direction of my service to the church. For
much of the last decade, however, I have examined mission in the
city, researched thriving congregations in the city, collaborated
with people serving in diverse faith traditions, worked with urban
ministries, and taught urban ministry in the professional doctoral
program of our seminary. I have o en felt I should have had the
courage to pioneer distinctive ministry early in my adult life in
the emptiness of a city neighborhood. My hope is that the work
and research shared in this book will support and help others do
just that.
This book is an opportunity to reflect on the challenge of
Christian mission in the urban context. Mission in the city will
require change. For many, the compelling need for change is
unwelcome simply because it calls for rese ing strategies for
evangelism that have become tradition over decades of time. My
conversations with colleagues in faith, especially students and
leaders of church ministry, underscore the urgency.
There is a consensus that we need to rethink our ideas about
mission. We need to reset the vision for urban ministry. We deny
this need for change at the peril of our Christian faith. I invite
you to prayerfully and carefully reflect with others on the
challenge of urban life and ministry and respond positively to
however God may call us to serve people in our cities.
Our challenge to engage with the culture of the city can be
rewarding and fruitful. This book asserts six essential
characteristics that help us understand transformational mission
and evangelism in the city. They may be thought of as essential
characteristics of our life and service as Christians living in a city
and are woven through each chapter. Those essentials are
relationships, service, community, spirituality, worship, and
transformation. Though variable, these essential characteristics
are in a sense chronological in our experience of mission in an
urban se ing.
Read these pages with an open mind. Seek to grow in your
understanding; ask God to help you be open to change. Why? He
has entrusted His mission to us. Respond for His sake, for the sake
of the church, for those for whom He sacrificed His life.
 She wept violently. I watched her standing on the weathered
wooden front porch with her infant child, her shoulders shaking
with despair. The auction company I worked for during the
summer used a moving van to load households of furniture and
other items for a weekly sale, o en as directed by a loan company
repossessing things unpaid for. That was the case on this day. We
were pulling away from the curb with every piece of furniture
that had filled the li le house behind her.
It was not a safe neighborhood. Differing populations of the
city merged in this place, and conflicts were frequent. This was
not a secure life in the high-rise apartments downtown, or
middleclass brownstones only a few blocks away, and it certainly
was not life in the suburbs. Abandoned houses gave silent
evidence to the poverty o en seen in such places in the city.
She was alone. Her child's father had disappeared a few days
before, and no family was available to rescue her. Her plain skirt,
an obviously well-worn simple blouse, and long black hair falling
carelessly over her face, hid her natural beauty. She was
desperately alone. And she wept uncontrollably.
My job was to help load refrigerators, bedroom suites, laundry
equipment, or kitchen tables for auction wherever in the city
people had fallen into bad times. I was only the muscle, a student
earning my way through college, riding in the truck to help load
things. I had watched some fight for their belongings, one man
had met us with a gun at his front door, one had assaulted the
loan officer who accompanied us, and another just sat in
depression in a corner as we emptied the house. But this memory
is the most troubling.
We had been told to take everything and put it in the truck,
everything that made living possible in the rundown rental
house: the stove, refrigerator, and every stick of furniture.
Ignoring instructions, we kept avoiding picking up one item, the
baby's crib. When everything else was on the truck, John, the
driver and a seasoned auction company employee, stood at one
end of the crib while I stood at the other. Neither of us wanted to
touch it. Instead we looked at the loan officer and suggested the
crib should be le . With a reluctant wave of his arm he motioned
us into the truck, leaving the crib behind.
That picture will never leave my mind. Though I was young, my
faith reminded me that Jesus was incarnate within that young
urban mother crying her heart out on a summer a ernoon. That
is how Jesus is. He enters our experience. He does not observe
from a distance or flee to safety. He was there in that mother's
tears.
Christ is everywhere in the city. In a sense He is in a distraught
young mother and her child, an anonymous immigrant hidden in
the masses of people, a violent gang member, a young
professional in a lakefront high-rise, and the elderly person
locked in their store-top apartment. Christ lives in the city, takes
His meals there, rides the buses and subways, works in the office,
relaxes with a laptop and coffee at Starbucks, and walks the
alleys.
This is a book about the city. More specifically, about the love
Christ has for people in urban neighborhoods, and the call for His
disciples to share His presence in the homes, apartments, streets,
alleys, shops, parks and schools that form the city. The purpose of
the book is to inspire and shape the lives of disciples who live and
serve in those urban spaces. In this book, there is a distinction
between the culture of the true city center and the suburban
sprawl of a metropolitan area.
The book begins with insights regarding the nature of a city in
section one. Issues of urban life, distribution of the world's
population in cities, and urban growth characteristics will be
investigated in the first chapter. Chapter two will provide a
biblical theology of the city with focus on Christ and His view of
urban life. A more expansive theology will also be provided,
offering an overview of the church and its response to the city,
including a itudes of the present-day church to urban issues.
Chapter three provides an examination of the social
demographics and faith characteristics of people in urban
context. Chapter four defines the nature of missional discipleship.
This chapter will confront the nature and practice of mission in
the 21st century in urban areas of the world. Chapter five is a clear
call to evangelize the city, not in the way we might think —
holding public meetings and packing up our belongings when
they are done — but to be a disciple of Christ living in the city.
This sense of the mission to share Christ through our lives in the
city is described as an expression of transformational evangelism.
Section two examines nine ministries that have transformed
lives and grown the church in urban centers. These case studies
generally offer four helpful perspectives: 1) a narrative of a
person, or persons, whose life has been transformed by a specific
ministry, 2) the historical narrative and nature of the particular
city, 3) a description of the ministry and its leadership, and 4)
reflection regarding what the ministry offers as a model and
inspiration for Christian disciples in other urban areas. The case
studies interpret essential characteristics that identify
transformational evangelism in the city. Those essentials are
relationships, service, community, spirituality, worship, and
transformation.
While sharing personal narratives in the nine case studies, I
have protected the identity of the person or persons. The stories
reflect actual experience, but details have been masked to obscure
the personal identity. The events are shared as one person's story
and at the same time reflect the scope of the experience of others
served in the particular ministry. Although the names of people
experiencing a transformational journey are masked, the names
of the organization, the ministry, and the ministry leaders are
shared with their permission.
Another word regarding these case studies will be helpful. I
would like the reader to reflect on three areas of commonality.
First, the six essential characteristics of urban mission and
ministry I describe above are present in each. Relationality,
service, community, spirituality, worship, and transformation are
common to all, though I have chosen to emphasize particular
elements in each narrative. Second, though the ministries are not
of the same denomination, each shares a Christian perspective,
each shares a conservative view of the inspiration of Scripture,
and each shares a passion for transformational evangelism.
Though they have differing denominational traditions, there are
distinct and important similarities in their biblical worldview.
Third, each is dedicated to their ministry from a genuine love for
people. They love and serve disinterestedly. They are less
concerned for increasing their particular organization or religious
institution than for helping other people. When you work with
these people, you are inspired by their unconditional love.
The final section provides a chapter challenging the reader to
form Christian community in urban life. More than a conclusion,
it provides a call for reformation of how we go about sharing the
Gospel in the true city center. In that process, it describes what
constitutes transformational evangelism in the city.
Why this book? First, the providence of God may lead you or
your family to a life within the heart of one of the world's major
cities. Can you live a Christian life in the heart of the city? Should
you accept God's calling to live in the city? Those questions are
personal, and prayer accompanies such consideration. My hope is
that when God does lead you to the city, you will recognize Christ
in your neighbor, your colleague, or the person struggling with his
or her own life situation. Christ can transform lives and grow His
kingdom through your service. Second, faithfulness to God
engages us in disciple-making. People are living in cities, and
increasingly so. If we are to be faithful, we must accompany
urban people in their journey of Christian discipleship. This book
intends to thoughtfully challenge your suppositions regarding
discipleship and what it means to evangelize the city.
Section one provides insights regarding the nature of a city.
Issues of urban life, distribution of the world's population in
cities, and urban growth characteristics are investigated. An
expansive theology of the city is provided, offering a biblical
perspective of the church and its response to the city. An
examination of the social demographics and faith
characteristics of people living in an urban context is provided.
The nature of missional discipleship is explored. A call to
evangelize the city, to share Christ through our lives in the city,
is offered as an expression of transformational evangelism.
 Understanding the City
I sometimes think I crave cities just as much as large
expanses of land or forests or beach. Each city has an
energetic quality all its own—a way of speaking, an
individual offering, and their own darkness and light... I
want to know these places. I want to feel their hidden
corners and history.. And I want to find stories of struggle,
and victory, and play, and hope. I want to meet locals and
views and museums. I want stories not yet told. —
Victoria Erickson

We like living in cities. Some will argue that humans prefer the
gentle pastoral beauty and pace of life found in uncrowded rural
se ings, but the reality indicates otherwise. For whatever reason,
we gather in cities. As long as human experience has been
recorded, cities have been at the center of our culture and history.
In more recent times, the city has increasingly become the
economic heart that sustains life. Especially in the west, the scale
of rural agriculture has grown so large that small farmers have
been forced to abandon their homes. Their children move to cities
for employment. Today the city is firmly established as the center
of influence in trade, politics, and power.
Perhaps we live in cities because we must. Such a view reveals
that our a itude toward urban life may be one of regret. Do we
form urban centers because doing so offers our lives the only
chance at abundance while we actually long for the more pastoral
rural environments of decades past? Undoubtedly that is the case
for many who live in today's cities. They must live where the work
is, where housing is available close to their work, and where they
can access conveniences because they have limited mobility. But
many others who live in the city describe the social and cultural
life as the a raction that draws them there. They simply prefer
life in the city. They like to live in close proximity to others. They
like the social style of a particular neighborhood. They like the art
and dialogue they experience in the city. City life contributes
meaning to their lives.
For whatever reason, we have to concede that humans form
urban centers around the globe, choosing to live in them. That
reality cannot be denied. How the church interprets that reality is
foundational to how we envision and approach urban mission.
Before the church can understand the worldview of those who
choose to live in urban centers, we must first examine the
development and nature of the city.
The Development of Cities
Today when we think of a city we imagine a large population
center. We define a city in terms of its size. That was not always
the case.
Early city-states formed around shared religious practices, with
powerful families multiplying and gathering a community to
propagate or protect particular views, with the practice of
commerce being secondary. These ancient cities were not defined
by population size or economic power but by certain commonly
held perspectives and practices, generally religious in nature. It
was shared beliefs that bound them together.
From these early cities developed a few truly imperial cities
that began to exert political and military power. These were
places that extended their culture throughout broader regions
and became the capitals of empires. The seat of the Pharaohs in
Egypt, then Babylon, Alexandria, and finally Rome are examples
of these early mega-cities. The formation of these cities in the
history of the western world is reflected in the history of the
eastern world as well.
Eventually, commerce and politics solidified their place
alongside religion as the core-forming identity of a city. With this
gradual transition came a new surge of urbanization in the 15th
and 16th centuries a er Christ. The rise of Protestantism
flourished with the multiplication of urban centers other than
Rome in Europe. These were cities that began to express
independence and diversity of thought and culture and developed
as centers of education and art. The freedom of thought and
commerce promoted new structures in society that affected not
only religious ideas, but, perhaps inevitably, ideas about
government. Diversity became a characteristic of the city, and
urban life provided the center of the transitions that led humans
into modern history.
 The industrial revolution further propelled the growth of
urban centers and further formed their culture. In addition to
being diverse centers of religion, thought, learning, and art, they
developed a culture marked by new machinery, transportation,
and ideas for productivity. Commerce claimed its place among the
primary influences that formed and identified a city, arguably
supplanting religion, shared worldviews, or common history of a
people as the driving force in urban life. Throughout the world,
cities became industrial giants, and a vast migration of people to
the city from rural agricultural communities ensued. People came
to the city from wherever in the world they had been endeavoring
to survive and sought a living through the labor promised in
manufacturing. They came in search of economic security.
The value placed on the production of materials and emphasis
on profits led to human abuses at worst and generally to
conditions that were not sustainable. Immigrants to the cities
sometimes arrived too late to receive the opportunities they
sought, or in too great a number, or faced a retraction in
manufacturing a er some limited years of prosperity.
Still, the industrial period launched a time of opportunity in the
city that survives in today's transition from manufacturing to a
blended economy of service, technology, and manufacturing we
describe as the new economy. Edward Glaeser writes: "The only
reason why companies put up with the high labor and land costs
of being in a city is that the city creates productivity advantages
that offset those costs."1 He continues, "There is a near-perfect
correlation between urbanization and prosperity across nations.
On average, as the share of a country's population that is urban
rises by 10 percent, the country's per capita output increases by 30
percent."2
In our present history, human innovation and creativity
through collaboration has replaced manufacturing as the primary
promise of the city. While manufacturing centers like Detroit and
Gary in the United States struggle with decay and poverty,
centers like San Jose, Moscow, Bangalore, and Dallas thrive on
innovation and creativity.
Today's cities are larger, more creative, diverse, and global than
those of earlier epochs of human history. And the pace of
migration to urban life has quickened. In the mid-19th century less
than 10% percent of the world's population lived in a metropolis
of 100,000 or more. In those times one could seek to sustain a
family while living in a rural pastoral se ing and at the same time
easily move in and out of varied mid-size cities on short day trips.
By 1900, as the 20th century began, the urban population in the
world had increased to 14%. Today 60% of human population is in
the city. In developed nations, like Canada and the U.S., it is an
astounding 75%. The great majority of humans in developed
countries live in urban centers and only venture out of them for
long weekend retreats or a vacation.
Defining the City
The most commonly used definition in our time for the city is
the United Nations definition based on cities by population. The
United Nations defines the population of large cities by
something termed a catchment area, in addition to the population
of the particular city in its specific geographical limits. The
definition is designed to describe the mobility and economic
activity of citizens within the largest urban boundaries. In the
western world classification of a city traditionally is called a
metropolitan area rather than catchment area. The metropolitan
area is generally defined by a combination of factors like electoral
boundaries, geographical limits, and urban mobility systems. For
any major city in America, the metropolitan area is rather
arbitrarily defined by the United States census bureau using
these factors. The metropolitan area is generally smaller than the
catchment area specified by the United Nations.
How large a gathering of people in a geographical space is
required to specify such places as a city rather than a town or
village? Generally, in the western world, a metropolitan center is
described as 100,000 people or more. So, we could assert a city is a
place of 100,000 people or more. That definition, though it is
admi edly arbitrary, will be used in this work.
This book is interested in life and culture in what is sometimes
referred to as the city center area as opposed to the larger
metropolitan area. The city center is a practical concept identified
by easy public transport access and the primary municipal
government. It is defined by the commercial and geographic
center of a municipal area. Tourists typically visit the city center
when visiting a city. In defining the city, this area includes the
downtown area and the immediate adjoining neighborhoods
identified with the downtown area rather than identified as
suburbs. Museums and cultural life are centered here, financial
institutions have their corporate offices here, and the downtown
shopping district is located here.
These city spaces offer housing in large high-rise buildings, new
townhouse developments in gentrified neighborhoods, and
closely spaced single-family dwellings. In many city center
neighborhoods housing, though dense, is very expensive while in
other neighborhoods poverty has decimated the value of housing.
Some think of impoverished neighborhoods in city centers as the
inner city. In reality, city centers include widely different types of
neighborhoods. Municipalities frequently approach the challenge
of affordable housing for those in poverty in a city center through
publicly owned housing projects. Increasingly, such housing areas
are distributed throughout the city.
Why does this book focus on the urban center rather than the
larger metropolitan area? The Gospel tends to find a welcome
place in suburban neighborhoods characterized by family needs
and the insulation distance has provided from the culture of a
city. Churches have thrived, if it can be said that churches are
thriving anywhere in today's western culture, in these suburban
neighborhoods. It is in the population of the city center that
religion in general has had greater difficulty. There the influence
of Christianity has diminished. Exceptions are notable among
first generation immigrant populations and disadvantaged
populations living in substandard conditions within a particular
area of the city.
But especially where prosperity has accompanied life in the
city, secularism has displayed its power to replace religiosity. That
tendency is even more disquieting as the migration of young
professionals from suburban areas to city centers increases
alongside the influence of art, culture, and the economic strength
of financial institutions and technology services in urban centers.
It is urgent for the church to address this challenge because
urbanization will continue to increase. By mid-century our world
population will be nearly 70% urban, and in developed countries
that number is projected as 84%. Those numbers relate to the
larger metropolitan area, but more and more of these people will
live in the city center and rarely venture to the suburbs or rural
locations. They may do so on occasional trips, but they will not
absorb the culture of such places, nor engage with the church
congregations located there.
Ours is a future in the city. And the city center is the core of the
culture. The challenges faced by human life in the city will
describe the focus of concern, research, and innovation in our
global society in the coming years. These challenges are also the
lens through which the Gospel will be experienced, if it will be
experienced at all, in the increasingly challenging secular city.
Culture and the City
Cities form as people decide to live in close proximity to one
another. However, the people groups in an urban se ing remain
distinctive to some varying degree, and o en prefer to live in a
particular space close to others of their distinguishing culture.
They do so to further their own security, experience social
fulfillment, find support in their pursuit of opportunity, and
perhaps share a common spirituality. All cities have that in
common, though the particular characteristics of the
neighborhoods differ from one city to another.
Understanding the culture of a city requires reflection on this
tendency of people groups to cluster together. As mentioned
above one such factor is security. People from the earliest times
have known that they can band together to achieve safety. It is
paradoxical that refuge with others is needed to protect us from
others. The formation of laws, community authority, security
forces such as police, and the boundaries that define our political
area, are more trusted in a social structure with others of like
culture in the city. The tendency to congregate in culturally
defined neighborhoods is at least partially defined by this
response to the human search for security.
This is not a new phenomenon in human history. In the
following chapter the provision of safety and refuge in the city in
ancient times will be noted. Biblical cities were intended to
protect people, even as they commi ed wrong, were accused, or
were wronged by others. Justice was a feature of the city. That
inclination continues to the present day. People sense that justice
is best distributed among people who understand a distinctive
cultural group in the city.
First-generation immigrant populations in particular seek
security when entering a new land by forming distinguishing
neighborhoods. Such strangers in a new land rarely seek rural
surroundings. The opportunity to earn and to own a home is
envisioned within the security such a city neighborhood provides.
They seem to find empowerment within a location marked by
people of common heritage.
Security is of course not the only factor driving culture in a city.
Humans are relational beings. Society is formed in the city, and it
is in that place people find community. We develop our lives
within the influence of a nuclear and extended family, and then
seek acquaintance with people beyond our family. We play, work,
and worship with an ever-expanding community of others as we
mature. Cities outpace rural environments in satisfying this social
need.
Work and education further shape culture. Work, when it
achieves its creative potential, thrives in a community that brings
diverse families together. People may have se led in a
neighborhood within the city characterized by a distinct people
group, but usually work in an environment that is far more
diverse. The workplace provides an intersection of cultures. The
public school sometimes offers a similar opportunity. Work and
education, more than religion, provide an engine for producing a
new urban culture by bringing diverse people together.
Accompanying beliefs and worldview are reformed as a product
of that interaction. Significantly, religion has less influence in
shaping the worldview, and subsequent culture, of the dweller in
the urban center than work and education.
This reality hints at the challenge of
"Society is urban culture to the church. Culture is
formed in the shaped in the work place, the public
city, and it is in schools, and the resulting exchanges
that place people they generate. The marks of our culture
— art, smart phones, food, symphony,
find community." fashion, theater, music, and architecture
— all emerge from the creative exchange of people living in the
city who work and learn with others. A new meaning emerges
from the exchanges provided in city life, and the impact gathers
strength as time moves forward. Thus, living in the city is not
only living in the center where culture is generated, it means our
culture is transformed. The church can find itself on the outside
of this progression, and increasingly detached from the issues
people in the city experience in their lives.
The marks of that culture move out from the city as people
publish their creative activity or they reach out from the city. For
instance, when art, empowered by the common media forms of
the internet, film, and broadcasting, is received well in the urban
center, we rush to publish the news and share the experience with
others outside these centers.
Spirituality in the City
We may lament the decline of religious institutions as
generators of culture, but the reality remains. No amount of
lament will reverse the course. True, the earliest city dwellers
viewed shared spiritual belief as the identity of their city; their
city was inseparable from ideas about religion. We may wish for
those days to return. But they are history. Religion is far more
distanced from the nature of the city today. Christianity is simply
not operating with very much power in such centers of creativity.
This is especially true where secular thinking dominates the
culture of a neighborhood, as among young adults whose
ancestral heritage is rooted in Western Europe.
However, a new form of spirituality thrives, though in less
institutional forms. Humans are spiritual beings. For be er or
worse, new ideas about spirituality are thriving in the creative
milieu of an urban neighborhood. These ideas become pa erns of
belief compatible with the diversity, ideas, and culture emerging
out of the shared experience of the city.
So, spirituality has not died in the city. Secularism has not
replaced spirituality, and a post-Christian world, whatever that
might be, is not a world devoid of spirituality. But what and how
worship is expressed has clearly changed. Freedom, ideas,
individualism, choices, power, wealth, human capacity itself — all
are objects of worship in today's cities. Cities should still be
recognized as immense worshipping communities, although the
objects of worship bear li le resemblance to the God of sacred
texts or as conceived in Eastern traditions. This is a global
phenomenon, not merely a western problem. Thus, the temple is a
rather neglected place in the exploding cities of China. And so it is
for a Christian; the gods of the city today have li le spiritual
connection or resemblance to the faith of our traditions.
It is not that traditional churches have totally disappeared in
the heart of the city. Some thrive among first-generation
immigrants, or among populations experiencing disadvantaged
circumstances. There are some unique models of Christian
churches in the city center that thrive, even a racting upwardly
mobile and diverse young professionals from various
neighborhoods. The common characteristics of such
congregations, the case studies in this book will assert, is that
they have a high degree of relationality and demonstrate
Christianity by active social service to their city. They do so more
than earlier generations of their particular faith tradition.
The changing nature of spirituality in the city may seem to be a
risk. The development certainly poses a challenge to the Gospel,
but it also presents an opportunity. People seek to worship; we are
worshipping beings. Here exactly is the opportunity. The city is a
vastly interdependent system. People seek to find meaning as
their lives are transformed in the space of the city. The Gospel can
speak in the midst of the need for security, longing for freedom,
administration of justice, exploration of new and critical thought,
expressions of art, or seeking new economic opportunity. Christ
can speak as powerfully to these human concerns as He does to
the doctrinal formations that shaped our faith traditions in
earlier times. His witness becomes real as we seek Him in the
context of these issues.
Understand that social action should not be seen as a
substitute for Gospel truth in the city center. To be sure, social
action on the part of religious institutions in the city is positive.
Such ministry advances the Gospel. Churches should engage in
social action, if for no other reason than love for others is at the
heart of their faith. But in fact, institutional social action of
churches is probably no more effective in speaking to the urban
dweller than is the witness of personal involvement of disciples
of Christ in the city within their vocations and the other aspects
of their daily lives — art, pleasure, health, education, and
expressed a itudes about urban society. It is the authentic life
application of the Gospel that the city will hear. Such a life is
evangelistic, though it redefines evangelism in a more
transforming sense.
 One other perspective bears repeating in
this context. The city abounds with evil. As
asserted repeatedly in this book, I hold a
"People find
belief that human kind is naturally, in our belonging and
postfall condition, bent to evil. Where the identification
Gospel is not embraced, where faith is not with others in
prevalent, a naturalistic worldview surfaces the city."
various forms of evil. And it is far more
apparent in a crowded urban context. Such evil does exist in rural
America, the country of my home. But it is more hidden. So, one
cannot speak of the calling to evangelize the city, or speak with
optimism in regard to the city, without reasonably acknowledging
the evil that exists in humanity and its prevalence in the city.
It is in the pressing circumstances of the city that the
righteousness of Jesus may be most clearly demonstrated by a
disciple. Those social circumstances are where people will search
for hope. So, the city remains an incredible opportunity for the
church. But the compelling truth is we must be there, living in the
midst of their social circumstance.
Conclusion
Cities have been a human experience from the beginning of
time. Today they are the center of power, culture, economy, and
spirituality. Most of the world's wealth is produced and
exchanged in the city. In a time when technology makes it
possible to live and work wherever we like, people are choosing
more and more to live in cities. Cities will continue to provide the
narratives of our experience, and lead the way in development of
technology, culture, and worship.
People continue to migrate to the city. People have an optimism
about the city, although there are large portions of today's cities
marked by poverty. It is not that the city has made people poor.
However, the city has not always resolved poverty, or always
afforded the dreams of the poor who come to the city. The reality
remains that the city is the center of power and wealth, and those
who live in the city seek, even expect, to share in that economic
opportunity.
People find belonging and identification with others in the city.
Although populations cluster in certain neighborhoods, the vision
for creativity, experimentation and alternatives drives the
formation of new more diverse cultures in the city. Identification
is shaped by new categories revolving around influences in the
work place, education, vocational interests, or art.
The city is a place of paradox and dilemma. Though cities hold
promise, they do not always satisfy human need. One can
describe cities as broken, in trouble, even as places of despair.
They have no capacity in themselves to cause worship to flourish.
They drive cultural and ecological change, growth, and pollution
at the same time. Cities enchant us with possibility, but for many
the a raction of the city has been a deception, and the city has
become a place of injustice.
The city needs the Gospel. The significance and challenge of the
city for the Christian church is the question of how to go about
sharing the Gospel there. It is easy to react to the changes
happening in the city, to critique the influence it has on human
culture. But critical responses to change do not constitute a
positive witness. We cannot simply sound an alarm. Warnings are
of li le help when humans are shaping and defining new
horizons in technology and striving to solve vexing problems.
The city is an opportunity. It is an opportunity for the church to
respond with love and care to the challenges facing urban
populations. It is a challenge for anyone, Christian or non-
Christian, to be in the midst of a new culture forming in the inner
city every day. The focus of Christian service should be where
people are: in the city. Christians should bring their influence into
urban centers as they live, work, play, socialize, and worship in
their neighborhood.
___________
1 Glaeser, Edward. (2011) The Triumph of the City. London: Macmillan, p. 7.
2 Ibid, p. 8.
 Christ in the City
If you love what God loves, you will love the city. —
Timothy Keller

Christians o en see the city as a place where immorality

flourishes and Christian beliefs are eroded. Apart from careful
reflection, the Scripture may appear to universally support such a
view. The descendants of Cain, the first murderer, are city
builders (Genesis 4). Sodom and Gomorrah are so evil they are
destroyed by fire from Heaven (Genesis 19:24).
Mission and ministry in the city require some persuasion
regarding our call to transformational evangelism. Therefore, this
chapter intentionally centers on God's vision and calling for the
city. The Scripture does depict the city as a place of evil, but it also
defines the city as a positive place provided by God where people
are drawn to dwell.
Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to
dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered
them from their distress. He led them by a straight way, till
they reached a city to dwell in. Let them thank the Lord for
His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of
man! For He satisfies him who is thirsty, and the hungry He
fills with good things (Psalm 107:4-9, RSV).
Here the psalmist depicts the city as a place where humans can
experience abundant life, a good place. In Scripture the city is
depicted both as a place where God is glorified and also a place
where human sinfulness thrives. So, the city is at once a place of
promise and a place of evil. "...The city, while an accumulator of
the energies of culture, is also an accumulator of potencies of evil
(Amos 3:9, Micah i:5)."3 As Scripture unfolds the plan of
redemption, the city becomes a place where disciples of Christ
must show His love and compassion. The followers of Christ are
the redeemed citizens of God's city within every city (Isaiah 32:14,
Daniel 9:16).
The concept of the city was born when God asked the first
humans to cultivate the garden in which they were placed as their
first home. That space, Eden, was created to support the growth
and development of humanity: "And God said to them, 'Be fruitful
and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it...'" (Genesis 1:28, ESV).
The Garden of Eden (‫ﬠֵדֶן גּן‬, Gan 'Edhen) is the location specified as
the place in which this civilization would develop (Genesis 2, 3).
The Scriptures make it obvious that the first humans were
charged with the stewardship of Eden (Genesis 2:15). Cultivating
vegetation and caring for animal life was not all God charged
humankind with; theirs was the task of creating culture (Genesis
1:28-30, 5:1-2). They were to design the very nature and experience
of life in Eden. They were to guide the development of art,
architecture, science, family, education, and worship. So, the same
garden provided the space for the multiplication of families,
dwellings, and the routines of life. That meant the integration of
culture in all its aspects.
Life experienced in Eden was intended to develop into the life
of a city. "The couple in the garden was to multiply, so providing
the citizens of the city. Their cultivation of Earth's resources as
they extended their control over their territorial environment
through the fabrication of sheltering structures would produce
the physical architecture of the city."4 Provision for life, the tree
of life (Genesis 2:9), and the waters sustaining life (Genesis 2:10),
were in Eden. A river is described as flowing "out of Eden to water
the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers" (Genesis
2:10, see also 11-14). God created life with an urban view in mind.
"In keeping with this urban intention of God, Genesis images of
the garden elsewhere in Scripture become urban images."5 The
psalmist would envision these same features in the "city of God":
"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the
holy habitation of the Most High" (Psalm 46:4, ESV).
 It should also be noted at this point that God wished to be with
His creation in the original Eden (Genesis 1:26, 3:8). The first city
was to be a place for humankind where God would, at least in
some portion of their lives, be present with them. God graciously
provided assurance of His presence with fallen humanity in the
portable sanctuary during the wilderness wanderings of Israel,
then in the temple, the center of life in the city of Jerusalem. The
Scripture envisions God preparing a future heavenly city which
He will share with the redeemed. The Old Testament prophets
envision life through eternity sustained in such a city: "On that
day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem..." (Zechariah 14:8,
ESV).
The same images in Old Testament literature that describe
what sustains life in the city are employed by the New Testament
writers in images of the New Jerusalem: "Then the angel showed
me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from
the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the
street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life..."
(Revelation 22:1-2, ESV). The city is the theme of the gi prepared
by God as our eternal home in apocalyptic literature: "And I saw
the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God..." (Revelation 21:2, ESV). The city is the dwelling place of God
in the recreated earth: "...the throne of God and of the Lamb will
be in it..." (Revelation 22:3, ESV). In the Scripture account, all
history moves to culmination in restoration of the city, the city of
God.
The remainder of this chapter will develop the concept of the
city throughout the Old Testament and New Testament
Scriptures, then provide a concise theology of the city.
The Old Testament City
In the Old Testament, the word for city is applied to villages
and larger population centers. There seems to be no distinction
based on the size of the human population. A city was wherever
people gathered to form a place with protection; it had walls and
could afford safety. It was a place of refuge for those who were
wronged and for wrongdoers who were seeking fair treatment
(Numbers 35:2527, Joshua 20). So, a city was identified as such
because it had boundaries, walls, order, could administer justice,
and had political identity.6
In the journey from Egypt to the promised land, Canaan, the
families and tribes of Israel wandered as nomads without a city.
Theirs was an unsatisfactory experience of transition. They were
not true nomads,7 that is, they were on a particular journey to a
place, not wandering as their choice for life. In Canaan, their
destination, they were to build and inhabit fortified cities, develop
places for sanctuary, and nurture culture and worship from such
centers (Deuteronomy 3:18-20).
No city in the biblical account is more significant than
Jerusalem, a centrally located city in the land of promise.
Discovered artifacts support the occupation of what is the
ancient center of Jerusalem, referred to later by the Hebrews as
"The City of David," dating back to the 4th millennium before
Christ.8 There is further evidence to support the claim that the
locale was a permanent se lement 3000 years before Christ.9 The
Execration texts and Amama le ers refer to the city nearly 2000
years before Christ.10 The biblical account first mentions
Jerusalem as "Salem," a city ruled by Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18).
In the book of Joshua, Jerusalem is defined as lying within
territory allocated to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:28). David
conquered the city in the siege of Jebus, and the city is referred to
as "The City of David" (Judges 19:10-12, 1 Chronicles 11: 4-7). He then
transferred his capital to the city making it the capital of a united
kingdom. (2 Samuel 5:7-9)
King David determined Jerusalem would be the political and
religious capital of Israel. He envisioned it as a center that would
promote worship. It would be a place from which justice would be
distributed and modeled for cities of the nation. With its religious
significance, Jerusalem became known as the city of God (1 Kings
11:36, 2 Kings 21:4, Nehemiah 11:1). The people of Israel recognized
the providence of God and so praised the city as built by God
(Psalm 48, 87). It was where God dwelled with them (Psalm 46:4).
When exiled from Jerusalem, the Israelite longed to return to it
to be in God's presence (Jeremiah 29). To be in a city where God is
has always been the longing of the human heart (Psalm 46:4-5, 107:
4-7). The original family longed for the blessing of Eden a er their
banishment. The Israelite longed for Jerusalem.
In the Old Testament God is seen as a lover of the city and
sustains it: "She shall not be moved; God will help her when
morning dawns" (Psalm 46:5). Psalm 48 pictures the city as the joy
of the Earth (Psalm 48:2), a place where God makes Himself
known (verse 3), a place God will protect forever (verse 8), where
God issues judgment (verse 11).
Jerusalem was not the only city that God regarded. In the
remarkable story of Jonah, sent on a mission of redemption to
Nineveh, we see God's love declared for all cities. Nineveh was a
city notorious for sin (Jonah 1:2), a place of pluralistic idolatry.
Expressing His love for Nineveh, God said to Jonah who had fled
from his missional call, "You pity the plant, for which you did not
labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night
and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great
city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not
know their right hand from their le , and also much ca le?"
(Jonah 4:10-11, ESV).
Babylon was another city with a significant role in the
narrative of Israel. Babylon was at first a small town which had
sprung up by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Babylon
became a significant city under the rule of the Amorite king
Hammurabi in the 18th century BC. The region of South
Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia.
A er being destroyed and then rebuilt by the Assyrians,
Babylon became the seat of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Nebuchadnezzar II reigned in Babylon
605 BC to 562 BC. It was Nebuchadnezzar
who besieged Jerusalem in 597 BC and
"God has
deposed king Jehoiakim, destroyed the always intended
temple, and took Daniel captive with to dwell with His
other Israelites (see 2 Kings 20, 24-25; 2 people, to be
Chronicles 36, Ezra 5, Jeremiah 29, Daniel where they are."
1, 2). Because of the destruction of
Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, those taken captive into
Babylon, including Israel's religious and political leaders, and the
assumption of divinity in opposition to the Jewish idea of
monotheism, it was appropriate for the Israelites to disdain
Babylon and reject that city and empire as a place of evil.
False prophets among the Israelites announced the end of the
Babylonian exile, the captivity, and release from the crushing
effect of its culture on their faith (Jeremiah 28). The intention of
the rulers of Babylon was to assimilate Israel into Babylonian
culture so thoroughly that Israel would forget its monotheism
and conform to the worship and culture of that imperial city.
Without question, Babylon represented a risk to the faith and
culture of the Hebrews. But God's intention was for the exiles to
remain in Babylon until an appointed time: "Build houses... plant
gardens... take wives...multiply there. But seek the welfare of the
city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its
behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah
29:5-7, ESV). God called the Israelites to live their faith though
living in the midst of that city, to be faithful, and to seek good for
the others in Babylon.
The New Testament City
The ministry of Jesus was centered in cities. The imagery He
employed in His teaching draws from the city just as it does from
the scenes of agriculture. He speaks of courts (Ma hew 5:25), the
city market (Ma hew 23:7), financial exchanges (Ma hew 25:27)
and tax collecting (Ma hew 9:10), all of which are urban images.
The final purpose of His ministry was destined to occur in the city
of Jerusalem. The Gospel writer Luke uses the journey to
Jerusalem as a key turning point in the entire narrative of the
Gospel: "He set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51, ESV). The
primary focus of Jesus ministry was the city.
In Jesus, God enters into humanity to dwell with them. God has
always intended to dwell with His people, to be where they are.
Jesus is God with us, Immanuel (Ma hew 1:23), thus a fulfillment
of the temple. He is in a spiritual sense the new temple. "So the
Jews said to Him, 'What sign do You show us for doing these
things?' Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up.'. But He was speaking about the temple of
His body" (John 2: 18-21, ESV).
John describes Jesus restoring worship in the temple building
in Jerusalem early in His ministry (John 2: 13-17). Jesus had a high
regard for the temple because it provided a compelling witness of
God's presence and His salvation of humankind. That place was
situated in the heart of Jerusalem and was o en the scene of
Jesus ministry. God designed that the city would provide a center
for worship and spirituality. In similar fashion, Jesus viewed His
disciples, including all those who would believe in Him for
generations to come, as a witness to humanity through the city —
a "city set on a hill" (Ma hew 5:14). The future city Jesus promised
was envisioned as a witness to the universe, free from the idols of
humanity, a place where God dwells in the center of the city
(Revelation 21:22).
 Jerusalem in the first century was an especially dangerous
place for Jesus, but He labored for its salvation without regard for
His safety (Luke 13:34). It was not an idyllic place where
righteousness reigned. Jesus recognized that the city was
forsaken not merely for its crime and immorality, but due to its
political and religious corruption (Luke 13:35).
That reality did not deter Jesus from ministry in and for the
city. Jesus entered the city on the first day of the passion week
thus demonstrating the initiative of God coming into His place.
Aware that it would be His last week in Jerusalem, foreseeing the
tragedies lying ahead for Jerusalem, Jesus paused to reflect on the
city. So great was His love for the city that He wept for it (Luke
19:41). Rather than forsake the city, Jesus then entered and began
the days of service that would result in His own sacrifice.
Acts describes a church that was closely united as a community,
evangelistic and very urban (Acts 2:1,5). The world of the book of
Acts was cosmopolitan, marked by distinct cities that identified
each region. The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles as they met
together in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4). Through persecution, the church
was dispersed from Jerusalem but established in cities
throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1). Jerusalem was, in one
sense, replaced by Antioch, a Greek city, because it becomes
another focal point of the distribution of the Gospel (Acts 13). No
longer was the place of God thought of in one city, Jerusalem, but
wherever humankind dwells. The expansion of the church
throughout the world was in the cities. The narratives of the
Epistles describe the expansion of the church centered in such
urban areas.
Paul embarked on three mission trips, initiated in specific cities,
and marked the mission journeys by scenes in one city a er
another (Acts 13, 15, 18). John Sto chronicles the mission of Paul
to expand the reach of the Gospel in the cities. From centers like
Athens, the intellectual capital of the Greco-Roman world, to
Ephesus and Heierapolis, Laodicea, and Colossae, the cities of the
Lycus valley, Paul focused on the mission to the city.11 Paul's urban
vision eventually led him to share the Gospel in the imperial city
of Rome. It was in the planting of the church in Rome that the
Gospel had gone to the entire world. Paul was a city person who
lived out his life in a city eventually suffering martyrdom in the
city of Rome.
The book of Hebrews emphasizes a vision for the city of God.
The city is described as something we look forward to. Abraham
looked forward to a city "whose designer and builder is God"
(Hebrews 11:10, ESV). Though roaming the Earth in tents, God "has
prepared for them a city" (Hebrews 11:16). The future city is the
inheritance of followers of Jesus, who "...have come to Mount Zion
and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem..."
(Hebrews 12:22, ESV).
The book of Revelation is addressed to seven city churches
(Revelation 1:4, 2, 3). Judgment is announced on Babylon, the
imperial city that oppressed the city of God (Revelation 18:10). And
many interpreters of Revelation 13 see in its imagery the city of
Rome specifically as a religious and political power. The end of the
apocalyptic book describes the New Jerusalem coming down to
establish God' s presence with men through eternity (Revelation
21:2). The New Jerusalem is described in very real terms. The
materials used to build its streets, walls, and gates are related in
detail. It is described in dimensions that emphasize its enormity;
providing for the redeemed from the ages who dwell there with
God. Its gates are open. God dwells there so it is a temple, the
temple of God.
Harvey Conn describes the New Jerusalem in eschatological
imagery as the fulfillment of God's intention. "This eschatological
strand repeatedly ties the future of the city with the original,
sinless past of Eden and its restoration in Christ."12 Conn asserts
that if sin had not entered, Eden would have become what the
New Jerusalem envisions, a perfect city. New Jerusalem is Eden
restored: a place to build culture, to find safety, and to be with
God.
Where Sin Abounds?
 We hardly need to be reminded that the city is a place where
evil is prevalent. I launched this chapter of biblical reflection on
the city, a theology of the city, with an acknowledgement of the
evil in human experience. Yes, we see the city as a place where
immorality flourishes and Christian beliefs are eroded.
The Scripture o en reminds us of that
"The sinfulness reality. The descendants of Cain, the first
of the city did murderer, are city builders (Genesis 4).
not deter Jesus Sodom and Gomorrah are so evil they
from ministry in are destroyed by fire (Genesis 19:24).
Nineveh, like so many cities referenced
and for the city. in Old Testament narratives, is a place
He demonstrated where godlessness prevails (Jonah 1:1).
the initiative of And again, note that Jerusalem in the
God by going to first century was the place where the
the city." great controversy between Satan and
Christ would result in Christ's sacrifice
for sin. Jesus acknowledged the enmity with God inherent in the
people of Jerusalem (Luke 13:34). He recognized it as a place of
crime, immorality, and corruption (Luke 13:35). The apostles
repeatedly struggled with all kinds of evil in the sinful culture of
the city when they planted the congregations we are acquainted
with in the New Testament record (1 Corinthians 6:12-15).
Chapters could be wri en regarding the pleasure seeking,
sexual sin, and unrighteousness of humankind in the city. But this
is not a book focused on evil; it is a book calling us to proclaim
and persuade for Christ where evil dwells in the heart. The
assurance of Scripture is that God will bring judgment on
humankind, mercifully ending evil (Revelation 1:1-3).
The reality of the great controversy between Christ and Satan
does not deter us from our mission. Sin is real. Satan is real. Those
truths do not somehow command every Christian to leave the
city. Rather, they emphasize our calling. The sinfulness of the city
did not deter Jesus from ministry in and for the city. He
demonstrated the initiative of God by going to the city. Again, so
great was His love for the city that He wept for it (Luke 19:41).
Rather than forsake the city because of evil, while acknowledging
the reality of sin and of its destruction, we are called to share
Christ and His sacrifice.
The Formation of the Christian Church in the City
As has been noted, the gathering of God's people in cities has
been evident throughout biblical history. It is self-evident that
the church forms where people are. Jesus sent His disciples from
village to village, and He focused His ministry in the cities where
people lived. Following Christ, the apostles planted churches in
cities throughout Asia and the then-known world. Though there
are evidences of retreat for renewal to quiet places, mission
emphasis continued to center in the city. Christianity certainly
did spread throughout the countryside, but the narratives and
major hubs of church life throughout the centuries following the
New Testament record and following the reformation continued
in the city.
And what of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? It is helpful to
note the Adventist movement's birth and formation in New
England during the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great
Awakening was a Protestant movement in the United States in
the 19th century.13 The period of interest in this writing is the mid-
and second half of the century. Many Protestant denominations
grew rapidly during this period. The movement was characterized
by enthusiasm, conviction, and faith, rejecting the skepticism of
the enlightenment.
Those embracing the Awakening confronted the values of
society and launched reform movements addressing such issues
as slavery, women's rights, and temperance. They were convicted
that the evils in society needed correction prior to the anticipated
millennium and second coming of Christ. Ellen G. White and
other pioneers in the Adventist movement were among those
reformers though differing in their prophetic interpretation of
the doctrine of the second advent. Postmillennialism theology
dominated, and leaders asserted their divine calling to bring
purity into the world and the church in preparation for the
coming millennium.14 Religious leaders saw it as their divinely
appointed duty to institute reform, and members saw their role as
instituting reform in the social order.15
Shaped by that culture, Adventist mission was focused on
preparing Christians for the imminent return of Jesus. It was
understandably a natural focus of the founding vision of
Adventism to foster a distinct community prepared for the
eschaton. Preparation for the end meant being separate from the
world, to come out, to be ready. Tension regarding evangelism,
reforms in society, and distancing from the evil that characterized
culture in the city provided a tension in Adventist mission.
Thus, Adventists have reflected on warning regarding the
sinfulness of the city alongside calls to evangelize the city. The
church continued to focus on mission to the city. It was in 1901
that Pastor Stephen and He y Haskell moved to the center of
New York City to plant a church and serve the community. He
reminded his fellow pastors that he felt very alone. "Do not let
our brethren forget to pray for us," he wrote. "Do not forget the
address. It is 400 West 57th St., New York City."16 His appeal
reflects the singularity of his service. The Adventist church,
rooted in New England, had flourished in small town and rural
contexts, and he felt alone in the city center. Ellen White
specifically affirmed the work of the Haskells urging that their
ministry provide a model for outreach in other great cities.17
Early in the 20th century, Ellen White affirmed a small group of
Adventist Christians actively serving in the city of San Francisco,
a ministry likened to a "beehive" of mission activity.
During the past few years the "beehive" in San Francisco has
been indeed a busy one. Many lines of Christian effort have
been carried forward by our brethren and sisters there. These
included visiting the sick and destitute, finding homes for
orphans and work for the unemployed, nursing the sick, and
teaching the truth from house to house, distributing
literature, and conducting classes on healthful living and the
care of the sick. A school for the children has been conducted
 in the basement of the Laguna Street meetinghouse. For a
time a workingmen's home and medical mission was
maintained. On Market Street, near the city hall, there were
treatment rooms, operated as a branch of the St. Helena
Sanitarium. In the same locality was a health food store.
Nearer the center of the city, not far from the Call building,
was conducted a vegetarian cafe, which was open six days in
the week and entirely closed on the Sabbath. Along the water
front, ship mission work was carried on. At various times our
ministers conducted meetings in large halls in the city. Thus
the warning message was given by many.18
Today the Adventist church in North America has significant
and important congregations in cities, providing health and
vitality to the denomination in North America. Such churches, it
should be noted, are largely thriving among recent immigrant
populations, in African American neighborhoods, or in Hispanic
neighborhoods. Those congregations are o en heavily engaged in
community organizing, service ministries, and meeting the needs
of people.
Healthy Adventist churches where you can see young
Caucasian people who comprise vast numbers of the city center's
population and represent the primary migration group into the
city centers of North America and Western Europe are rare. There
are thriving urban churches in the Adventist faith in Inter-
America, South America, Asia, and other global contexts. But the
mission of the church among educated, prospering populations in
the city center is not prospering, especially among those of
Caucasian heritage.
We have o en exhorted one another to mission in the city. Ellen
White was among those who urged us to view the future of
evangelism in urban centers. "The work in the cities is essential
work for this time. When the cities are worked as God would have
them, the result will be the se ing in operation of a mighty
movement such as we have not yet witnessed."19 "Churches are to
be planted. No great centers are to be established, as at Ba le
Creek; and yet there will be some important
churches raised up, and meeting houses
"...the mission
provided in large cities...."20 Ellen White
of the church
envisioned "new centers of influence
wherever an opening can be found."21
among educated,
It is instructive to reflect on the reality prospering
that there are hundreds of contemporary populations
examples of Christian mission that thrive in in the city
the city. Some thrive today, though birthed center is not
over a century ago, like Moody Bible Institute prospering..."
in Chicago or Yonge Street Mission, a
thriving true center of Christian ministries in Toronto. Others like
the National City Church in Washington D.C., a multi-campus
church planting movement launched from a coffee house, or
Reality Church, a church planting movement launched on the
Pacific Coast of California, are contemporary.
Christ the Redeemer Church in New
"Healthy York City is a notable example. A small
churches are group of 15 people began a study group
service and in 1989 in an apartment on the Upper
mission oriented. East Side in Manha an. Their focus was
an exploration of reason and Scripture
They focus on that welcomed the participation of
the needs of skeptics into the dialogue. They did not
people. They necessarily see themselves as an
are welcoming. outreach of the Presbyterian
They engage in denomination, though that was a
dialogue around common bond in their shared Christian
real issues in experience. As their group expanded,
the city without they transferred to the Advent Hope
Church — a Seventh-day Adventist
judgment, church facility — and by 1993 were
and they build holding four services each Sunday. They
community." outgrew the building and moved their
weekly worship service to the Hunter College auditorium. The
focus continued to be conversational dialogue regarding issues in
human experience, discussions regarding reason and faith, and
involvement in service on the neighborhood level. They embraced
becoming a church planting movement, establishing new
churches in New York and in other cities in various locations
around the globe. Today, Redeemer averages over 5,000 in
a endance in the heart of the city in the home congregation.
Their focus continues as dialogue regarding faith, reason, and
science, community development, social justice, integration of
faith and vocation, day and a er school child care, small weekly
gatherings for prayer and study, worship, and in planting other
urban churches.
What is the point of this brief reflection regarding the
formation of the Christian church in the city? Here it is. The
suggestion is simply not true that the Christian church as a
mission organizationzation and worshipping community is dead
in the city centers of highly advanced economies like North
America or Western Europe or Australia. Thriving congregations
exist in underserved neighborhoods and in wealthy
neighborhoods, among immigrant populations, African American
populations, and in wealthy Caucasian neighborhoods. They do
have certain characteristics in common. They are service and
mission oriented. They focus on the needs of people. They are
welcoming. They engage in dialogue around real issues in the city
without judgment, and they build community. They understand
that culture today is new, distinct from biblical, reformation, or
early American history. The Adventist movement needs to learn
important lessons regarding mission from those efforts that are
blessed by God in such urban centers.
Conclusion
God is relational by nature and created humankind in His
likeness with that same propensity (Genesis 1:26). From the very
beginning of creation, humans were to inhabit and develop the
culture of a garden city God had prepared for them. God intended
to commune with them there. Though humankind separated
themselves from Him in the fall to sin, God refused to abandon
His desire to dwell with His creation.
Thus, cities are not accidental happenings; they are, if we can
imagine them unspoiled by sin, God's intention. Cities are not in
themselves an outgrowth of sinfulness. The cultivation and
nurture of life was commi ed by God to humans and naturally
resulted in the formation and multiplication of cities across the
Earth for that purpose. Culture was formed in the cities that
developed as the human population spread. The responsibility to
serve as faithful stewards of the Earth required the formation of
those cities. Thus, the city was God's intention, a means for
fulfilling the command of the Creator, not a retreat from His
charge.
In the Old Testament we find the record of a people God
established to provide a faithful witness to His character for
Earth. He accompanied the Hebrew people during their
wilderness wanderings and then provided for His presence with
them in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the place of the temple, and
the city was envisioned as the city of God. Life in Old Testament
times developed around cities. They were places of safety, places
for extended families to grow, and the center of spiritual life.
In the New Testament, Christ is announced as God with us
(Ma hew 1:23), the new temple, built without hands (Acts 7:47-48).
Further, His disciples are envisioned as becoming the city of His
dwelling.
"For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the
Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but
 you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the
household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in
whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into
a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built
together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit"
(Ephesians 2:18-22).
In His sacrifice we have entrance into the Kingdom of God; we
become citizens of the heavenly city (Hebrews 11:16).
"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable
angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the
firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of
all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to
Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant..." (Hebrews 12:22-24,
ESV).
In the heavenly Jerusalem we have access to God through
Christ, who is our high priest, ministering for us in this present
age. Thus, in Jesus we experience restoration with God in the
sanctuary of the heavenly New Jerusalem where God dwells. We
find refuge in this heavenly city just as the people of God found in
the cities of ancient times (Hebrews 2:17, 6:18-20). Our hope is in
Christ, and we are citizens of the city of God.
A theology of the city compels us to mission in the city. God
cares for the city. Yes, wherever men dwell there is evil, and the
great controversy is played out in our history. But He has
provided a sacrifice for the urban dweller and sends us to make
disciples in that environment. Just as He dwelt among us, He calls
us to dwell with others who need the Gospel. Sinfulness is a
reality in the city as it is wherever there are humans. But we are
to claim the promise of the Holy Spirit and live among those who
need the Gospel.
Christians should prayerfully adopt positive a itudes toward
living and working in the city. The city itself must not be blamed
for the sinfulness of humanity. The Adventist church must
awaken to its mission in the city. We cannot be missional or
incarnational in the process of disciple-making without being
with the community we serve. God has called us to the city.
___________
3 Vos, Geerhardus (1948). Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, p. 294.
4 Kline, Meridith G. (1983). Kingdom Prologue, Vol. 2. South Hamilton, Massachuse s: M.
G. Kline, p. 23.
5 Conn, Harvie M. and Manuel Ortiz (2001) Urban Ministry: The Kingdom, the City, and
the People of God. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, p. 87.
6 Keller, Timothy (2012). Center Church. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, p. 136.
7 Benjamin, Don C. (1983) Deuteronomy and City Life: A Form Criticism of Texts With the
Word CITY in Deuteronomy 4:41-26:19. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, p.
23.
8 Freedman, David Noel (2000) Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing, pp. 694-95.
9 Vaughn, Andrew G. and Ann E. Killebrew, eds. (August 2003) "Jerusalem in Bible and
Archaeology: The First Temple Period," SBL Symposium, Series 18. Atlanta: Society of
Biblical Literature.
10 Vaughn, Andrew G. and Ann E. Killebrew, eds. (August 2003) "Jerusalem in Bible and
Archaeology: The First Temple Period", SBL Symposium, Series 18. Atlanta: Society of
Biblical Literature, pp. 32-33.
11 Sto , John R. W. (1990) The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church, and the World.
Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter Varsity, pp. 293-314.
12 Conn, Harvie (1979) "Christ and the City: Biblical Themes for Building Urban Theology
Models" in Discipling the City, Roger Greenway, ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, pp. 237.
13 Ahlstrom, Sydney E. (1972) A Religious History of the American People. New Haven,
Conneticut: Yale University Press pp. 385-511
14 Fredrickson, George M. (1998) "The Coming of the Lord: The Northern Protestant
Clergy and the Civil War Crisis." In Miller, Randall M.; Stout, Harry S.; Wilson, Charles
Reagan. Religion and the American Civil War. NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 110-130.
15 Daniel Walker Howe, (2007) What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America,
1815-1848 New York: Oxford University Press pp. 164-328.
16 Haskell, Stephen. "The Bible Training School," Advent Review and Sabbath Herald,
November 12, 1901, p. 739.
17 White, Ellen G. Evangelism, p. 385
18 White, Ellen G. Review and Herald, July 5, 1906
19 White, Ellen G. Medical Ministry, p. 304
20 White, Ellen G. AU Gleaner, January 8, 1902.
21 White, Ellen G. Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, p. 118.
 Who Lives in the City?
Blessed are the., poets and misfits, the artists, the writers
and music makers, the dreamers and the outsiders, for
they force us to see the world differently.—Melissa
Frances

Who lives in the city? The answer changes with whom you ask.
While people recognize that there are differing neighborhoods
and population groups in their city, they tend to describe the city
they know best. They see it through the lens of their life in their
particular neighborhood. So, if you ask an immigrant from Puerto
Rico living in a Northeastern city of the United States about the
city, they will describe neighborhoods familiar to the families who
made a similar journey to America, found people like themselves,
and reestablished characteristics of their culture in their urban
neighborhood. If you ask an African American person, they will
o en describe challenges that have gripped generations of their
families living in poverty in communities struggling with poor
services, violence, and other social issues. If you ask a Caucasian
whose life formed in America or in Western Europe, they may
relate the characteristics of the urban neighborhoods that young
professionals and retirees are migrating back to and the ways
they enjoy the more sophisticated cultural dimensions of the city.
Though the answers differ, they are all right. The city is many
different people groups and neighborhoods. And although
urbanites generally have a view of the city dominated by their
own experience, they do form an interest in common conditions
affecting life for everyone in the city they share. Granted, o en
the interest is be er described as self-interest. One of the urban
challenges is concern and service outside of the isolation some
neighborhoods form from other people groups.
 So, the question, "Who lives in the city?" is an important one
that takes on both social and service dimensions. For a Christian,
the question can be phrased "Who is my neighbor" and cannot be
separated from what it means to be a disciple.
I asked a colleague who excels in social
"A majority of research, Petr Cincala, director of the
residents in Institute of Church Ministry at Andrews
urban contexts University, to help me accurately interpret
are white, non- characteristics of people who live in city
centers. I wanted to accurately describe
Hispanic, in who the people are, to understand their
ethnicity." social demographics, to explore what their
cultural heritage might be, and to help us recognize how they
view religion. I also wanted to discover who is moving to the city. I
believe the research can help establish some insights into the
trends in those and other factors. It has been my privilege to have
studied cities for many years and, in the process, interact with
some of the leading academics on the urban experience of North
America. I have read work a er work on the subject, and pastors
who have worked in the city centers of America have shared their
viewpoints with me. I have served alongside residents of various
communities in the context of urban ministries in several of
America's great cities and simply listened to people in the process.
Analysis of the data regarding the human story can expand our
knowledge. I am indebted to the work of Petr Cincala, director of
the Institute of Church Ministry at Andrews University, and to
another colleague, Monte Sahlin, recently retired a er three
decades as a research officer for the Adventist denomination and
five years as executive secretary of the interfaith Congregational
Studies Partnership. They provided collaboration by surfacing
and analyzing the data used to form a picture of the urban
dweller. In the process of presenting their work, my observations
and experience will be blended with the research in an effort to
understand some characteristics of people who live in the city.
The thoughts and words of the chapter are to their credit, though
o en reshaped in my sharing. For purposes of brevity, and
because of our collaboration, I have chosen to blend my words
with their reporting, add my own learning which is more
experiential, and thus to share our findings and observations in a
collective sense. I urge the reader to access their wri en data
report referenced in the endnote for this chapter for further
study. In the process, you will also be guided to several other
important pieces of research22 that we borrow from. Hopefully
you will examine these resources when challenged by our
assertions and also to expand your own learning.
The Demographic
We researched the characteristics of ten major urban centers in
America.23 In those cities, a true city center area was studied,
determined by such features as geographic centeredness, Zip
Code identities, and public transportation pa erns. These were
true high-density urban centers, not suburban neighborhoods of
the city. We believe that the characteristics and trends we find in
these selected centers inform the challenge of urban mission
across North America if not the world.
We found that people who live in urban centers are young. An
average of 27.2 percent of the population are 25 to 34 years of age.
This is more than double the 13.4 percent for that age group
among the entire nation's population. This is a remarkable
distinction among the urban population. Further, we learned the
distinction is not true for the 18-24 age group. They reflect the
same portion of the population in urban centers as in the entire
nation. Why? We believe it is because 18-24 years of age is the
prime age for college a endance, and undergraduate education is
generally located outside of the urban core. The university
campuses that are located in the 10 cities we studied generally
focus on graduate programs, not undergraduate programs. We
also feel that is a consistent pa ern throughout the nation.
My experience in observing urban populations and church
congregations over the past one or two decades underscores this
finding. More and more young adults are locating in the city
center a er their professional education when they are ready to
pursue their vocation or when doing further graduate studies. It
is not the college-age student; it is a graduate student or a person
launching a career who moves to the city.
A majority of residents in urban contexts are white, non-
Hispanic, in ethnicity. But the percent is a smaller majority than
for the national population; 60 percent as compared to 64 percent.
That majority varies from city to city. The migration to urban
communities from suburban and rural communities, we have
observed, is largely a white trend. Diverse population groups are
still expanding, but the nature of the growth is different. African
Americans, for instance, when they have grown up in an urban
context, may migrate to a different neighborhood but usually one
in the city in a more prosperous neighborhood.
Urban residents are highly educated. The majority of adults (57
percent) have a college degree, nearly twice the rate as for the
national population (29 percent). We felt this finding affirmed
what we knew from experience and also shapes the discipling
process for Christians. About half of college graduates have also
completed a graduate degree. Three out of four of the adult
residents are employed in professional or managerial
occupations, significantly greater than the 61 percent of the
national population. Young adults in these communities are
generally employed in the finance industry, technology
businesses, health care, education, social services and the arts, as
well as in small businesses that provide personal services, food,
and entertainment. The missional context in these highly
educated communities differs from the usual context in which
evangelical congregations approach ministry precisely because of
the level of education. These congregations have to adapt to a
different set of questions about God, science, reason, and
meaning-making in life.
The spending pa erns of urban dwellers differ from suburban
or rural communities. Two thirds of the households live in rented
dwellings, nearly twice the rate of the general population. Only 29
percent of the residences are single-house-hold dwellings as
compared to 67 percent nationwide. A total of 22 percent of the
households in these communities do not own a vehicle, more than
twice as many as the national norm. Nearly a third walk to work
or use public transit, four times the national norm. For many,
money is spent on the arts, travel, entertainment, and other
lifestyle choices. They simply do not invest in large homes —
though they may pay a very high price for limited space. Some
residents in urban neighborhoods may rent rather than own or
may not have an automobile.
Views on Marriage and Family
People in urban centers differ in their view of traditional
marriage. The majority of the adults in the communities we
studied were single and never married. The average segment of
adults who are single is 54.3 per cent, compared to 32.5 percent of
the national population. So, the people who live in these urban
communities are o en not married, or if they are, we discovered,
they are generally young couples without children. But the data
does not tell the whole story about marriage and family.
My observation has been that issues regarding sexuality,
marriage, and raising children vary with the differing ideas in the
cultures of diverse urban people groups. Person a er person of
Eurocentric heritage I have worked with in an urban context has
described a relationship with a person of the opposite gender in
the se ing of a group of friends or described selecting a more
preferred other in the group, while marriage is viewed as simply
one among many options. A neighborhood of Latin American
immigrants, on the other hand, typically gives voice to more
traditional marriage and family values. Cultural heritage still
impacts the way marriage and family is viewed. However, dating
practices, marriage, or cohabitation as elements of the culture in
all these diverse urban people groups differ from their suburban
and rural cultural counterparts. The challenge is that no single
description accurately describes a itudes about marriage and
family for every urban neighborhood.
The same can be said of raising children. A church in a
suburban community thrives as it ministers to families with
children and programs for various age levels. Though there are
needs to support parenting in the urban neighborhood, those
needs vary with the people group and are usually less
pronounced. O en among young adults, and especially
Eurocentric young adults, parenting is not high on the list of
options in their future. Raising children is no longer a social
expectation. Mission in the urban context presents a contrast to
the rural or suburban church where the overwhelming majority
of members are married and church life emphasizes married
couples, the challenges of parenting, or recovery from marriage
dissolution.
Religious Involvement
Active involvement in religion among city dwellers is low but
not significantly lower than is true for all Americans today. North
America is in the midst of a major shi away from church
a endance and regular participation in organized religion. That is
true in suburban and rural environments as well as the city.
Nearly 40 percent of the residents in the communities in this
study say they are not involved in the faith for which they have a
preference or family background. This compares to 34.7 percent of
the national adult population.
Asked if they have increased or decreased their faith
involvement in the last ten years, 25.2 percent of the adult
residents said that they have decreased their involvement in
religion. This is not much different than the 23.7 percent in the
national population. David T. Olson, director of the American
Church Research Project, observes that the level of church
a endance in the ten cities in this study is actually a li le higher
than the national average. He finds that on any given weekend
19.6 percent of the population a ends a religious gathering as
compared to 18.7 percent nationwide. We do not believe that data
tells the entire story, however. First, the church a endance data
he cites is for the entire county each city core is located in and not
for the specific sample clusters of local communities in the true
urban center. His data does not discriminate the city center from
the suburban neighborhoods. That makes a significant difference.
There is another factor. We have observed that African American
population groups have a much higher church a endance
behavior, and two of the cities in our sample are Washington, D.C.,
and Charlo e, South Carolina. These have very high levels of
church a endance in the represented counties due to the role
that the historically African American churches play in the local
cultures of those counties. If these two cases are removed, we
found that the average is 17.8 percent rather than 19.6. Another
observation warrants consideration. I have experienced notable
church loyalty among first generation immigrants and among
later generation Hispanic populations. In contrast, the church
loyalty among Eurocentric people in the urban context is quite
low.
What kind of church activity a racts the urban dweller? They
have a level of interest in two related activities that are above the
national norm in each case. A total of 27.4 percent indicated
interest in an adult theological discussion group compared to 22.5
percent among the general public. The second highest level is the
27.3 percent who are interested in activities featuring music,
drama, and the arts. The national norm is 18.9 percent which
suggests a much higher level of interest in artistic expression in a
religious context. This may mean that for these young adults, the
arts represent an important aspect of spirituality. The residents
of the communities in this study are less likely than the national
norm to be interested in family life activities, youth activities, and
senior citizen groups. This is understandable because of the stage
of life that these young adults are in as well as the future they
envision.
What about music in worship? The residents of the sample
communities are less interested in an emotionally upli ing style
of worship and more interested in an intellectually challenging
style of worship. About 22 percent prefer an emotionally upli ing
worship service compared to 26.4 percent of all Americans, and
15.2 percent prefer an intellectually challenging worship event
compared to 11 percent of all Americans. Again, the data differs
predictably with Eurocentric people groups, immigrant groups,
and others. Perhaps more significant is that this leaves about
three out of five who either are equally happy with either
worship style or, more to the point, do not care for corporate
worship of any style.
Faith and Values
People in urban neighborhoods can be described as secular. The
young adult residents are less likely than the average American to
believe there is a God (77 percent compared to 84 percent) and
that God is actively involved in the world (54 percent compared to
64 percent).
The residents of these communities are convinced that the
environment is a true national crisis (85.2 percent) and believe the
United States must have open doors to immigration (41.6 percent
compared to 36.3 percent nationally). At the same time, they are
less likely to think that the changing ethnicity of America is a
threat (33 percent compared to 36 percent nationally).
Of particular importance to churches are the a itudes about
the role of government and the role of faith-based organizations
in welfare services. The residents of the sample communities are
more likely than the general population to believe that
"government should provide welfare services" (53.5 percent of this
sample as compared to 50.1 percent of the national population). At
the same time these residents are even more likely to believe that
"churches should provide more welfare services" (66.7 percent as
compared to 62.6 percent nationally).
There is an important corresponding point here: two thirds
believe that a local church is not fulfilling its role if it does not
have a visible, substantive community service program. Earlier
research by Sahlin notes that community involvement is the
strongest factor correlated to church growth.
The a itude toward organized religion is demonstrated in the
donations made by residents. More than four in ten give at least
$100 a year to charities compared to only a third of Americans in
general. And 20.5 percent give at least $100 a year to educational
institutions as compared to 16 percent of all Americans. At the
same time, only 54 percent give to religious groups as compared to
60 percent of all Americans. People in city centers trend more to
non-religious organizations as pathways for charitable donations
than residents in suburban and rural communities.
The secular skew of the sample cities is further demonstrated
in two recent reports cited from the Barna Group. The ten cities
in this study average 46 percent "post-Christian" with the largest
proportion being 66 percent in San Francisco. Barna computes the
"post-Christian" percentage from multiple items in research, not
the self-identification of respondents. The Barna research
observes that cities across the southern "Bible Belt area" of the
United States are somewhat less secular than cities outside of
that region.
Conclusion
The urban centers of cities have high concentrations of young
adults. They are frequently unmarried or if married have not
commi ed to having children, though that characteristic varies
with the cultural heritage of the urban neighborhood. Dating and
cohabitation practices differ from suburban and rural
populations. The majority of the residents of these urban centers
are white non-Hispanic in terms of ethnicity, though African
American, Hispanic, and Asian communities, or neighborhoods
characterized by particular immigrant people groups, are still
evident and make up significant segments of the urban
population.
The residents are highly educated and are employed in
professional or managerial careers. Most are employed in the
finance industry, technology businesses, health care, education,
social services, and the arts as well as in small businesses that
provide personal services, food, and entertainment. They typically
live in multi-unit apartments, condominiums, townhouses, or
repurposed multi-resident homes.
The migration to urban communities is largely a white trend,
but also has a strong flavor of diversity characterized by
immigrant neighborhoods. The trends of religious belief, concerns
for the city, and similar pa erns are evident among all the people
groups. The issues they care about do cross over diverse
backgrounds and neighborhoods.
The missional context for Christians and church congregations
in urban communities is a distinctly different challenge than for
their suburban, small town, or rural counterparts. That challenge
is especially true for evangelical or conservative Protestant
Christians and their congregations.
In many important ways, the character of life in the city is
different from the norm for communities where evangelical
churches currently function, especially Eurocentric, or white,
congregations. Relatively few evangelical churches are located in
the urban neighborhoods growing so rapidly from the migration
of young professionals.
The churches that do thrive in the urban center are historically
African American congregations in African American
neighborhoods, Hispanic churches, or other congregations that
serve first generation immigrant communities. Such
congregations might adopt the multiethnic young adult migrants
as a new target group for outreach if they are willing to take
appropriate steps to engage them.
Traditionally, evangelical congregations have initiated contact
with people with the assumption that they had faith in God or
some confidence in Scripture. Evangelism has traditionally
focused on doctrinal or prophetic teaching, exploring the Bible, or
addressing how to live as a Christian, or raise a Christian family.
This traditional approach is problematic for Eurocentric
Christians and congregations. It is obvious that such approaches
will have li le traction with today's city dweller.
Nothing less than a new culture of witness will reach urban
populations today. It will be a culture focused on relationality,
service, engagement of the mind, and appreciative of the arts that
contribute to life experience. And it will be missional.
Incarnational. The nature and description of that mission is the
theme of the remainder of this book.
___________
22 See Appendix A for sources that have contributed to the research findings presented
in this chapter.
23 See Appendix B for an explanation of both the research design and selection of 10
urban centers for the study.
 Following Christ into the
City
I love being in cities with lots of other people because I am
reminded that there are billions of people like me, and we
are each stuck inside of our minds, feverishly trying to
make connections with other people. — John Green

Can a follower of Jesus maintain his or her spirituality in one of

today's urban centers? Especially in the West, cities are
dominated by secular culture, and life-styles are o en anything
but Christian. Cities throughout the world are becoming more
and more secular and are case studies for the idea of a post-
Christian world. Can we live as disciples of Jesus in urban
neighborhoods, work in business offices, a end public schools, go
to galleries or theaters, or just be on the streets? If so, can we do it
as followers of Jesus without being offensive or dismissed as
being religious oddities?
Being present in the world with any meaningful level of
relational engagement is a difficult challenge in post-Christian
culture. Some conservative Christians will assert it is impossible.
The same a itudes can be observed regarding living as a disciple
of Christ in the great cities of the East where non-Christian
religions once flourished, or still do. There are thriving cities in
non-western regions of the world where religion prospers, though
not Christian. Actually, spirituality is alive and well in the great
cities of the post-Christian world in the west and in other regions
of our globe. But there are new gods usurping the primacy of
Christian faith. Those gods can be thought of in terms of
opportunity, freedom, wealth, technology, or art. Spiritual ideas
and dialogue still exist. It is just not accurate to say that
spirituality is dead in secular society. Spirituality is alive and well.
It is organized religion that is threatened. The new spirituality of
the western developed world has li le regard for organized
religion.
Living an Incarnational Life
The challenge of Christian discipleship in urban life must not
deter followers of Jesus. The reality of Christian mission is that
God has called us to enter into life in the city regardless of its
culture and difficulties. God has not called us to love Him but hate
the city, or to abandon the city to evil.
The biblical record of Daniel and his companions offers an
illustration of the summons of God to live in a non-Christian
culture and maintain missional witness. The captive Israelites
were commanded to pray for Babylon and seek its welfare even
though it was a city characterized by idolatry and sinfulness. "But
seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and
pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your
welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7, ESV). The prophet uses the Hebrew word
shalom in describing this intention of God for the captives. They
were to seek shalom for the foreign city and, in so doing,
experience a blessing themselves. Shalom suggests wholeness and
blessing, "a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are
satisfied and natural gi s fruitfully employed, a state of affairs
that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors
and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights."24
God desires us to seek shalom for the cities of our world today,
including the most secular and non-Christian. We are to
prayerfully work for the common good of those who gather in
urban environments with their families, who labor there, play
there, and rarely venture outside their own neighborhood in the
city context. God certainly has not intended for us to be
transformed by the culture of the city, but He does intend for us
to transform lives in the city.
The challenge is complex. It is not satisfied by simply taking up
residence in the boundaries of the urban center, though that is
difficult enough. We cannot respond faithfully to our missional
call by creating enclaves isolating ourselves in an artificially
created foreign culture in the urban space. Instead, we are to
change the culture in the same neighborhood, workplace, or
school that others move about in. We are to make serious
contributions in the name of Jesus to the relationships, creativity,
technology, or learning that go on in the interactions of people
living beside us.
Transforming the culture requires building relationships with
people in the city center. Relationships cannot be built from a
distance. Such relationships require commitment to a
neighborhood, meaning that we live in that neighborhood. We can
provide transforming influence only when we a end the same
clubs, get involved in the issues of the community, and become
known within the community.
So, just as Jesus le heaven to dwell with us, we are to move out
of our protective walls and be with the people of our city. But it
goes further than that. We must know others, and be known, in
the context of the activities that form daily life. We must be truly
incarnational: living, working, learning, playing, and engaging in
dialogue.
Staying Christian
Living in the city does not mean we have abandoned our faith.
We do not need to act like our secular neighbors to live happily, to
serve God, to serve our neighbor, or to be valued in our
community. Too many believe they must make a choice between
two options, flee the city or abandon their Christian convictions
in order to assimilate into the life of the city.
Yes, a word of caution is appropriate at this point. One might
think the sins of the city are ignored in this text. This is not the
case. Be certain that temptations will assault a person on a daily
basis in an urban context. The density of humanity means those
who abuse sexuality, those who would espouse dishonesty, or
those who would disrespect humanity in varied ways will be
evident. Because of the density of population, such behaviors are
arguably more apparent in the city, beckoning to the worst side of
humanity. So, sin abounds in the city space even though most
seek a responsible, if not righteous, life.
Worse still, perhaps the overt sins in
the urban space are easier to avoid than
the less overt. We can fortify ourselves
"Living in the city
in prayer and Scripture with resolute without adopting
surrender to the Spirit of God against a secular
the obvious evils. But the simple siren worldview
song of success is subtle and can lead us requires an
to copy the ways of secularism with energetic and
li le warning. Success or acclaim practiced biblical
gradually surface as an idolatry that worldview."
a acks a Christian worldview. Those
temptations are everywhere in the city, but somehow less
threatening. Creativity, while generally a gi of God, can become
human in orientation, reason itself become a substitute for faith,
and technology empower humanity beyond a sense of God as the
creator and giver of life. These are the subtle temptations that
can gradually alter the nature of spirituality and lead us to
worship the gods of secularism.
Living in the city without adopting a secular worldview
requires an energetic and practiced biblical worldview. Christians
must not keep their faith private in the context of the city. "I do
not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep
them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not
of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As
You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world"
(John 17:15-18). We are called to be in the world, but not to suspend
our faith, or to privatize faith.
Change the Culture
A Christian who lives their faith publically will impact the
culture. That does not require religious programming or strategy.
A Christian embodies a particular worldview. If they truly reflect
the heart of God, that worldview affects every facet of life. The
impact on culture implies they are biblically faithful rather than
simply reflectors of an institutional religious culture. A biblical
Christian interprets what is right, just, beautiful, and good in all
they do. We cannot avoid having influence in public life unless we
hide our faith and withdraw from relationships with others.
So, living as followers of Jesus offers society an alternate
culture. There is li le need for us to judge the effects of
secularism in post-Christian culture. Instead, we can serve as
advocates for justice, for the poor, and abused in our culture. We
can demonstrate the heart of God. We can respect those who
think seriously about their worldviews while we challenge the
gods of secularity. People will see the difference. The Creator of all
provides natural revelation within every culture. Thus, even the
secularist in the city center will be drawn to higher purpose and
meaning beyond themselves.
So, the challenge is not if we can impact the culture. The
challenge is if we will boldly impact the culture instead of
retreating from secular culture. Are we willing? Will we go to the
city, live in the city, and live a Christian life there? It is one thing
to reside in the city and still another to glorify Christ in our life as
we truly live in and move about in what seems a foreign land.
To focus our challenge more clearly, the question is what steps
we can take to change the culture. In democratic cultures the
church does not exercise political authority. Granted, the values
of Christianity have political influence in some regions, but
generally not political authority. Forcing religion on others is
neither accepted, nor right.
 However, Christians may speak from
their faith to the issues impacting public
life. In fact, they do so naturally if they
"...a Christian
have not isolated themselves, and if they simply lives
are not mistakenly apologetic. "Religion as a Christian,
that is pure and undefiled before God the reflecting
Father is this: to visit orphans and Christian values,
widows in their affliction, and to keep ethics, and
oneself unstained from the world" relationships in
(James 1:27, ESV). The love expressed by a the public space.
follower of Jesus should be recognized in
clear contrast to the values of secular
Christianity is
culture. Again, that can only happen if seen, heard,
we are present and living a public life. and is distinct
Creating an isolated religious culture in without apology.
the urban context is not an option if we It is public."
are to change the culture.
Christians offer a voice glorifying God. Certainly, he or she
demonstrates behaviors in the public square that represent the
heart of God. But they also speak to public issues. These issues
include marriage, sexuality, healthcare, education, justice,
violence, poverty, racism, and immigration. We will voice the will
of God in public life, and do so skillfully, not in a way that offends
or passes judgment. To avoid issues for fear of destroying
relationships would be to deny the witness Christ offers to
humanity. But to speak with self-centered judgment or arrogance
would undermine our witness. We must learn to verbalize the
principles and practices of God's love in winsome ways.
Public discourse invites relationships in which the content and
ideas of Christianity are explored. In those relationships
opportunities surface in which the Scripture can be explored as
revelation of God, His will, His redemption, and His calling for
transformed life.
A biblical worldview is countercultural. When we live in the city,
we have the opportunity to shape the city in which we live, to lead
change. Jesus calls us to live and speak for the salvation of man,
to do it persuasively, and to do it with love, to do it in a ractive
ways. We are in the city to assist, to foster healthy lives, and to
lead people to Jesus — in ways that honor Him.
A Reflection on Public Christianity
The Gospel is not private. There is a sense in which it is not
personal. Rather, it is public and intrusive. Not because Christians
pry into the affairs of others or are critical of public behaviors. It
is intrusive because it is lived out in public. In the process of living
as a disciple of Christ, life is experienced without fear of being
different. That is, a Christian simply lives as a Christian, reflecting
Christian values, ethics, and relationships in the public space.
Christianity is seen, heard, and is distinct without apology. It is
public.
Fear gets in the way of public
"Christ boldly Christianity. One such perspective on
lived among fear is the fear of not being accepted.
us. He still That worry leads some Christians to
privatize their faith, submerging faith
transforms
in a way that avoids exposure. It is
culture and natural for humans to shrink from
transforms the derision or from disrespect for the
culture of the city worldview they hold. This fear exposes
today." the insecurities that emerge when one
sees themselves in a minority.
Another fear among urban Christians takes the form of an
excessive concern for being "not of this world." It is the fear of
becoming something we loosely describe as "worldly." Responding
to the demands of this fear, we create safe spaces in which we
seek safety and security untouched by the proximity of darker
influences. We subsequently lose familiarity with how to move
and relate in secular spaces. This fear leads us to form friendships
that are intentionally restricted to those who share our faith
whether they live in our neighborhood or elsewhere.
Fear leads to separation, and in that environment, faith
becomes private. The result is that the witness of living out our
Christian life in an urban context is diminished or even lost.
 Christ boldly lived among us. He still transforms culture and
transforms the culture of the city today. He walks into Starbucks,
meets friends there, and engages in conversation. He discusses
issues of meaning in the office spaces of financial centers. He
lunches in the civic club. He marches on city hall to address issues
of gun violence. He sits on boards of public education and speaks
for the welfare of children. He leads in the public issues of
housing, poverty, health care, and art in neighborhood and
municipal government. He serves. He does so kindly, not as a
raging prophet who casts judgments, then runs to the suburb or
safe walls of the church. He lives with the people and serves in a
public manner.
Christianity is public. Anything less is short of faithfulness to
the Gospel commission.
Flee the City?
Many sincere and dedicated Christians embrace warnings
regarding the dangers of living in the city. There are at least three
reasons for the admonition to keep a distance from the city
center. One is a concern with the visibility and availability of evil
in the culture of a city. Second is a concern for raising children in
the urban context. Third is the challenge of enduring the
emotional and even physical assaults of sin as the culture
becomes increasingly evil in the progression of time on this Earth.
Ellen G. White, a writer whom I believe to offer inspired pastoral
guidance, reflects the concerns for Christian life and mission in
the city. Her counsel is representative of much of the counsel
offered on this question by writers from diverse faith traditions.
When she wrote in the 19th and early 20th century, most
Americans lived in small towns and rural areas.
In 1902 she urged that her faith body, the Seventh-day
Adventist denomination, build its institutions for publication of
Christian literature or education of Christian young people
outside of the cities. She believed that plan would offer the best
opportunity for families with children to serve the institutions
who might not be prepared to live in the city. She urged that
families serving those institutions not abandon witness to the
city, but that they be enabled to live outside the city. "Repeatedly
the Lord has instructed us that we are to work the cities from
outpost centers. In these cities we are to have houses of worship,
as memorials for God; but institutions for the publication of our
literature, for the healing of the sick, and for the training of
workers, are to be established outside the cities."25 She frequently
advocated such "outposts" to the city.
As are many Christian leaders, Ellen White is emphatic
regarding the danger of sinful influences that are obviously more
apparent in the dense population of a city. Again, in this context,
she voices concern for children.
It is a mistake to call families into the city, where children and
youth breathe an atmosphere of corruption and crime, sin
and violence, intemperance and ungodliness. Oh, it is a
terrible mistake to allow children to come in contact with
that which makes such a fearful impression on their senses.
Children and youth can not be too fully guarded from
familiarity with the pictures of iniquity as common as in all
large cities.26
It is not only the visibility of sin that is of concern. Ellen White
also addresses the loss of the availability of lessons from nature
in the education of children in the city. "It seems cruel to establish
our schools in the cities, where the students are prevented from
learning the precious lessons taught by nature."27
There is, if not carefully examined, an apparent contradiction in
her admonition. Ellen White also counsels Christians to live in the
city. "We all need to be wide awake, that, as the way opens, we may
advance the work in the large cities. We are far behind in
following the light given to enter these cities and erect memorials
for God. ...And we are to continue the work until a church is
organized and a humble house of worship built."28 Her views did
not advocate abandonment of the city.
 It is obvious if she envisioned church buildings in the city for
disciples of Jesus to gather in for worship that she intended for
disciples to be living in the cities who would use those buildings
for weekly worship. She actually urged disciples to live and serve
in the city context.
The Lord is calling upon the men and women who have the
light of truth for this time to engage in genuine, personal
missionary work. Especially are the church members living in
the cities to exercise, in all humility, their God-given talents in
laboring with those who are willing to hear the message that
should come to the world at this time. There are great
blessings in store for those who fully surrender to the call of
God. As such workers undertake to win souls for Jesus, they
will find that many who never could be reached in any other
way will respond to intelligent personal effort.29
Her counsel to Christians goes beyond a reluctant
acknowledgement that churches are needed in the city. She
instructs disciples to live and witness in the city. She may have
been foreseeing the migration of people to urban areas and the
subsequent need for mission in the city. In 1912, she urged that the
church support those members planting churches in urban areas.
Let us thank the Lord that there are a few laborers doing
everything possible to raise up some memorials for God in
our neglected cities. Let us remember that it is our duty to
give these workers encouragement. God is displeased with
the lack of appreciation and support shown our faithful
workers in our large cities by His people in our own land.30
Are these contradictions? No. Not everyone is called in their
family context or Christian vocation to live in an urban context.
Some live for Christ in smaller towns or rural areas. Nowhere do
we find in the Gospel commission instruction to abandon more
rural se ings. So not everyone must feel they must move to a city.
The challenge of raising children in the city is a very serious
one. However, the nature of that challenge changes as society
changes. In our time, there are areas of our large cities set aside
for nature. It is interesting that children from rural areas take
field trips to great cities to the nature conservatories and to
museums. Further, drug abuse and the blight of poverty and
depression are increasingly evident in rural communities.
Rural life offers advantages for raising
children. Every Christian parent must
prayerfully consider if an urban se ing
"Why would we
is the right place for their family in abandon our
those years when children are growing mission to lead
up in the home. At the same time, they souls to Christ
must realize that those same children because the
will likely migrate to a city to pursue end is near?
their vocational life on maturity and The Gospel
must be prepared to withstand the commission to
visibility of sin.
Some Christians reason that the end
go into the entire
of Earth's history is near, and thus we world challenges
should leave the cities. Why would we us to mission in
abandon our mission to lead souls to the city."
Christ because the end is near? The
Gospel commission to go into the entire world challenges us to
mission in the city. "This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will
come" (Ma hew 24:14). If we wish to rejoice at the return of Christ,
we should share the Gospel in the cities, not retreat. God intends
His church to be faithful to His calling before He returns.
Ellen G. White, speaking to our mission of leading people to
Jesus, urges us to be present and serve in the ways revealed in the
essentials of transformational evangelism. "Christ's method alone
will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled
with men as one who desired their good. He showed His
sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their
confidence. Then He bade them, 'Follow Me.'"31
Conclusion
God has called disciples to enter into life in the city regardless
of its culture and difficulties. God has not called us to love Him
but hate the city, nor to abandon the city to evil. The call is not
intended for every disciple. And those who live an incarnational
life for Jesus in the city must receive the encouragement and
support of the church.
Christians do not need to imitate their secular neighbors to live
happily, or to serve God, or be valued in an urban community. We
are not called to abandon Christian convictions as we serve in the
context of the city.
When a Christian truly reflects the heart of God, a contrasting
worldview is apparent, and that worldview impacts every facet of
the way they live their life. When we live our faith in public life,
we have influence. The distinctiveness of being a Christian is
important to our witness. We should have no fear of being
different. Rather, we should joyfully and winsomely live as a
Christian, reflecting Christian values, ethics, and relationships in
the public space.
Christ needs disciples in the city. However, He does not call us
to a place that we cannot thrive in as Christians, or that would
harm our children, so each must prayerfully consider if an urban
context is God's calling for them. Just as clearly, the idea that
Christians should not live in the city is contrary to God's will.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, and strengthened with daily
connection with Christ, those disciples who live in the city are
able to advance God's will among the masses of people who now
call the city home.
___________
24 Plantinga, Cornelius (1995). Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin. Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, p. 10.
25 White, Ellen G. (1958) Selected Messages, Book 2. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald,
p. 358.
26 White, Ellen G. (1983) Publishing Ministry. Washington D.C.: Review and Herald, p. 186
27 Ibid.
28 White, Ellen G. (1948) Testimonies for the Church,Vol. 7. Mountain View, CA.: Pacific
Press, p. 40.
29 White, Ellen G. (1932) Medical Ministry. Mountain View, CA.: Pacific Press, p. 332.
30 White, Ellen G. (1948) Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8. Mountain View, CA.: Pacific
Press, p. 32.
31 White, Ellen G. The Ministry of Healing, p. 143.
 Transformational
Evangelism
Go and love someone exactly as they are. And then watch
how quickly they transform into the greatest, truest
version of themselves. — Wes Angelozzi

How can we faithfully carry out the Gospel commission to

make disciples in the context of an urban center? The traditional
path of a racting people to public gatherings to hear preaching
or teaching is generally not successful as a primary evangelistic
process in the secular context of a city center. There are
exceptions, and public proclamation provides a significant
contribution at some stage in the course of making disciples.
Public evangelistic meetings provide more pro-nounced
opportunity for sharing the Gospel in suburban areas where
there are more traditional families and people who have some
prior confidence in Scripture than in the city center.
How then do we evangelize in the city center? This chapter
describes the nature of a transformational evangelism process in
the city. While the qualities described contribute to evangelism in
any locale, they are at the heart of understanding the
transformational evangelistic process in an urban center. The
qualities will be approached as characteristics and presented as
approaches for the individual believer as well as for the church
and introduced by a distinct heading in the text. It should be
understood that each Christian disciple and community offers
distinctive behaviors in applying these characteristics. Further,
church communities in the city are not equally strong in all these
characteristics.
In sections two and three I will summarize six characteristics
that are essential to urban mission and ministry. First reflect on
the nature of transformational evangelism as you consider the
call to transformational evangelism in the urban context.
Connect with People
Evangelism is a relational process. Ellen White, writing many
decades ago, asserted: "Christ's method alone will give true
success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as
one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them,
ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He
bade them, 'Follow Me'."32 Christ connected with people. He was
among them, and His witness for the Father generally happened
within the exchanges He had in living out daily life with others. If
we are to share the Gospel, we must be among people and be
known to them.
Forming relationships with people whom we live among in the
city center means genuinely listening to their stories, knowing
their history, and understanding the diverse forces that have
shaped them. That requires time and a shared social context.
Connecting is made more complex by
"If we are to form the realities of diversity and secularism.
relationships The challenge requires us to consider
with others in the nature of a neighborhood and how
an urban center we might contribute to it as a priority
when considering where we will live. In
neighborhood small towns or rural spaces, we concern
they must ourselves with the drive to work, the
perceive that schools, number of rooms and square
we both care feet in the house, or the yard our
about their life children can play in. In deciding where
and respect their to live in a city center, however, we need
freedom." to consider how we might provide a
positive presence in an immediate
neighborhood. The population density is such that the immediate
few blocks around us are the community of influence. The nature
of the people groups is an important consideration. Can we form
relationships? Connections happen on sidewalks, in parks, in
neighborhood businesses, on the bus or other public
transportation, in the local school or workplace, and in the
process of forming services and security for the immediate
neighborhood.
We must live our lives with people. Connect. We cannot isolate
ourselves in protected enclaves or distant communities from
those we would share the Gospel with. Disciple-making in today's
city happens when nonbelievers experience distinctive life
qualities in the relationships formed with Christian disciples they
"hang out" with.
Respect the Culture
If we are to form relationships with others in an urban center
neighborhood they must perceive that we both care about their
life and respect their freedom. That can be a challenge when
secular culture and the resulting lifestyles differ sharply from the
deeply held beliefs of our Christian worldview.
Both forming relationships and contextualizing the Gospel in
the city requires respecting the culture. Respect for culture can be
positively demonstrated in our interest in the narratives of the
city, our appreciation of beauty in the architecture and spaces,
our enjoyment of leisure time, and how we look forward to
enjoying the city on a daily or weekly basis. Loving the city does
not mean engaging in sinful or faith destroying activity. It can
mean admiring art, enjoying parks and their walking, biking, or
wholesome recreational activity. It can mean expanding our
capacity through exhibitions or lectures.
Cities have core values. Such values mark the life of a city and
define its spirit. Those values generally reflect a higher view of life
than is evidenced in daily experience. Values may be such things
as appreciation for hard work, innovation, creativity, social
progressiveness, respect for others, and beauty. Values can define
why it is that people are proud of their city and choose to live
there. Respect for the culture of a city is felt when those values
are articulated and promoted.
Consider the arts as a pathway for respecting culture. Art
appreciation is part of the urban context. People of varied
economic levels are collective patrons; they offer financial
support and get involved in promoting the arts. Sincere
engagement with the culture in the city in appreciation of its art
offers an opportunity for exposure to the values and virtues of a
Christian life. The beauty of creation and the grandeur of God can
be offered for reflection in works of art and be a foundation for
conversation. God's activity in human history can be reflected in
historical artifacts preserved in museum collections. Such
artifacts require interpretation which invites conversation about
humanism, naturalism, or the option of divine interaction.
Positive virtues of love are o en the focus of literature, and again,
conversations regarding the source and nature of virtue are
encouraged.
Respect the city. Be grateful for what is good in the city. Great
neighborhoods, renewed architecture, abundant green space,
renewed infrastructure, good schools — people who have love
and respect for their surroundings form all of these. Become a
part of what is positive in the city. You will enjoy the positive
aspects of the culture in your city, and your life will be enriched.
But more to the point, the character of God will become public.
Serve Others Sacrificially
Transformational evangelism is initiated as someone observes a
distinctly Christian life and community. People who lack belief in
God in a secular context are not thinking they must examine the
concepts of Scripture. They are not impressed by Bible
knowledge. Promoting truths of Scripture as though knowledge
of them would change a life or transform the world will have li le
effect.
It is ironic that the pa ern of Christ's mission millenniums ago
so closely parallels our witness needed today in the city. As Jesus
was with us, so we must be among people, connect with them,
treat them with respect, and serve. Service is essential.
This characteristic cannot be faked.
"In all the models Service is not a strategy. Service is not
of urban ministry an entering wedge. Service is not a
described in the means to an end. Service is a genuine
manifestation of love for others. It is
later chapters
Christ's love in action. In all the models
of this book, of urban ministry described in the later
service is a chapters of this book, service is a central
central theme." theme. In no case is service undertaken
as a way to get people to listen to the beliefs of the church. We do
not serve so we can teach. We serve because we are. We are
followers of Christ. We love.
People a ach with others who demonstrate love and caring,
and thus the community of God grows. People join with others to
serve even as they are exploring the be er aspects of purpose and
meaning to life. They open their minds to God, rethink life, repent
of sin, accept Christ, and pursue holiness while serving.
In all the case studies of ministry that transform lives in a city,
the engagement in service was not seen as something only for the
converted to engage in. Believer and nonbeliever joined in
initiatives to serve. The church, in some cases, did not manage the
service. But they engaged with enthusiasm and affirmed.
Challenge Secular Reasoning
In the secular context of a city center, usual spiritual and moral
reference points organized around the possibility of God may be
rare. It is a world dominated by reason. Reasoning becomes the
foundation for sense-making in everyday experience, not special
revelation. Such reliance on reason leads the individual and the
culture to discredit biblical faith. When the contemporary secular
person considers the basic concepts of God, sin, and salvation, it is
from a philosophical and psychological reference point rather
than with special revelation in mind. Such reasoning is o en
marked by cynicism about religion.
Christians must therefore be willing to engage people
intellectually. While connecting with people and forming
compelling serving communities is essential, the nature of reason
itself must be welcomed. Reason is a positive life skill, and all
humanity is gi ed with the ability to develop and benefit from
reason. Science, naturalism, philosophy, psychology — these are
intellectual capacities that advance human life. They can also be
welcomed as reflections of the stewardship and creative gi s God
has given to mankind.
But reason becomes a god when we fail to humbly acknowledge
mystery and to leave room for that which exists beyond our
understanding. Thus, reason can also deceive us. The alternative
is to pursue reason with an openness that will lead us to awe and
to acknowledgement that reality exists beyond our
understanding. Rightly approached, reason does not exclude faith
even when one is unacquainted with the God of Scripture.
Be willing as a Christian to engage with the arguments of
atheism and agnosticism. Science and naturalism do not satisfy
all questions regarding life and themselves require assumptions.
Reason does not provide all answers to meaning, human dignity,
morality, character, values, or community. Ironically, it is
unreasonable that a person can do away
with faith in favor of reason. Reason
requires faith.
"Christians
Christians need to show that belief in need to show
a supernatural God is a reasonable that belief in a
position and answers larger issues about supernatural God
existence. Faith and reason are not is a reasonable
enemies of each other. The starting position and
point for such inquiry will be the natural answers larger
realm itself. Paul noted that some
issues about
believe without the benefit of natural
revelation, and in a similar manner
existence. Faith
today's contemporary secular person and reason are
can acknowledge the possibility of God not enemies of
as they encounter mystery in creation. each other."
It is not a vain exercise to confront
people intellectually. Consider Paul's ministry in the public spaces
of Ephesus. "But when some became stubborn and continued in
unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he
withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning
daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that
all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews
and Greeks" (Acts 19:9-10). Paul's conversations led to teachings
about Christ and many converts to Christianity.
Proclaim the Kingdom of God in the Here and Now
Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God. He announced that the
kingdom had come, a new way of life, in His time. He was
affirming the incarnational and spiritual presence of a powerful
God who restored life. In His view that kingdom is present in the
here and now for a person of faith, not preserved to the future, as
a far-off paradise.
The ministries that follow in this book all focus on the here and
now of a new way of life. The people who engage in the ministries
are known as people of joy and grace. The kingdom of God is
acknowledged in their behavior.
 Understanding the nature of the kingdom of God requires one
to grasp the depths of sin in the present order of things, its
offensiveness to God, and its destruction of human life. Sin must
be taken seriously. We should not minimize the impact of evil in
life. Sin is against God and subsequently horizontal, destroying
self and others.
The nature of human depravity is such that it cannot be made
right by leading a moral or chaste life or by acts of service. Sin is
more than our actions and is not dealt with by our actions.
Therefore, a culturally progressive service and justice-oriented
approach to others is of no greater value for salvation in the end
than legalism. Both are marked by self-righteousness. The
kingdom of God is established only as humanity receives the gi
of salvation in Christ.
Christian discipleship is the good news that we can live our life
as disciples; we can live with God, freed from sin. A kingdom
Gospel proclaims that we are not victims to sin. It is a life of
freedom. It is the good news that this is also the best life possible
and has been assured by Christ.
Invite others to receive the kingdom of God. Do it in the way
you live your life among others as well as in word.
Equip Disciples to Live Their Faith in Public
Corporate worship or church programs are not the first
connecting point with people in the city. Neither are programs
that meet people's needs that are offered in the spaces of the
church. Disciples live their life in public and that is the primary
venue for transformational evangelism. The book of Acts makes it
clear that every believer in Christ was doing the work of
evangelism, of sharing the good news about Christ. "Now those
who were sca ered went about preaching the word" (Acts 8:4). All
participated in teaching, nurturing, and sharing the Gospel. "Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing
one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God"
(Colossians 3:16).
 People who talk about Jesus and faith as they go about their
life, not preachers or evangelists, accomplish the work of mission
in the city. That requires relationship. The first and most helpful
space is our home. "And he le there and went to the house of a
man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next
door to the synagogue" (Acts 18:7). The home, office, or other
public space can be used for social connection or for intentional
conversation or study. Friendship is the context for sharing faith.
These mission engagements are organic.
That is, they happen in the everyday
context of life. They are not dependent on
"Ministry
church programming. The connections engages people
employ conversation. They are intentional personally and
in sharing the Gospel. Ministry engages should not
people personally and should not be be confused
confused with church programming. with church
The church is a place to equip people to programming."
be disciples of Christ and send them out
into the world as the organic church. Christians work in the
world, engage culture, advocate for justice, and restore peace.
Be Countercultural
The church as a serving community is countercultural.
Churches can no longer be religious communities occupying
themselves with religious concerns. Becoming a disciple of Christ
in the secular city requires breaking with the existing culture and
doing that publicly.
Thus, the church in the city becomes an alternate society.
Relationships are strong, and godly ways change a itudes and
practices toward family, sex, wealth, and power. To be
countercultural, a society must be located within another culture
and not separated from a culture. Christianity is a culture lived
out within another culture.
The challenge is to be uniquely Christ-like while serving
community and relating humbly to others who do not share the
Gospel culture. It is important to be a serving community free
from self-righteousness. So, the church should be known for its
caring and kindness rather than its institutional religiosity.
Weekly Corporate Worship as Evangelism
Weekly corporate worship experiences can be evangelistic for
non-Christians and at the same time edifying for disciples of
Christ. Forming our shared worship experiences in a manner that
creates an evangelistic environment is biblical. Consider Paul's
counsel to the church in Corinth. In chapter 14 of his first le er to
that body of believers, he addresses the manifestation of tongues
in their corporate worship, or more accurately, the abuse of that
particular gi . With pastoral concern he suggests that if
nonbelievers were to be with them in their worship and hear
tongues as they had been experiencing in worship, they would
assume the disciples had lost their mental composure (1
Corinthians 14:23). He asks that the church form its worship in
such a way that the Gospel might be understood by nonbelievers
(vs. 24). It is clear that Paul sees in worship the opportunity for
the nonbeliever to see God in the life of the believer, and in the
church (vs. 25). In verses 15-17 of the chapter, Paul speaks of
worship edifying the follower of Jesus and then in verses 20-25 he
urges that prophecy be given preeminence over tongues, at least
partially because prophecy is converting in its influence for a
nonbeliever.
Worship does not become evangelistic simply by inviting non-
believers. The first task is to make worship comprehensible and
convicting to nonbelievers. Paul described the experience of
nonbelievers in the worship of the church: "...he is convicted by
all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are
disclosed..." (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). Following are eight steps a
congregation can take to help form evangelistic worship services.
Use language that is understandable. Our preaching can
become distinctly subcultural, employing terms that are religious
and foreign to secular culture. Drop the references, words, or
phrases that are peculiar to religious life.
 Unfold the meaning of worship in clear language as you move
through it. Be careful to not assume, for instance, that someone
would understand why people would kneel when they pray or
close their eyes. Do not assume the non-believer connects
behaviors to meaning. Explain. Be certain that the nonbeliever
can comprehend the Gospel in the way we go about baptism,
dedications, weddings, or the Lord's Supper.
Employ art in worship that communicates within urban
experience. Excellence in music, speech, photography, or drawings
in the diverse visual aesthetics accompanying worship can have a
powerful impact for the Gospel in the context of the city. Our
worships in the culture of the city will be much more meaningful
with one single excellent expression of art rather than repeated
singing or other worship rituals done poorly.
Celebrate acts of mercy and justice in worship and use those
times as opportunities to gather participation or financial
resources for social action. Connecting worship to service that
impacts lives provides credibility for the Gospel.
Clearly preach and teach grace. Christian and non-Christian
alike need to hear that salvation is by grace. "For the grace of God
has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to
renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-
controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for
our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and
Savior Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:11-13).
Call people to make decisions for Christ in a winsome manner.
Some churches invite a endees at worship to respond with a card
turned in while offerings are received. Some invite people to
remain during a time of quiet reflection a er the service to
commit their lives to Christ. Some simply invite people to an
"a er meeting" in a small appropriate room where they engage in
conversation and prayer. The context of preaching and teaching
ought to assume that making commitment to respond and follow
Christ is inherent within worship, trusting the Holy Spirit to
impress people to become disciples of Christ.
Provide Experiences of Prayer and Learning
No approach to worship and preaching can fully provide all
that is necessary to mature in discipleship. I am not suggesting
we avoid boldly pronouncing concrete truth. Every Christian
needs to form a biblical theology, to be proficient in the Word of
God.
Make essential biblical teaching a part of the life of your
group or congregation. Provide people the opportunity to search
the Scriptures carefully. Invite people to Bible classes at the
church. Provide opportunity for small groups that focus on
Scripture. Promote one-on-one Bible study. Persons gi ed in
evangelism and teaching can receive support in providing such
study and mentoring.
Bible doctrines build the Christian experience of anyone
making a decision to follow Christ. While the process of disciple-
making begins with relationality and service, then with inquiry
regarding the existence of God, the process progresses to deeper
understanding. The truth of the Gospel defines the change
needed in life. Let that usher in biblical inquiry into biblical
teachings that transform life.
Finally, Have Courage to Take These Steps
Each ministry shared in section two of this book expresses the
vision and courage of a congregation. They connected with
people, engaged with the culture, served sacrificially, lived their
faith in public, challenged reasoning, announced the kingdom of
God, were countercultural, rethought their corporate worship,
and provided time and places for exploration of Scripture and
prayer. They did this with courage.
Each group, new church, or transformed church that makes
disciples in the city center demonstrates the courage to challenge
the status quo. These are not ordinary ways to be the church.
Someone recognized mission and had the courage to try
something new, to take risks, to serve people. In doing so they
were not afraid to receive criticism. They were not trying to "play
it safe." They were willing to fail. They learned from their
mistakes and made adjustments.
Applying lessons from the experience of Jonah, again one of my
favorite writers, Ellen White, comments: "God's messengers in the
great cities are not to become discouraged over the wickedness,
the injustice, the depravity, which they are called upon to face
while endeavoring to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation."33 She
then invites us to reflect on the words the Lord spoke to Paul in
vision: "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,
for I am with you, and no one will a ack you to harm you, for I
have many in this city who are my people" (Acts 18:9, 10). While
many people will ignore the Gospel, others will turn from sin to
follow Christ.
Reflect on the narrative of the following nine case studies, then
review their mission and ministry in the context of six precise
characteristics that interpret transformational evangelism in the
context of the true city center.
___________
32 White, Ellen G. Ministry of Healing, p. 144.
33 White, Ellen G. (1917) Prophets and Kings. Mountain View, CA.: Pacific Press, p. 278.
This section examines nine ministries that have transformed
lives and grown the church in urban centers. The case studies
interpret, to varying degrees, essential characteristics that
identify transformational evangelism in the city: relationships,
service, community, spirituality, worship, and transformation.
The case studies arise out of the vision and service of
congregations.
While sharing personal narratives in the nine case studies, I
have protected the identity of the person or persons. The stories
reflect actual experience, but details have been masked to
obscure the personal identity. The names of the organization,
the ministry, and the ministry leaders are shared with their
permission.
Although the ministries are not of the same Christian
denomination, each shares a distinctly Christian perspective,
each shares a conservative view of the inspiration of Scripture,
and each shares a passion for transformational evangelism.
 A Garden in the City
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. — Audrey
Hepburn

"They are family to me." I was enjoying the shade provided by a

large, old maple while taking a break along with my wife from
weeding vegetables in one of Chicago's several urban farms.
"Skinny Arms," as this mid-teen had been affectionately
nicknamed years ago by her fellow gardeners, was relaxing for a
few moments as well. I had been observing the joy in her as she
worked and wanted to hear her story. So, I engaged her in
conversation. The acquaintance continued through moments of
rest and subsequent work together. She spoke from underneath
the brim of a well-worn baseball hat controlling her generous
braids, with a smile that lit up the space around her.
She was definitely not "Skinny Arms" any longer. Well-toned
from her work, it was easy to tell from the enthusiasm in her
voice that the farm had become something important in her life.
She got her start at the farm years ago when she heard of the
children's summer gardening program through her public school.
She was now part of the regular volunteer teen staff of the farm.
She volunteered several hours a week, earned money occasionally
at the vegetable kiosk on one of the sidewalks alongside the
garden area, and mentored other volunteers who were just
learning the farm's organic agricultural practices. From a tough
neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, nurtured by a single
mother, having learned to navigate her way to the farm on public
transportation years ago, she was proud of her involvement.
I had simply asked if the young adults from the church, the
paid staff who managed the farm, had changed her life in any way.
Her response was so quick and heartfelt that I had to turn away
momentarily to conceal the tears in my eyes. "They are family to
me," she said. I could tell something special had happened in her
life.
Chicago's History
Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a free black man with origins
from Haiti, is said to be the first permanent resident of this
dynamic urban area on the southern and western shores of Lake
Michigan in America's heartland. By the late 18th century, a
se lement developed and Fort Dearborn was established. By the
mid nineteenth century, Chicago had grown to an agricultural and
mercantile trading center as the country made its expansion
westward.
The post-Civil War reconstruction era saw the population of
Chicago swell as people sought new beginnings in the Midwest.
The developing city promoted a sense of optimism and
opportunity, and its citizens worked to keep up with the growing
demands of modernization. It was in those years that Chicago's
image as a working city formed.
The "Great Fire" of 1871 and the subsequent reconstruction
formed the Chicago architectural landscape and produced the
name "The Second City." The rebuilding of the city was
purposeful, following an urban master plan with dynamic
architectural aspirations. Chicago's architecture is renowned, a
positive outcome from the tragic fire that had consumed the
entire heart of the city.
Its Midwestern location on the edge of the Great Lake region
positions Chicago as a center for agribusiness. Farming, parks, and
green space within the city have long been features of Chicago.
Ebenezer Howard, the author of the 1902 book Garden Cities of
Tomorrow, lived in Chicago from 1872 to 1876 and is credited for
the Garden City Movement which advocated for planned, self-
sustaining communities that were encircled by a greenbelt. The
city of Chicago has promoted the mo o "Urbs in Horto,"
translated as "city in a garden."
Chicago's Story
 Chicago is home to an estimated 2.7 million residents in the city
itself with nearly 10 million in the standard metropolitan
statistical area. Chicagoans love their city. Life revolves around
manufacturing, finance, agricultural commodity markets,
distinguished educational institutions, cultural institutions,
sports, some of the nation's finest museums, tourism, and the
achievements of its citizens. The city takes pride in being the
home of Barack Obama, the first African American president of
the United States.
There are challenges as city residents face the reality of gang
violence, impoverished neighborhoods, racial violence, and
substandard schools in the poorer neighborhoods. Evidence of
gentrification can be seen throughout the city: new parks,
community gardens, and retail centers surrounding new privately
developed urban housing. Investment in the urban landscape has
brought suburban families back to the city center to live in closer
proximity to jobs while creating new housing problems for the
displaced poor. Rents have increased so dramatically that staying
in the city has become more difficult for the working poor.
Values and Hopes
Non-Chicagoans think of lakefront parks, museums, concerts,
architecture, great universities, shopping on Michigan Avenue,
and financial centers when they imagine Chicago. They also think
of gun violence and racial tensions. Residents have a different
vision of their city. They feel that Chicago is a dynamic,
prosperous, and progressive city with solid Midwestern values,
cultural acumen, excellent academic institutions, and sports
teams with rich traditions. The natural assets are cherished. The
lake, waterfront beaches, parks, and breathtaking architecture all
provide a since of pride and admiration.
Chicagoans have a deep respect for all their public servants —
police, fire-fighters, paramedics, and teachers — largely because
they typify the hard-working values the city embraces. This is a
city that works — works hard.
Chicago remains a city marked by agriculture and horticulture.
It is renowned for its lakeside parks such as Grant Park,
Millennial Park, and Lincoln Park. In the summer the lakefront
transforms into an a ractive beach front offering swimming,
recreation, biking, and family picnicking that people enjoy, always
in sight of park or garden space.
Religious institutions play an important role in Chicago's daily
life. Neighborhoods identify around their churches, and churches
are active in addressing issues in their communities.
The Chicago Lights Urban Farm
Chicago Lights Urban Farm is one of the six programs of a
parent 501(c)(3) nonprofit community outreach organization,
Chicago Lights, a service of the Fourth Presbyterian Church
located in the city center. Its mission is to provide hope and
opportunity to Chicago's children, youth, and young adults facing
the challenges of poverty. Funding comes from members of the
congregation and corporate organizations interested in the
service the farm provides.
Fourth Presbyterian Church was organized on February 12, 1871.
Its current building, a grand gothic structure, dates to 1912 and is
noted as a Chicago landmark. On the corner of Michigan Avenue
and Delaware, it is in the midst of Chicago's "Magnificent Mile."
The congregation of Fourth Presbyterian is large, mostly
Caucasian, and could rightly be described as representing the
prosperous residents of Chicago's "Gold Coast." Three significant
contributions of the church are apparent. It is a place where the
beliefs and liturgy of the Presbyterian denomination are
maintained, where the arts are promoted and thrive, and a place
from which people find ways to engage in the issues of city life.
The programs of Chicago Lights a empt to demonstrate the
Gospel call to love and help others. None of the services offered
are overtly spiritual in nature, and many of those who volunteer
are not religious themselves. The six programs at the time of this
writing are: 1) tutoring for approximately 400 children living in
under-resourced neighborhoods, 2) a free summer school, 3) arts
education for students from under-resourced schools, 4) tutoring
for youth in a Cook county juvenile detention center, 5) a center
providing food, housing, and clothing for homeless and others in
crisis, and 6) the urban farm.
The urban farm began as a local community garden in the
Cabrini-Green neighborhood on the north side of Chicago in 2003.
The neighborhood has been notorious for high crime rates while
being home for thousands of low-income families. By the time the
residents began the garden project, the infrastructure of the
Chicago Housing Authority managed housing developments had
crumbled, schools were poor, and police and fire services were
lacking. Families saw the shared garden space as a way to improve
the conditions in their troubled and impoverished neighborhood.
When the city of Chicago launched its gentrification program,
Cabrini-Green was on the top of the list of places to introduce
privately developed mixed-income housing.
The Fourth Presbyterian congregation had purchased land
along Chicago Avenue on the edge of Cabrini-Green in 2002 with
the hope of building a community center, but those plans were
altered when the city revealed its gentrification plans for Cabrini-
Green. Rather than relinquishing the land, the Chicago Lights
directors called together residents, architects, and city officials to
consider the vision for an urban farm. The Cabrini-Green gardens
were a welcome initiative in the community, and the idea of an
urban farm took root. The farm was planned in such a way that it
could be relocated when necessary and began operations in 2008.
An urban farm is surprisingly mobile and relatively inexpensive
to build — if land can be secured. The Chicago Lights Urban Farm
requires fencing, a small mobile office trailer, two green houses, a
hot house, a tool shed, and produce stand. Soil from 6 inches deep
to two feet deep covers pavement and old foundations with only a
few areas that are bare soil under the imported soil and mulch.
There are rows of compost piles, beds for the propagation of
worms and their castings, and an irrigation system laid out above
ground that can be easily winterized. There are picnic tables for
rallying volunteers and for breaks during gardening activities.
The rest of the space is row a er row of produce.
An annual fall festival invites the community into the farm
space for games, cra s, cooking demonstrations, and sharing
what the farm means in the lives of young people from city
neighborhoods. The festival and posters in nearby neighborhoods
generate sales. Each summer the farm hosts a summer school
agriculture program that serves children in impoverished areas of
the city and adds to the ranks of the volunteers as parents learn
of the farm.
A Farm as Ministry
The farm's focus is empowering children, youth, and adults
through access to healthy affordable food and economic
opportunity. The farm offers training in agriculture, healthful
living, leadership, and microenterprise. It provides a "leveling
ground" for diverse neighbors from the city center and the near
north side. Wealthy older adults with sweat on their brows, soil
on their hands, and stains on their jeans from the "Gold Coast"
only a mile away work alongside teens from impoverished
neighborhoods. Some of the harvest is consumed by families who
serve at the farm while the rest is sold at the farm stand on the
property, or sold by the teens as they set up temporary tables on
street corners, or sold with bicycle delivery.
The farm generates income for teens learning microenterprise
through four initiatives. One is an arrangement called "Salad
Shares" in which people in the neighborhood pay a subscription
to receive home delivery of high-quality fresh organically grown
produce. Teens take off on bicycles or on foot with several neatly
packaged sacks of fresh vegetables for delivery. A second is
allotment gardening. This arrangement allows people to rent a
small patch on which they can grow and tend their own gardens
within the organic horticultural rules of the farm while using the
farm tools available on site. A third is the kiosk on the property
manned by teens. When the kiosk is open, the produce is also sold
by teens standing on surrounding street corners. A fourth
method is linkage with "Good Food Mobile," a citywide food
delivery service.
The Farm Staff
Three full-time employees and one part-time employee manage
the farm with a host of volunteers, some who are regular and
others who come to help only occasionally. The director is a
woman in her 30s who has worked for Fourth Presbyterian
Church since she was a teen. Her exposure to the Cabrini-Green
neighborhood led her to fall in love with the people, their families,
and their sense of resilience. There are two associate directors,
both also in their 30s. All three full-time employees are college
graduates with a vision for service. The part-time employee is a
young man of about 21 years of age from the Cabrini-Green
neighborhood. He has emerged from daunting circumstances.
Regular volunteers number about 30 and come from various
socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.
The team leading the outreach functions in a relaxed and
collegial fashion. They share a small office trailer. They sit down
for weekly team meetings during which they discuss challenges
and celebrate the victories they experience on the farm.
Information flows to the volunteer teams. The directors work side
by side with the volunteers, and most communication happens
with a "spade in the hand." The team receives feedback from the
community through advisory commi ees and ongoing
community dialogue.
Three remarkable characteristics are obvious in the leadership
team. These are young adults with a vision of compassion. They
identify Christianity as service. Their idea of discipleship is quite
a contrast to the liturgical "high church" worship services in their
gothic building on Michigan Avenue. I asked one, well covered
with soil and looking very much like a seasoned gardener, what
the farm meant to her. She replied, "This is my church." The staff
and volunteers find discipleship in the soil and in the hearts of
the children and teens as they teach them how to work the soil
and sell the produce.
 Another apparent reality is these people know their stuff. As
one of the staff stood over one of the large wooden box structures
explaining the horticulture of worms for the garden, I realized
how li le I knew about a simple living thing like worms, their
function, and how important their presence, with their castings,
is to the things we eat. I had no idea there was so much to raising
produce! More significantly, my mind moved to the illustrations
and parables Jesus employed from the natural world. I marveled
at how much Christianity could be seen in the simple workings of
preparing the soil, planting, nurturing, and harvest. I also realized
that these young adults had developed an awe for how nature
works and respect for creation.
Something else was evident. They were deeply into healthy
living and food justice. They delighted in helping impoverished
families have affordable whole organic produce and in teaching
them how to use it. They wanted the families to enjoy it and to
prosper in health with the blessings they had enjoyed from their
youth. These young adults forming the leadership team knew
that for the most part they had come from privileged families and
were eager to distribute the blessings they had received. A short
distance from the Chicago Lights Urban Farm I walked past a
downtown automobile dealership specializing in luxury
automobiles. As I reflected on people dressed in expensive suits
and stylish dresses admiring the automobiles, I was humbled by
the contrast of the servants of Christ toiling in the soil with
impoverished families only a few blocks away.
More About "Skinny Arms"
Of course, that is not her real name; let me call her Denise.
Think about her experience, similar to so many others whose lives
have been transformed by working the soil together in that place.
She began with a kid's summer program. She is now being
oriented to the teen volunteer leadership group. Like others I met,
she says she has learned to work, developed muscles, learned to
organize, learned to communicate, learned how to get along with
others, learned about plants, gardening, cooking with vegetables,
and healthy food. She was developing respect for nature and how
complex it is. When I told her that I followed a whole plant vegan
diet, she laughed and said she had tried it, and began to ask
questions.
Quite the change for a kid from a tough south Chicago
neighborhood. While talking about what the place had meant to
her I asked about siblings. She described a brother, not involved
with the farm, who was spending most of his time on the streets.
She said with noticeable sadness in her voice, "He is not safe."
A er a silent pause of a few seconds, she exclaimed with that
unique mixture of joy and reverence the redeemed express, "But I
am safe here." When she said that, I again had to turn my face
away for a moment. I was in the presence of the grace of God.
I noticed she worked hard, much harder than I. All the teens
were really working with unusual dedication. So, I quizzed Denise
about gardening and what growing produce involved. I
discovered she had learned her lessons well. I asked about the
microenterprise. She proudly related recent checks of several
hundred dollars each she had earned from selling the produce.
But there was more, and she wanted to tell me about it. She now
knew what she wanted to do: she would go to a culinary school,
and become a chef specializing in healthy food. She bragged
about a particular dish that was her specialty, and how she had
raised some of the ingredients herself. The dish had won a prize
in a city competition. She had a dream, I believe a God-given
dream, and I imagine she will reach it. Even if she does not, her
life now has meaning.
Denise described taking le over produce, which the regular
youth volunteers could do, home to her family so her mom and
siblings could have healthier food. She actually loved things like
kale and knew how to prepare it so her family would enjoy it!
Without the farm, she explained, that would not be possible since
they could not afford such things in the stores. She was leading
the way to a new life for those she loved.
Conclusion
Fourth Presbyterian's Chicago Lights outreach program typifies
the numerous community organizing efforts of Chicago churches.
The Christian commandment to love God and love others as
ourselves leads congregations to serve and give without ulterior
motives, without question of response or return.
Churches that serve change lives through Christian
relationships. This is what serving looks like in action. And the
impact of service in transformational evangelism is evident. It is
not always necessary to open the Bible to lead someone to Christ.
Yes, of course, Bible study comes as relationships and community
are built. But our faith in God becomes evident in the serving, in
sharing blessings and understanding, and in respecting others
without reference to circumstance or position. That faith is
contagious.
One can give a Bible study on the work of the Creator — or
kneel down and till the earth beside someone who does not know
the Creator. I found you can affirm creation in the lessons of the
creation itself, in lessons from the garden. The character of Christ
is revealed in service.
One can preach about redemption in Christ — or work beside
someone to restore a garden in the middle of urban blight. I found
that the restorative process of the urban farm inspired greater
confidence in new life and hope. I discovered that restoring a
space opens one's mind to the redemptive work of God.
One can quote Scripture to assure another that their life has
meaning — or admire what they are able to do as you work beside
them and realize their gi s. I found that teens from dangerous
neighborhoods are talented and can aspire to be er things. I
discovered that God has a thousand ways to reach a life and
fashion someone in His image.
It is not that teaching or preaching are ineffective — they are
effective. And we should be ready with Scripture, and a message
of hope in Christ. But o en one must preach the Gospel without
the sermon. I found the farm to be such a pulpit.
Denise told me she has developed deep respect for those young
adults who give their time to work with her, to get to know her.
That is relationality formed in the context of service. As I
watched the staff and volunteers work together and observed
their laughter and respect alongside teens like Denise, I knew
mentoring was going on. I knew lessons were being transferred.
They were working with the soil together. Mentors. Friends.
Relationship. Love. Evangelism.
This can change the world.
 A Place for Artists
Let every dawn of morning be to you as the beginning of
life, and every se ing sun be to you as its close: then let
every one of these short lives leave its sure record of some
kindly thing done for others—some goodly strength or
knowledge gained for yourselves; so, from day to day, and
strength to strength, you shall build up indeed, by Art, by
Thought, and by Just Will, an Ecclesia of England, of
which it shall not be said, "See what manner of stones are
here," but, see what manner of men. — John Ruskin

We met Krissy at a coffee shop across from campus. She could

be described like thousands of other coeds at Boston University, a
petite almost fragile looking brune e, a ractive, around 20 years
of age. But she is unusual. Deep into our conversation, she
removed three pencil drawings from an inside pocket of her
notebook. Reaching across the table, she tentatively placed the
drawings in front of us. Though they were created with an
ordinary ink pen during a recent cross-country flight and were
for her simply a way to pass time on the journey, we instantly
recognized we were spending some time with a young artist of
extraordinary talent. Krissy was in the second year of her art
degree at the university and preparing for a career in art
education. With a laugh she explained why she was ge ing her
degree — "So I won't starve!" Drawing and painting were her true
first loves.
Partly because she was connected with Boston's Park Street
Church congregation, Krissy is unique among her
contemporaries. Her belief in Christ and her desire to contribute
to Christian mission, largely through her art, were evident. Those
ideas kept surfacing in our conversation. We were delighted to
encounter a millennial commi ed to a life as a disciple of Christ.
And a progressive thinking artist at that! In the midst of a secular
city!
Boston's History
Puritan se lers founded Boston on the Shawmut Peninsula in
1630. It is now the largest city in the region of the United States
identified as New England. The city itself sits on a rather limited
geographical footprint with a population of about 650,000.
However, the population of the metropolitan area exceeds 4.5
million people. It is the tenth largest metro area in the country.
American history is woven into the Boston story. The city
provided the stage for noteworthy moments of the American
Revolution: the Boston Massacre, the Tea Party, the Ba le of
Bunker Hill, and other significant chapters in the birth and
development of a new nation. Reminders of the American story
are evident in the architecture of the city center. Thousands of
tourists visit the city each year to reflect on the historical
narratives interpreted through numerous well-preserved
buildings, neighborhoods, and public areas.
Boston has now become an international center of higher
education, a leader in innovation, and known for excellence in the
arts. For an American, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and
Boston Pops represent the best in classical performance and
contemporary expression. Boston Pops is a popular extraction of
the larger and classically inclined Symphony, a reality that gives
identity to the way this city merges historical roots with
contemporary worldviews. As much as any American city, Boston
embodies a dri toward secularism or, one might say, the
presence of a post-Christian era.
Boston's economic base today includes finance, professional
and business services, and government activities. But it is
primarily a place where the humanities and culture itself are
explored. Boston is a city of creativity and the arts. That is
Boston. Values in Boston focus on forming society, the
responsibilities and creativity that accompany the human
journey.
Park Street Church
Park Street Church in Boston is not an ordinary church. No one
would question that. Visitors to the city walk by it and reflect on
its place in American history, o en not realizing the historical
landmark houses a vibrant congregation. Significantly, the
membership is not primarily focused on celebrating its past,
though it does find the roots for its contemporary contribution to
the city in its more than two centuries of congregational life.
Situated next to Boston Commons and the Granary Burial
ground on Boston's Freedom Trail, the church has shaped
evangelicalism in America for over 200 years. The congregation
can trace their beginnings to a small group of devout Christians,
most members of the Old South Meeting House, who in 1804 were
concerned that biblical foundations in their faith might be
diminished with the rising sentiment for Unitarianism. They
wanted to strengthen, or augment, the emerging worldview they
observed in their own Boston congregation, in bodies of faith
throughout Boston, and indeed across New England with biblical
teachings. Seeking the merger of a foundational biblical
expression of faith with a compassionate worldview, they
launched a small group for weekly Bible studies. The small group
formed into a distinct church of their own, officially formed in
1809. They were clearly aligned with the Congregational
denomination, giving expression to the pairing of conservative
biblical positions alongside a vigorous social conscience held
within that faith tradition. The members erected the current
church sanctuary and began its use in 1810.
Several key moments in America's story are linked to Park
Street. The church was the place where William Lloyd Garrison
delivered his antislavery speech in 1829. Issues like women's
suffrage and the temperance movement of the early 20th century
found voice through the congregation. The church initiated the
oldest continuous running Christian radio station in the country.
In 1944 a ministry launched at Park Street, to help churches
rebuild in Europe following WWII, evolved into World Relief, a
dynamic organization that today has approximately 2,500 staff
and 60,000 volunteers worldwide fostering economic, social, and
spiritual relief efforts for the world's most vulnerable
populations. The NAACP for the Northeastern United States was
launched from the church.
Observing its position in American history, a casual observer
might think the church has focused on social issues to the neglect
of interest in the conservative biblical scholarship on which they
were founded. That would not be accurate. Today it is a thriving
congregation in the Conservative Congregational Christian
Conference, the most conservative expression of the
Congregational denomination in America. About 1500 members
a end Sunday worship services. There are nine full-time and five
part-time pastors, with a total of 35 on the church staff. The
vibrancy of biblical study and inquiry into Christian beliefs is
evident in their congregational life.
The church does focus on people, dedicating around 40% of its
budget to mission. The church provides English as second
language classes, sponsors and provides ministries for the
homeless, serves women in crisis, and aids immigrants, among
other ministries. Park Street has more small groups active in
service within the city then the pastoral staff can keep up with,
over 80 in their estimation functioning at any given time. Pastors
offer leadership training, spiritual mentoring, and pastoral care to
group leaders while recognizing that the mission of those groups
goes beyond the recognized identity of the church in the
community. Most of the groups engage in some sort of mission.
Many, though not all, have some degree of prayer and devotional
life.
For members at Park Street, small groups are an incarnational
presence of Christ in the city. Opportunities to encourage Sunday
worship participation are frequent, but not seen as the primary
way to interpret the purpose of group life. A culture of
investigating worship and faith by dropping in to the worship
service is seen as a reasonable outcome of the relationships built
within groups. On Sunday mornings the church intentionally
promotes ways for people to transition from casual to regular
a endance and grow in discipleship. An extended curriculum
exploring biblical inspiration and Christian discipleship is open to
any who wish to investigate Christian faith. Krissy, though
consumed with her studies at the University, had gone through
one such curriculum. For seven weeks!
The members celebrate the contribution of small group life in
forming connection. Relationships grow. People are connected
with Christ and with one another. These relationships formed
with people around their interests offer a compelling witness for
the Gospel in winsome ways.
Park Street is a church deeply identified with the community.
Worship and service activities spill over to the Boston Commons
and many of the city's artistic venues. Perhaps most notably, the
congregation serves the community as a place for thoughtful
dialogue. Students from Boston University, Massachuse s
Institute of Technology, and Harvard University have identified
with the congregation and fill the church on Sunday morning,
along with faculty and other young professionals. The
congregation provides a place for urban millennials to engage
with others in intellectual dialogue regarding questions of faith
rising from secular urban life. It is a culture of inquiry that the
church has welcomed, identified, and fosters. In a car on the "T"
(the Boston rapid transit system) I noted a poster identified with
the church. It displayed the words "parsing truth in the company
of friends." That describes Park Street.
It would be a mistake to think that Park Street serves without
regard for the imperative to make disciples. As one of the pastors
expressed, "To serve without sharing the Gospel is short of our
goal." On a Sunday during the time I interacted with the
congregation, more than 100 were welcomed into the
congregation as graduates of the new believers curriculum. To be
accurate, many of those 100 had been commi ed to Christ before
but were deepening their biblical knowledge and commi ing to
active church membership through the classes. Belonging at Park
Street implies a deep connection to Christ and Scripture. But
others among them were new in their faith to Christ. Most were
young millennials. And all were choosing Christ in a city where
the culture is secular and post-Christian.
Connecting with Arts
Sco has recently moved from Boston to one of the largest
state universities in the Midwest, where he holds a leadership
position in the university's administrative team. His wife
accepted a faculty position at the university and thrives in her
research role. They are both active disciples of Christ and deeply
involved in a local church. Park Street ministry, an arts ministry
to be exact, contributed significantly to the life they have now
formed.
Raised a Catholic, Sco had abandoned his faith in God at the
age of 18. He completed college on an athletic scholarship and
began a career in academics at a college in Boston. A proclaimed
agnostic, Sco described himself as being very opposed to
organized religion in the decade that followed. He considered
churches as terrible institutions that misled people and did not
contribute to society in any meaningful way.
At the age of 28 his life changed. Sco had formed an interest in
theater following his college experience. Living and working in
the Boston area, he missed the camaraderie of the team that
athletics had provided during his college years. So, he responded
to an invitation from a casual acquaintance to try out his acting
skills with a newly formed small group of artists from Park
Street. It seemed like the right match to him, a way to connect
and pursue his interest in the theater. The small group had
envisioned live production but soon began to work on producing
short films. Sco found the collegiality he had looked for and
liked the atmosphere of intellectual curiosity fostered in the
group. They freely discussed the idea of God, as Sco describes
the conversations, and exchanged differing worldviews. When the
group challenged him to read Timothy Keller's A Reason for God,
he did. He continued to ask questions and deepen his
relationships with other young adults from the church. He
started to a end worship, was further inspired to pursue
questions of faith, and eventually joined the new member class.
In the process he met a young Christian woman who is now his
wife!
Today Sco describes the culture of intellectual curiosity of
members from Park Street as the primary factor that God used to
lead him to genuine faith. He acknowledges that it started with
his interest in the arts. The small group included people who
knew how to produce and direct. They connected. For Sco ,
acting awakened his spirit. Acting in the films they were
producing and connecting with like-minded artists became the
path for finding faith in God.
The fostering of creative expression through various forms of
art has been an avenue for forming Christian relationships in the
life of Park Street church for over a decade. Park Street Arts is a
community that began around the year 2000 as a hosted group of
people from the church who collaborated in artistic endeavors. A
small group of members prayed for nearly a year over the vision
to initiate some sort of ministry presence for people engaged in
the arts before Park Street Arts was launched. They believed that
students and other young adults trying to make it in some area of
art vocation represented people who were o en uncomfortable
or even rejected in the usual life of a congregation. The small
group then launched with about 15 accomplished or aspiring
artists meeting in a residential apartment in the heart of the city
near the church.
The group grew quickly, operated a café for some time,
organized exhibits, tried various activities, and began to divide
into specific artist groups exploring expressions like photography,
painting, film, or musical performance. Growth led to a need for
decentralizing the original leadership, and the pastoral staff
became involved in a process of mentoring new people to lead
multiple and diverse artist groups. The church listened and
continues to frequently gather artists together asking what they
envision as ways to serve the community and advance their
vocation and artistic interests while sharing the Gospel.
 Park Street Arts has matured and aspires to provide a center for
quality expression of the arts that enriches the community and
the church. Park Street Arts recognizes the beauty and purpose of
all art forms and encourages inspiring and upli ing artistic
expression, embracing disciplines that include design, dance,
visual arts, music, drama, media, photography, and writing. Some
art forms have several groups providing community. Some
participants in these groups are professionals, others are
students, others are amateurs, others are people who simply want
to develop knowledge of and appreciation for a particular artistic
discipline. Many engage with the city in plays, concerts, or other
events, while finding support in groups from the church.
Persons having interest or experience in the technical side of
audio/video operation, stage management, production, marketing
and publicity, hospitality, or general project management have
go en involved. That has opened a door for the church to plan
and offer concerts, exhibitions, performances, lectures, and
symposiums for the city. The notoriety the church has received
for its engagement in Boston area cultural activities and artistic
workshops has further advanced its witness.
Participants contribute their work in church worship services.
Music is of course a primary medium for that gi . Individuals and
groups frequently offer their composition or performance. A
worship orchestra has been formed. Paintings, drawings, and
photography are exhibited at the church. Videos have been
produced that contribute to the biblical preaching or provide
their own significant contribution to Christian thought and social
issues. A visit to the church's web site will introduce those
creations.
While most of the people engaging with one of the groups or
art expressions are a ending, about 10% do not. Others who are
involved in one of the groups have journeyed to discipleship
through their engagement with the group.
Keeping the Faith
Krissy had chosen to leave her home in California to enroll at
Boston University because of its reputation in art education. She
had been nurtured as a child and adolescent in a Christian home,
and her parents accompanied her as she made the move to
Boston. While ge ing her se led they walked the Freedom Trail
in the heart of the city together on a Sunday morning. A er an
hour or so they stood outside of the Park Street Church. It was
about the time the morning worship was to begin, so they decided
to stay for the service and seek a respite from the walking.
Krissy immediately noticed the church was predominately 20
somethings, mixed with other generations. The sermon that
Sunday focused on the artistic cra s that had contributed to the
building of the Ark of the Covenant. That spoke to Krissy, and she
made a mental note that in coming weeks she would check out
the church further. It would be a way to examine and possibly
sustain her faith, she reasoned. She felt the church would
welcome her and she would be in the company of other young
artists while being mentored in the church by more experienced
Christians as well. She had noticed there were many small groups
where people in the arts could share their work.
Krissy decided, a er a ending for some time, that she needed
to establish her own faith. She knew decisions about God needed
to become personal in her adult life. So, she made the decision to
enroll in a new believers class. The class required one evening
each week for seven weeks.
When I met her, Krissy had been at Boston College for two
years and had become a regular a endee at Park Street. She
described many connections at the church and loved her
volunteer work at the art gallery. She knew the church as a caring
place, a place that affirmed her gi s, and helped her with her
questions about faith, vocation, and life.
Conclusion
There are many lessons to be learned from the experience of
young adults like Sco and Krissy. Let's focus on Krissy. She is a
Christian. In a secular city, with the pressures post-Christian
culture present to faith in Christ, she chose to follow Jesus.
Let me emphasize that point. She is an intelligent young adult,
a university student in an urban secular environment, a
millennial, and a Christian.
We can reflect on the contribution of Park Street Church to
ministry and connection in small groups, on creating a culture of
openness, of acceptance, and on the appreciation of the arts. We
can learn from the contribution the arts make to developing the
creative energy God placed within us. Certainly, artistic
expression is a spiritual exercise.
Relationality and service. Again, these methods of sharing
Christ are evident in the Park Street Arts program. But it is the
aspect of creating community that is especially compelling.
People are invited into community. They share their challenges,
their interests, and their gi s without passing doctrinal or
membership tests. They are welcomed. They are given an
opportunity to ask questions. They inquire, and they study. In the
relationships within small groups and the worship service they
o en choose to listen to God. And they are transformed.
Community is powerful.
Do not miss the point. When a church is populated by disciples
of Christ who form relationships outside their membership
without judgment, when they listen, when they value the gi s
within people, lives are changed. Faith is born. Or faith is
preserved, and that too is a miracle to celebrate. People see the
love of God, they see it among those they connect with, and they
inquire. Led by the Holy Spirit, they too commit to Christ.
 Where Mercy Trumps
Judgment
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than
strict justice. — Abraham Lincoln

Liz portrays life as beautiful. Her positive outlook emerges

from her strong Christian faith. She works to serve at risk
homeless youth, including victims of sex trafficking, in the city of
Toronto, Canada. Her vocation does not destroy her hopeful view
of the world, largely because of her own experience. Holding an
earned master's degree, she is professionally prepared for what
she does. Her education helps her to cope with the things she sees
on a daily basis. However, it is the remarkable transformation
that this cheerful grandmother of three experienced many years
ago that empowers her to help others.
Her story unfolds as a child growing up in Toronto, one of the
most diverse of the world's great cities. To understand her story,
first understand the context of the city.
Toronto
Toronto is situated on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario.
French traders brought the first European influence to the
original Iroquois se lers of the region, building Fort Rouille in
1750. England negotiated the Toronto Purchase in 1787 during the
American Revolutionary War and changed the name of the
se lement to Town of York. In 1813 the town was captured by the
United States during the Ba le of York. A er negotiating its
surrender, the city returned to the name Toronto, formed either
from a Native American term meaning "place where trees stand in
the water" or from a French term for "plenty." Uncertainty
surrounds the exact origin of the name.
Toronto is the hub of a metropolitan area of nearly 10 million
and is the provincial capital of Ontario. The city itself has a
population of 2.8 million people making it the 4th most populous
city in North America and the most populous city in Canada.
Toronto is recognized for its urban architecture, particularly
the CN tower, the tallest freestanding structure in the western
hemisphere. Situated on a broad sloping plateau, the city is
intersected by several rivers, forests, and deep ravines. The city is
also known for its cultural diversity.
Toronto is a major immigrant destination in Canada; 30% of all
recent immigrants to Canada se le in Toronto. Although English
is the official language, over 150 languages are spoken within this
cosmopolitan center and half of its residents were born outside of
Canada.34 Most recent immigrants come from South or Eastern
Asian countries, the largest foreign-born populations coming
from India, Philippines, or China.35
Toronto is the economic center of Canada. Its main industries
are technology, design, financial services, life sciences, education,
arts, fashion, and tourism. The Toronto Stock Exchange and the
headquarters of the five largest banks in Canada further mark
the city as the commercial capital of Canada.
 Toronto is known as the "city of neighborhoods." The Old City
of Toronto is the most populated community of the city, covering
the downtown area and other older neighborhoods. The various
neighborhoods forming the city retain distinct cultural
characteristics. Suburbs are also a major component of the city
structure, the major ones being East York, York, Etobicoke,
Scarborough, and North York.
Yonge Street Mission
Liz's story is also tied to the Yonge Street Mission. Yonge Street
Mission (YSM) began as a horse-drawn "Gospel Wagon" that
handed out food and clothing to the poor in Toronto. John
Coolidge Davies, a commi ed Baptist Christian, founded the
Mission in 1896. Its headquarters were in a rented storefront on
Yonge Street, in the heart of the old city center.
YSM broadened its mission in 1962 with the opening of a coffee
shop. The Mission renamed that particular ministry to Evergreen
in 1979. Evergreen focused on meeting the needs of street-
involved young people. In 1987 Church on the Street was launched
to provide a gathering place for worship. Housing facilities were
added in 1991 with the opening of Genesis Place. The following
year, a counseling service was opened in a new Christian
Community Center on Gerrard St. Free medical care for street-
involved youth was provided with the official opening of Health
Center at Evergreen. YSM expanded further with the opening of
the Evergreen Employment Resource Center in 1998 providing
services from job search to life skill workshops.
YSM's mission is to end chronic poverty in Toronto. Programs
and ministries address issues like addictions, adult education,
prison ministry, counseling, mentoring, child care, and other
efforts to help people break the cycle of poverty. The YSM
philosophy is that the resources necessary to end chronic poverty
can be accessed once the underlying causes are identified and
treated properly. Its core values are: love, creativity, integrity,
dignity, justice, gratitude, and peace.
Today there are multiple building locations in Toronto's urban
area that house various programs of YSM and impact hundreds of
people every day. One of those is the aforementioned Evergreen
Center serving street-involved youth. Help is offered in
employment counseling and placement. Evergreen provides free
and confidential health care. Youth can drop in to grab a free
healthy meal and enjoy some recreational activities or workshops
in a safe environment. They also provide access to shelters and
transitional/support and permanent housing.
In another location YSM supports the food needs of street-
involved and post-prison men and women or others who may be
in a crisis situation. The Food Bank gives access by appointment
to a 2- or 3-day supply of unprepared and non-perishable food
o en accompanied by some fresh food like bread, milk, and
vegetables.
The YSM Community Services Center offers a similar variety of
services. Nutritious meals are served on Tuesday and Thursday
nights and followed by life-style change programs including:
Creative Writing, Recovery Group, Women's Support Group, and
Spiritual Reflection. One-on-one tutoring offers assistance with
reading, writing, and basic math skills. Trained counselors offer
therapy for a variety of issues, such as addictions, abuse, anxiety
and eating disorders.
YSM Family Support Services provides similar services as the
other ministries but marketed specifically to family units. These
include counseling, employment, housing, nursery services,
childcare, parent relief, parenting workshops, and nursery food
banks. Daycare is one of those services offering both full-fee and
subsidized care for infants, toddlers, and preschool children.
Computer labs focus on training children in acquiring computer
skills and are also available for low-income adults. A erschool
homework club creates a safe space for holistic development of
children and youth in grades 1-8.
Church at the Mission (CATM) engenders a spiritual
community and support for those who desire to join a
worshipping community. CATM is linked to YSM making the
resources of YSM available to their worshipers. The church is
designed to be inclusive and supportive, welcoming people from
all walks of life.
Double Take Thri Store (DT) is an employment initiative of
YSM that offers gently used clothing, furniture, and housewares
at affordable prices. DT exists to provide affordable clothing and
household items to the community. The store provides first-time
employment and training for community members who have
obstacles to regular employment. DT offers business a ire
suitable for job interviews. It includes another store called the
Show Case that sells vintage and antique items, unique
merchandise, and upscale clothing at reasonable prices.
Pastor Tammi
Tammi is one of the staff serving in the several branches of
YSM. Pastor Tammi was an instrument of God's grace in Liz's
transformation many years ago. Her office is presently in the
Christian Community Center. She experienced a connection with
street people from her childhood. She remembers talking with
them as a child, listening carefully to their stories, and
intentionally going out of her way to spend time with them as a
teen.
When she became a follower of Jesus as a young adult she was
working in the cosmetics industry. She knew she wanted to do
something more with her life, so she le her employment to
a end Bible college. She felt God was calling her to relate to
people whose life centered on the street. She found joy in making
friends with them, spending time with them, listening to them,
and helping them in practical ways.
She began working part time with a ministry called Sanctuary,
which served working prostitutes. That led her to dealing with
women who have addictions, some who were in and out of prison.
She volunteered to spend time in a women's prison, only to be
there and listen to their stories and become friends, not to preach
or hold worship services.
Tammi completed Bible college, has some ministerial
mentoring, and has had various ministry experiences. It was
difficult for her, however, to fit into a traditional pastoral role. She
just did not fit that image. Her calling was affirmed by an
invitation to join the pastoral staff of YSM on a full-time basis. At
YSM she could be herself, she would not be asked to serve in
traditional pastoral roles, she would be free to talk to people,
many of them fully broken people, be a friend without judgment,
and encourage them.
What does Tammi do at YSM? She spends time in public places
like parks talking to people. She goes to the women's drop-in
center where women open up to her like no one else. She relates
to their vulnerability. She does not introduce herself as a
chaplain. She is just Tammi. She is the friend of people with AIDS,
with women in prison or just released from prison, with homeless
women, with prostitutes. Her work is relational. The core of her
success, Tammi explains, is that people know they are loved.
Tammi does not preach, and she does not teach in a formal
se ing. She is a friend. She is someone to hang out with. If an
addict is in trouble, Tammi sits beside them and stays with them.
She may walk with them to the drop-in center. But she never
lectures them about the damage they are doing to themselves.
She easily invites a prostitute to relax for a few moments from
her work on the street. In a coffee shop they talk about life —
with no judgment.
You might assume Tammi's ministry is empty of any victories.
You would be mistaken. On her office desk I saw pictures of her
baptizing women. She joyfully shared a video of some of those
baptisms, and my heart was moved. I asked how many women
from prison, addiction, or prostitution had come to accept Jesus
and be baptized. Tammi had stopped counting the baptisms some
years ago, but the baptisms were in the hundreds. Liz was one of
those baptized.
Though Tammi is not really adept at organizing things, she does
implement some specific programs. One that I found particularly
inspiring is what she simply calls summer camping. This is no
ordinary summer camp experience. Tammi o en spent time with
women who were working Toronto's streets at night but wanted
to spend time with them in a more wholesome way. She
recognized they too would enjoy that. So, she began renting vans
on occasion to go to concerts, to go to the park for an a ernoon
barbecue, to go swimming, or with them to athletic events. One of
the working women asked one day, "Could we take a camping
trip?"
So, in 1997, prostitutes, some with addictions, began taking
summer camping trips complete with tents, cots, and sleeping
bags. At first it was just for weekends. That grew to renting a
church camp for several days, and a dozen women grew to 50 or
60. Invitations were handed out through friends who worked on
the street at night; girls in prostitution were invited to set aside
the time and come. There was one requirement; everyone had to
help. You might teach a cra , play an instrument, help with
cleanup, demonstrate a recipe, lead singing, have a devotional, or
read Scripture. You had to help in some way. Only women
a ended, and there was no featured guest speaker. Daily
devotions, prayer, sharing, and learning the women a ending
provided it all. There were no women from the institutional
church, only women of the street, plus Tammi.
Some of the women who a ended camp started coming to
church in the days a er camping, entered recovery programs, and
accepted Jesus as Lord in their lives. Some started singing Gospel
music at concerts in a park, began sharing their testimony in
prison, or participating in a praise team. Tammi says with a smile,
"When a known prostitute or former crack dealer gives a
testimony for Jesus, people listen."
Today Tammi finds great joy in her continuing service for Jesus.
She works with a recovery group on Tuesday nights, provides
something of a 12-step program for addicts, does the camping and
short trip experiences, and on Thursday nights gives out care
bags to women on the street. She does frequent funerals, largely
for people who have died of AIDS, liver disease, murder, suicide, or
over-doses. She spends time with women in prison and in halfway
houses.
Tammi could not satisfy expectations of an institutional
church. Tammi told me with a chuckle in her voice, "The
fundamental church drives me crazy." Some would be upset that
Tammi will baptize a person who is an alcoholic, a crack addict, or
a prostitute. I listened to her share the story of one beautiful
young woman. Shortly a er her baptism she died from AIDS. It
was not clear to me that this particular person ever escaped her
lifestyle. It was clear to me though that she was loved and
cherished on the day of her death.
 Many do experience amazing transformation. Liz is one of
those. There are women she related to who now have families
with great marriages free from their former lives. It was an
interesting reflection to hear Tammi tell of baptizing the children
of women whose lives were in brokenness and of those children
succeeding in positive lives in the school and community. Some of
the women have become leaders in business and community. She
talks of them as "clean and serving God." She uses a phrase when
speaking of transformed lives: "Mercy triumphs over judgment."
Liz's Journey
Liz has been clean, as she calls it, for 18 years. She is a mature
adult, happily married, with children doing well in their
professions and grandchildren whom she cherishes. She tells
them, Listen to what I say; do not do what I did.
As a youth and young adult, she was in and out of juvenile
detention and prison for 20 years. Drug addiction and trafficking
was her life. Her life was, as she affirms, a mess. She experienced
repeated abusive relationships, had been stabbed in one violent
altercation, and was cynical about humanity in general. Liz had
grown up without a father and remembers constant anger
around her as a child. She thought no goodness could come to her.
And as the song goes, she looked for love in all the wrong places.
Her addiction and her sexual activity began in her early teen
years.
She would do anything to support her addiction, or to fill the
void in her life. It was not always about the money, though she
was adept at making a pre y good living on the street.
A Christian woman who constantly visited the women's prison
began to relate to her. Liz began to talk with this woman and felt
something drawing her to a different life, but she resisted any
change for over two years. Liz describes that time as fighting to
resist the Holy Spirit in her life. Several times she decided to try
Christianity, to try and clean up her life, but it was a struggle she
abandoned quickly. Time and time again she would return to her
former life in a ma er of a few days. Liz can tell you that a
changed life does not always happen overnight, that
transformation sometimes comes slowly, can be a struggle, and
that only God can change a life as deep into the grip of sin as hers.
Pastor Tammi became friends with Liz through the shared
friendship with the woman visiting Liz in prison. Tammi
recognized the a ractiveness of Liz's personality, and also that
she was struggling trying to get her life in order. People seem to
gravitate towards Liz, and as you watch her relate to others you
realize that characteristic was likely there even when her life was
in turmoil. Tammi kept urging her to realize God had something
ahead for her that would transform her life into a life of
discipleship. Tammi says she had a sense that Liz would one day
surrender her will to the Lordship of Christ, receive the Holy
Spirit in her life, and become a powerful witness for Jesus.
What happened to Liz 20 years ago is extraordinary. She is
careful, as she shares her story, to assert such deliverance is not
always the case. Jesus patiently works His will with people in
their own personal journey to recovery, sometimes through
repeated trauma. Liz had struggled for quite some time. Then
redemption came like a flood of healing water, and grace
overpowered her. Liz describes it as a miracle. On the day of her
last release from prison (she would never again return) she
breathed a prayer as she was walking down the street. Suddenly
an assurance of release, of grace, swept through her. It was like
her soul was delivered from a dark prison. Her longing for drugs
and for abusive intimacy without meaning vanished.
Immediately. It was gone.
Liz speaks of that moment walking down the street with a
sense of wonder. She says she experienced the presence of God as
real as if He walked beside her.
A short time later Tammi urged Liz to share her testimony
during a woman's day program at YSM. She then worked at
Evergreen for a summer and returned to school in the fall. A new
community began to form. She continued working at Evergreen
for a few years, then took a leadership position in a ministry in
Toronto for youth at risk and victims of human trafficking.
 You would not think Liz had lived through such a dark period in
her life. She now describes life as beautiful. And somehow, she
carries that into the interventions she provides in her vocation.
She certainly shares it with her three grand-children. Liz is one of
God's miracles.
Conclusion
Liz's story is one of hope. We see broken lives everywhere in the
city. Drug addictions, poverty, violence, sexual abuse, racism; the
list of sinful destructive behaviors or circumstances seems
endless. It is not because people in the city are more sinful than
populations living in a distant rural community. The density of
the population creates proximity. We see it because more people
live in a few square blocks of the city than in a typical small town
in America.
If we look at the city without bias, we will see lives
transformed, like Liz, who are walking testimonies of God's grace.
They are living breathing miracles. Sin destroys, but God saves
lives. And that reminds us of our hope.
There are four lessons I have taken away from my time with
the people of Toronto. These are lessons for disciples who would
be used by God to serve in the city context. First, broken lives are
everywhere. Because of the density of the city, there are broken
people within the few blocks of any city neighborhood.
Second, relational evangelism is affirmed and even defined. The
people I visited with were not zealous for doctrine, though they
were clear about what they believed in regard to God, His Word,
and His will. They loved, and they helped people because of love,
not out of a desire to expand their church membership. Yes, the
kingdom of God has grown through the ministry of people like
Pastor Tammi, like the volunteer visiting in the prison, like Liz
herself who now in turn serves others. But it is about love and
grace. They feed the hungry, they clothe, they visit in the prison,
they help those deep in sin without judgment. Because they love.
That is relational evangelism.
The third learning is an affirmation of discipleship. I met person
a er person still struggling in their life who witnessed that they
believed in God, were praying for others and helping others, while
they themselves knew their need for transformation. Like Liz,
people who had been clean for many years had begun to minister
while they themselves were babes in Christ. In that context,
another observation is significant. People healing by God's grace
from what sin had done in their lives consistently spoke of the
importance of forming close primary associations with a small
number of Christians who were free from the domination of sin.
The power of relating to primary friends who were experiencing
an abundant life in Christ was evident.
And that leads to the fourth learning. God heals broken lives. He
longs to give us life, abundant life. Liz received that gi when she
was ready to give up on her own efforts to straighten herself out.
For years fear had kept her from trusting others. But she came to
trust God through the patient caring love of Christians. She now
praises God with this text: "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill
and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life"
(John 10:10, NLT).
___________
34 h p://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/en/living/OI_HOW_LIVE_TORONTO.html,
accessed Feb 1, 2017, 3:56 pm.
35 h p://canadaimmigrants.com/immigrants-in-toronto/accessed Feb 1, 2017, 4:30 pm.
 The Stranger in Our
Neighborhood
I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to
welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a
strange land. — Harriet Tubman

Li Na easily retells the story of her family's journey. For her,

such reflections are recognition of God's protection and
providence. Her mild manner and pleasant smile make it easy to
listen to her. The politeness is likely a contribution of her
heritage. Of Chinese parentage, she was born in Burma (now
Myanmar) and pursued her higher education in India where she
became a Christian.
While in India, Li Na became an ardent advocate for her new
Christian faith. She and her husband considered Myanmar home
and began importing Bibles into the country while fostering
evangelistic activity. The government took steps to restrict their
efforts, even a empting to extract money from them. Conditions
worsened, and eventually they felt unsafe in their frequent visits
to Myanmar.
They found refuge in Malaysia for three years, avoiding life in a
refugee camp in Myanmar through the efforts of a family friend.
A refugee in Myanmar typically would have to live in one of the
camps, meaning they would live amidst jungle vegetation in a
bamboo hut, perhaps with no running water or sanitation. The
refugees generally were not allowed to work other than laboring
in the rice paddies. They survived on whatever meager wages
working in the fields might provide, along with small rations of
food from the United Nations.
With family already living in the United States in the San Diego
area, Li Na and her husband were fortunate. They were granted
immigration through the efforts of the United Nations Refugee
Agency (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees —
UNHR) to the United States. They se led in National City, a
community on the south side of the San Diego urban area. When I
met Li Na, she had been in America for 3 years.
San Diego
San Diego is a city of 1.5 million people in California
immediately adjacent to the Pacific Ocean and the nation of
Mexico. A mission founded by the Spanish in 1769 was the first
development in what has become San Diego. In 1821 the city
became part of Mexico, then in 1850 part of the United States
following the Mexican-American War and the admission of
California into the Union.
San Diego is known for its mild year-round climate, natural
deep-water port, extensive beaches, and long association with the
military. Many people look at San Diego as the most desirous
climate in America. The topography of the region limits its
development somewhat, due to the steep mountainous area to
the immediate east and the arid regions just beyond.
The city is the economic center of a region known as the San
Diego — Tijuana metropolitan area. The main economic engines
are military and defense-related activities, tourism, trade,
education and research, and manufacturing. The University of
California at San Diego and its medical center have helped make
the area a center for biotechnology research.
The National City community, situated on the south side of the
San Diego urban area, is home to about 60,000 people in a
geographic territory of about 10 square miles. About 60% of the
population identifies itself as Hispanic or Latino. Caucasian and
Asian are the other significant people groups.
Immigration has been an important factor throughout the
history of the National City community. In 2006 the mayor of
National City declared National City to be an immigrant
sanctuary city. But the idea of being a city of immigrants has
created tensions. A subsequent mayor of the city contradicted
that vision and distanced himself from the idea of a place to
welcome immigrants. Still, people who are immigrating from Asia,
Latin America, or Africa to America find the southern
communities of San Diego a welcome place to develop their new
future.
Paradise Valley Church
Paradise Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church is located in the
National City community. A ending a worship service at the
Paradise Valley church is like visiting a session of the United
Nations. About 300 people are in a endance. Worship services are
electronically translated into seven languages. Worshippers from
African countries add to the human interest with the colorful
fashions of their homelands. Asian and Latin countries seem to be
the most common countries of origin.
I asked one huddle of members outside the church what they
liked most about Paradise Valley. Their response was immediate
and enthusiastic. The diversity! They began to describe the
learning they experience from the characteristics of other
cultures, and the stories of refugee families from those lands.
They seemed convinced their lives were made richer because of
the diversity the refugees provided. They liked that their church
was growing, and they volunteered that the growth was coming
from an influx of immigrant families.
The congregation reflects a somewhat conservative worldview.
That may be due to the cultural backgrounds of the membership.
Classes early on Saturday morning focus on learning in
traditional small group se ings, with teachers lecturing from
lesson materials in front of groups of 15 or 20. Classes are
available in various languages. The worship is traditional in style.
Religious and denominational colloquialisms are frequent. There
is no sense that this is an especially contemporary church.
The bulletin announces its main Sabbath morning worship as
"Family Worship." And that is the case. The immigrants and
refugees have largely come as families, making the church multi-
generational. The age demographics are widely distributed,
though the Eurocentric population is older than the population
of other people groups making up the membership.
 What makes this church extraordinary? Obviously, the clear
sense of focus on grace and hope distinguishes this congregation.
The preaching and teaching is grace oriented. It comes through in
relationships. There is a kindness, a celebration of people, and
recognition of God's love. This church has come to see itself as a
place where caring is expressed in acts of service. The tone of the
church is traditional and conservative, but generous in grace.
Clearly its ministry to refugees shapes the identity of this
congregation. It is a church of immigrants and refugees. They
bring with them the backgrounds of their culture and how it has
shaped their faith. The identity is demonstrated in the "Festival of
Nations," an annual celebration of national diversity. Last year
members from 62 nations carried the flags of their nations of
origin in the parade. The festival has become popular in the city
largely because of the ethnic food and the cultural entertainment.
Paradise Valley church looks very different today than it did a
decade ago. It was once a church centered in the institutional life
of Paradise Valley Hospital, owned by the denomination. Paradise
Valley Hospital is still the largest employer in the community, but
it is no longer an Adventist institution with largely Adventist
employees.
Questions remain. Can the church continue into another
generation as a culturally diverse church of refugees and
immigrants? Will one people group begin to dominate the
membership and reshape it in a more homogenous manner? Will
young adults from the various cultures and immigrant families
continue to appreciate the heterogeneity and invest in the
congregation? What is evident is that this church is no place for
someone who has negative ideas about immigrant populations
taking root in America.
Understanding how the Paradise Valley church came to be what
it is today is interpreted through the ministry narrative of its
senior pastor.
A Welcoming Pastor
Pastor Will James has served the Paradise Valley Seventh-day
Adventist Church for 14 years. He journeyed with the church
through significant changes. When he accepted the invitation to
serve as the senior pastor it was the center of spiritual life for a
denominationally owned hospital, located immediately adjacent
to the hospital campus. That meant the membership included
families of health care professionals and administrators who
contributed not only to the operation of the hospital but also to
the health of the church. It was a vibrant and thriving Adventist
institutional church.
That changed quickly. Community and other economic factors
along with strategic issues in health care delivery led the
denomination to sell the hospital. At the same time National City
was slowly transitioning to a lower income population. Adventist
families began to migrate from the area to other health care
centers. Some denominational officials predicted the demise of
the church, believing the remaining membership could no longer
support the costs of maintaining the quality of church campus
facilities.
Pastor James acknowledges the providence of God with the
move he and his wife, Peggy, made. His enthusiasm for the church
and community were not deterred by the sale of the hospital.
Instead they saw an opportunity. Pastor James had already
experienced ministry in urban areas with high levels of
immigration and growing diversity. He had experience with what
refugee families needed. Peggy shared his vision to assist refugee
families and wanted to use her administrative skills in the
community to help such families.
Together they were ready to embrace a new vision with core
members of Paradise Valley to become a church of immigrants. It
would mean sweeping change. Many original core families would
eventually stay and become part of a changing church, while
others would migrate to other neighborhoods in the San Diego
area. Today Paradise Valley is filled on Sabbath morning, and the
campus is busy all week long. But it is a radically different church
from what it was 10 years ago.
The ministry from the pastoral team today includes seven full-
or part-time pastoral assignments. Their ministry of course
includes biblical teaching and preaching. But what sets this team
apart is their focus on serving refugee families. Youth ministry,
for example, goes forward with a focus on the needs of teens and
young adults who transition to American culture. And nurture is
approached with regard to the customs of the various cultures
represented. The needs of children adopting new customs shape
the work of the staff. Evangelism is approached with world
religions in view. And the church engages in the community as a
place to help refugees and immigrants arriving in America.
The World's Refugees
The United Nations Refugee Agency (also known as United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees — UNHCR) leads and
coordinates international action to protect refugees and resolve
refugee problems worldwide. It strives to ensure that everyone
can exercise the right to find safe refuge in another country or
return to his or her home country.
Refugee camps are temporary communities developed to
receive refugees. The UNHCR office estimates about 3,000,000
people are in the UNHCR recognized camps. Some camps are over
100,000, while the average population is about 11,000. There are
many more unofficial refugee camps, where refugees are o en
living without support of governments or nonprofit
organizations.
Refugee camps generally develop as a empts to aid people in a
civil, environmental, or economic crisis. If return of refugees to
their homeland is prevented by war or famine, the humanitarian
crisis worsens. Some refugee camps exist for decades and grow
into recognized cities.
 Refugee camps too o en serve as places for the recruitment
and training of fighters in the conflicts going on in the refugees'
place of origin. Even aid meant for refugees in the camps can be
diverted to sustain combatants in regional wars. Dadaab Camp in
Kenya near the Somalia border was the site of the largest UNHCR
camp hosting over 2 million people in five camp jurisdictions in
the year 2015. Although urban planners are a empting to provide
the infrastructure for Dadaab to function as a safe city of refuge,
the factors affecting quality of life for refugees in Dadaab are
typical for any UNHCR camp: diet and malnutrition, shelter,
health care, education, environmental risks, safety, and their
economic and legal status.
Serving the Stranger in the Land
Paradise Valley church envisions serving refugees who come to
America from such camps, and others who immigrate to America.
The church uses its campus facilities throughout the week for
language education, childcare, gardening, food distribution,
clothing distribution, job training, and training in the variety of
life skills needed to manage se ling in America.
About 150 people, most of them members of the church,
volunteer their time in the various services. They serve about 40
families at any given time in the process of rese lement. Many of
these are families immigrating legally to America to fill advertised
employment opportunities or to rejoin families. Others are
refugees who have fled due to political or religious threats. Some
of those being helped by the church have spent years in refugee
camps in foreign countries.
The value of food distributed through the church to immigrant
and refugee families in one year was estimated at $2.5 million.
Much of that food is fresh produce, not the usual prepared
packaged food typical of food pantries. About 4,000 pieces of
clothing are distributed monthly. Each week refugee families can
get three pieces per person for their family. High quality
furniture, clothing, and household items le over from estate
sales in the community make their way into a thri shop that
generates about $50,000 a year in sales, providing salary to
support a few job opportunities for immigrant families.
The service to immigrants and refugees is not limited to food
and clothing. Community, important to new immigrants, is
created through the serving of breakfast and lunch daily in the
church fellowship hall. Three levels of language classes are
continually available. I observed one class filled with adults from
Africa who had not been in a school a day in their lives. There are
other offerings like computer labs, job training, and classes
preparing job seekers for an interview. There are parenting and
family finance workshops. Transportation to and from work is
provided. There is help to connect with government programs
providing money for basic food and living allowance needs. Help
in connecting with agencies providing basic health care is also
provided.
How do refugees and immigrants link with Paradise Valley?
Much of the connection happens by word of mouth. Others are
referred through agencies like Alliance for African Assistance
that assigns families to the sponsorship of Paradise Valley, or
through the work of UNHCR.
Asked how successful the church is at helping immigrant or
refugee families coming to America succeed in assimilation, the
responses averaged 75%. Assimilation was judged on achieving
economic self-sufficiency, family adaptation to educational
institutions in the community, and engagement with community
institutions.
Staff and pastors agree that not everyone makes the transition
well. Some end up on longer-term welfare rolls or move again
trying to find a way to assimilate in another place.
The church employs Samuel as the director for its refugee
assimilation program. He has firsthand knowledge of what
immigration means. Africa is his continent of origin. Genocide in
Rwanda led to displacement for him and his family to Germany.
He successfully sought immigration to America in 2008. He has a
varied educational background in religious and ministerial
studies, gaining experience in community service and health care
both in Africa and Germany. He speaks seven languages.
Samuel arrived in America with minimal financial support.
With his wife and four children, he slept for some time on the
church campus as the se lement process moved forward. He took
up part-time employment with the church while supplementing
his income with other j obs and continuing his training for a
career in community service.
Samuel became the director in 2015. His vision is to see the
church as the leader for activities that serve immigrant and
refugee populations across the landscape of agencies serving the
San Diego area. He also longs to see the Paradise Valley church
become a model for Adventist churches in North America
situated to become places for immigrant and refugee service.
More About Li Na
Li Na, her husband, and two children came to America with
nothing. They received sponsorship through the Paradise Valley
church and were assisted by various church and government
programs. They no longer are dependent on such programs other
than low-cost educational loans and some educational grants. Li
Na earns a salary working at the church-operated thri shop. She
studies fashion design in an area college and envisions a career in
that field. Her goal is to own a fashionable boutique clothing
store. Her husband is advancing in a nursing education program.
Li Na rejoices in what she sees as the providential guidance and
blessings that brought her and her family to America. She is
obviously an intelligent and able person. She and her husband are
active in the church, and the children are thriving in a church-
operated school.
Listening to Li Na I realized that she and her family are living
witnesses for the incarnational ministry Jesus provides in His
church. This is transformational evangelism. They praise the
vision and ministry of the congregation as being the instruments
God has used to provide them with spiritual and physical life. I
have no doubt that her children will become contributing
professionals serving a community in Southern California and
raising their families here. Her husband will be a registered nurse
who serves with dedication. And she will operate the small
business she has dreamed of. They already are serving various
ministries in the church family, and that will continue. She is
eternally grateful for the love and grace of her Christian
community!
In Conclusion: What is Required for a Ministry to Immigrants
Serving refugees and immigrants requires unconditional love.
O en their situation makes them the "least of these" in our
community. So, a church or small group envisioning this ministry
will need to make an extraordinary commitment to serve Him
and His hurting children. The daily struggles and trials of these
families are extreme. Sometimes they seem unnecessary; the
families lack the simple knowledge required to get through the
day in a new culture. It takes unusual grace to help them manage.
A ministry for refugees and immigrants will place tremendous
stress on the human resources and emotional strength of a
congregation. At the same time, helping these families find a new
life will provide remarkable fulfillment and satisfaction as they
grow from vulnerability into confident, strong, independent
families who respond with tremendous gratitude for all they have
been empowered to become.
Churches serving refugees and immigrants identify with the
families. They will experience joy as they see people grow and
develop into all God created them to be. But they also hurt with
them as they struggle and fall. There are times when sponsors
and those managing the assimilation process are taken advantage
of. So, congregations need to be prepared to appreciate the
challenges and struggles people have faced in leaving their
homeland and coming to a new place.
Faith is required. A congregation must believe God can supply
the physical, emotional, and financial resources required for
assimilation into the fabric of a new culture. Churches who
commit to this ministry will be stretched in ways they never
dreamed of.
In the other case studies of this book, relationality, service, and
community are the evident points of connection with people
outside of Christ. It is also true in ministry to immigrant
populations. This study magnifies a further dimension integrated
in all these expressions of transformational evangelism —
spirituality. A ministry for immigrant peoples calls for true
spirituality as we engage with the challenges of other's lives.
Evangelism of this sort is not simply something learned and then
applied; it comes from the heart. One cannot somehow just
pretend relationality, service, or community. There is an essential
nature of being that is within the heart of a Christian who
connects with others. Further, within others, like Li Na, is a desire
to connect with God that is awakened in relationships with
spiritual persons. Evangelism is experienced in being a spiritual
person who connects with others. Spirituality, at least in this
context of transformational evangelism, means love for God,
practiced devotion, joy, and grace. Others will see Christ in the
relationships, service, and community, and they will be drawn to
Him. Yes, questions about belief will come, and Bible study will
follow. But at the core it is awakened by spirituality.
This ministry requires management and gi s of
administration. First, the paperwork accompanying access to the
services of various agencies, both government and private, is
daunting. It begins with application for immigration but
continues throughout the assimilation process. Each refugee or
immigrant becomes a client whose information must be managed.
The refugee or immigrant, faced with language and cultural
barriers, is rarely able to get through the applications, forms, and
records on their own. Those who build client files and compile
forms become the unsung heroes in the ministry. Second is the
organizational effort that goes into programs for food
distribution, use of garden space, clothing distribution, language
classes, computer labs, and other life skill training. Each demands
space, schedule, and volunteers or part-time employees. The
church manages about 150 such volunteers and staff!
Political skills are required. In relating to government and
community organizations, relational networks must be
established. O en only the relational network will open doors to
provide needed services.
It is important for those serving refugees and immigrants to
have boundaries. Sometimes a church has to say no. Not every
problem can be solved. Wisdom, judgment, and counsel are
needed in establishing those boundaries. A new family must grow
through the assimilation experience and become successful
independent individuals in their new homeland, and that
sometimes requires saying no to a specific need.
Perhaps most significantly, a ministry to immigrant and refugee
families requires a global and generous worldview. It means
seeing people as fellow humans, members of one human family.
This is a worldview that sees everyone as our neighbor, refusing
to erect national barriers.
Serving the stranger in our land is living out the prayerful wish
of our Lord: "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
 One Pregnancy at a Time
Your job is not to judge. Your job is not to figure out if
someone deserves something. Your job is to li the fallen,
to restore the broken, and to heal the hurting. —Joel
Osteen

Watching 3-year-old Marisa happily build the walls of her

playhouse with carefully placed large plastic building blocks, you
would not expect to learn her life is a miracle. If you hear her
story, your heart will be moved by the compassion of those who
have loved like Jesus loved, giving her life a chance. Her black hair
bounces lightly as she runs and hops to gather another two or
three blocks and cradle them in her arms. She toddles back to her
creation in the middle of the children's playroom and laughs as
she puts the blocks in place. Then she steps back and gleefully
slaps her hands and arms to her chest, congratulating herself on
her work. It isn't that this beautiful child survived a risky medical
procedure. Her history is different. Her life nearly ended before
birth by her mother's choice before she could welcome the
possibilities that now lie before her.
Martina considered it. Martina is a strikingly beautiful young
woman in her late thirties working in Orlando's hospitality
industry. She is a legally documented worker from South
America. She came to the United States not so much to be er her
own life but to support her extended family, sending most of the
money she earns back home to her single mother and younger
brothers and sisters who still struggle with day-to-day necessities
in a tough neighborhood in a poor country. There are simply not
enough adults in the United States willing to do the work she will
do. Because she is documented she can travel back and forth to
see her family and makes the trip each year. On one such visit
some four years ago, she spent some time with a former
boyfriend. The relationship went too far one evening, and on
arriving back to take up her work, changes in her body became
apparent. She feared she was pregnant. Like so many women, rich
or poor, of varied cultural backgrounds, she found herself with an
unwanted pregnancy.
Orlando's History
Orlando is a rapidly growing region marked by suburban
communities sprawling over central Florida. The metropolitan
area numbers over 2,000,000 people, the city itself about 250,000.
The city limits are irregular, gradually expanding into
unincorporated neighborhoods and absorbing some older urban
fringe communities. Several of the local communities in the
metropolitan area are among the fastest growing in the nation.
Creek and other original American tribes sparsely populated
Central Florida before European se lements formed in the 16th
century. There is some mystery regarding the origin of the name
Orlando with some a aching the designation to a soldier of that
name killed in the Second Seminole War in 1835.
The original residential development centered in the
neighborhoods now known as Lake Eola Heights and Thornton
Park. The oldest homes in Orlando are in these neighborhoods
marked by grand old oak trees lining cobblestone streets. These
pleasant historic urban neighborhoods are home to students,
young professionals, and the old families of the city. The heart of
the city center today is along Church Street between Orange
Avenue and Garland Avenue. The central business district and
modern skyline of downtown have rapidly formed off of this
original core of the city's commerce.
Orlando's Story
Orlando is a city that a racts around 57 million tourists a year,
over 4 million of them international visitors. Tourism is the
primary engine for the economy. The birth of that industry was
launched by the Walt Disney World theme park. Orlando now
leads the world in the number of theme parks. The mild winter
climate combined with the theme parks make the city the
international tourist a raction it is and provides many thousands
of jobs in the hospitality industry.
Residents whose roots are deeper in the community are quick
to note that education, health care, aerospace, research, and
technology have flourished in recent years. The hope of such
residents is that Orlando will be a place known more for family
life and conservative values than for miles and miles of hotels and
restaurants. They seek an identity broader than the a ractions
that draw tourists to the western side of the Orlando area.
People familiar with city politics describe the direction of the
city resting in the hands of a small number of deeply rooted
families who established their power long before tourism came to
dominate the economy. People whose life has formed around the
economy of the tourist a ractions are on the fringes of influence.
Conservative politics dominate the sense of policymaking. Jobs
are created, but services for the poor are limited. There are
employment opportunities and some optimism among people of
all economic levels. But those who depend on lower level jobs still
sell their labor cheaply. The hope is that as the city's economy
becomes less dependent on tourism, conferences, and
conventions the opportunity for lower income couples to improve
their incomes and support families will improve.
It is challenging to define the urban vision of Orlando, making
it somewhat unique in the context of the urban ministries shared
in this book. It is a new and emerging urban culture perhaps more
like those suburban communities that age and seek their own
identity in Northeastern cities.
There are thousands of hospitality workers like Martina in
Orlando. They may be anonymous, but they are very much a part
of the city. Fully a quarter of the population in the area is of
Hispanic origin, largely from various countries in Central and
South America. These immigrants have arrived hoping to be er
their life or send money back home to support families. Most are
laborers in construction or hospitality.
The Church
Located in an urban fringe neighborhood, Orlando First Baptist
Church is a thriving mega church. Though thousands a end the
several worship services each weekend, you feel like you could get
plugged in to the congregation easily. It is a welcoming church
with new members celebrated weekly. The church recognizes a
casual level of membership as well as covenant members who
have gone deeper in their relationship with Christ and adherence
to the lifestyle expected of conservative Baptists.
The worship is contemporary and led with excellence.
Worshippers engage. The preaching is biblical and central to their
worship. Invitations to accept Christ and pray with staff in a
reserved room at the side of the worship auditorium are given at
the end of every service. The invitations to go deeper with a small
group or weekly prayer gathering are on the screens, in the
publications, and included in the welcome from the worship
leaders.
If you visit the church you will learn that while there are many
who simply find the worship inspiring and biblical messages
helpful in facing the issues of their week, most are engaged in one
of the varied ministries of the church. It is not simply worship as
an event, or worship as entertainment; members of the church,
along with friends of the church, are doing some serious things in
the name of Jesus. Volunteers serve the homeless, minister to the
poor, help students in inner city schools, empower people by
assisting them in obtaining government issued IDs, help with
Meals on Wheels, provide jail ministry, provide a counseling
center, serve at the Pregnancy Center, or involve themselves in
other local and international ministries. Martina worships among
them, and li le Marisa loves the children's programs, as do many
others whose stories are like theirs.
The Pregnancy Center
On the edge of the church campus fronting a road that seems
distinct from the church property and situated with other
professional buildings, sits an a ractive, well-lit, modern, neatly
landscaped office building. It is obviously a safe place to be. And it
inspires excellence. The roadside sign clearly announces two
tenants: "Counseling Center," and "Pregnancy Center". Both are
identified as ministries of the Orlando First Baptist Church.
When you enter the glass doors, a clean and well-furnished
waiting area staffed by two receptionists welcomes you. Behind
the reception counter and seated behind the receptionists, four or
five staff busily update files and prepare for the steady stream of
clients. The artwork has been carefully chosen to celebrate life,
relationships, and children. A rack of literature invites browsing
with a booklet entitled "Healthy Pregnancy," and other leaflets
further revealing the mission of the center — "Ten Questions
Expectant Mothers [there is also one for fathers] Ask About
Adoption," "What's Best for Your Baby," "House of Hope,"
"Community Assistance Programs," "Sexual Assault Treatment
Center," "Birthing Co age of Winter Park." Some of the literature
simply describes the birthing and parenting programs of the
center or the parenting supplies available.
People in the waiting area are mostly women. Some are far
along in pregnancy, others not. Some appear nervous; others are
more at ease, especially those who are there with their children
for a parenting class or to pick up baby supplies. Some arrive as a
couple for their appointments. Carmen, who is fluent in English
and Spanish, is the current director of the Pregnancy Center and
is surrounded by a staff of seven full-time salaried professionals
and nearly 100 volunteers, most from the church. Carmen holds a
masters degree and is pursuing her doctoral degree. The
volunteers affirm their commitment to life rather than abortion
and affirm their faith in Jesus. They are trained to work with
clients in graceful and accepting ways.
Carmen describes the mission of the center with these words:
"To bring people to relationship with Jesus Christ." The center is
owned, operated, and funded by the church. In 2014 Carmen states
they handled nearly 11,000 client visits with about 8,500 of those
being return visits for follow-up. Free pregnancy tests are
available and sonograms to determine the child's approximate
months in gestation. People hear about the center through public
service announcements, service organizations, especially the
county health department, and through word of mouth. The
center intentionally nurtures its relationship with the county
health department and is well respected for the quality of
counseling and service it provides. Clients may be linked with
adoption agencies that hold to high values and provide a high
quality of service. The counselors hope to help mothers make a
choice for life, counseling them in ways that represent the love
and grace of Jesus. Most clients make a positive decision for life,
and the Center provides three years of ongoing counseling and
services to support the mothers who decide to give birth and raise
their babies. The large volume of client visits is due to those who
access the personal counseling, birth classes, parenting classes,
and baby supplies once a week or more for years.
Martina
Martina's story is like many others. She felt a great deal of
shame about her pregnancy. Martina feared that her mother, a
devout Catholic, would be extremely upset. When she suspected
she was pregnant she called the county health department
hoping to get services from a physician. Martina was desperate
and considering abortion as her primary option. The health
department will not provide services without a woman first
proving her pregnancy. That can be done for a fee at Planned
Parenthood. But she was also informed she could have the testing
for free at the Pregnancy Center and provided with directions to
the center. She called and made an appointment.
When Martina arrived at the center she asked if the testing was
actually free and was told it was, but that it would cost her up to
an hour and a half of her time. That is the only thing she was
asked to pay. An initial intake counselor asked a few questions,
nothing too personal. Martina was pleased that the conversation
was brief, and that there was apparently no intention to screen
individuals who might be served by the center. She felt respected.
In a few minutes, she was led to a private room and began talking
with a professional counselor, a woman with excellent training,
who was commi ed to Jesus and helping women who were
experiencing Martina's story. Martina mentioned her interest in
abortion, and the counselor assured her they would provide
support to help her get through the decision process. But first, the
pregnancy test.
At the center when a woman tests positive they are also given a
sonogram. That helps the counselors communicate intelligently
with those expectant mothers who may be considering ending
the life of the unborn child. Martina was pregnant, and she had
delayed coming to the center long enough that the sonogram test,
which Martina welcomed, helped her realize just how much
development had taken place with the unborn child. Some
women come to the center convinced they will seek an abortion,
and no amount of counseling and prayer will reverse their
position. Martina was not one of those. She was moved when she
learned just how much development happens early in the
gestation of an unborn child. Though she felt a great deal of
shame, she was now unsure of what to do. The assurance of the
support of the center, demonstrated in the counseling provided
that first day, gave her pause. She did not ask for a referral to a
physician, as she had thought she would, and instead made a
second appointment to meet with the counselor.
It was not an easy decision for Martina. In the first few weeks
that followed her initial visit she waivered several times between
abortion and birth. But she always found support from her
counselor. That was three years ago. Today, Marisa is alive
because of the ministry of the Pregnancy Center. Or more
accurately, because Christians love like Jesus loved. Martina is
unlikely to have made the decision for life apart from that
support. And Martina? What you see now is a proud mother.
Martina, by all accounts, is much more than an average mother.
She excels in love, celebrates a newfound relationship with Christ,
and is raising li le Marisa in the church. Marisa? She is a happy
and well-adjusted child. She is healthy and thriving. Martina's
mother was far more accepting than Martina worried she would
be, and delights to have a beautiful granddaughter.
More on the Pregnancy Center
Women served by the Pregnancy Center are free to select three
options: motherhood, adoption, or abortion. The center exerts
every effort to assure abortion does not happen. As you might
expect, many who enter their doors are fearful, resentful, or
overcome with shame. Before the center administers pregnancy
testing, they provide a counseling session to every client, ask
about their spiritual life, and pray with them. When the results
are communicated, they again pray with them. If pregnant, they
pray God's blessing on the pregnancy. If a woman's interest in
abortion persists, she is counseled regarding the current
development of the child, the physical implications of abortion, as
well as the emotional and spiritual implications. One of the staff,
Myrtzie Levell, shares her work with women post-abortion and
gives them her book Journey of Healing: Finding Healing and
Hope a er Abortion, asking them to carefully reconsider before
proceeding.
The center does not treat women who have aborted children as
outcasts. Many of their clients are women who are struggling
emotionally and spiritually a er abortion and who are in
recovery groups. They treat them with love, not shame. The
center will provide, with reluctance, a referral to a medical facility
if a pregnant woman stays with that decision, holding on to hope
they may still choose life. They prefer in such cases to know the
women will be safe. The center considers it a loss and grieves
those who cling to that choice.
Women who choose adoption are linked with agencies the
center knows will help them. The center provides good
counseling, pre- and post-adoption. One of the staff at the center
is an adoption specialist.
But it is those women who choose to continue as mother that
the center is able to help most dramatically. They want to save the
life of the child and for that child to thrive, so they provide a
myriad of services leading the mother to a joyful parenting
experience, one finding fulfillment in connection with Christ.
They receive free baby supplies for three years. They also receive
counseling before and a er birth and for three years following if
they would like. They have birthing classes, monitoring of proper
physician care, and parenting classes. The center organizes Bible
classes, relational counseling, and encourages church a endance.
All free.
Conclusion
The Pregnancy Center of Orlando's First Baptist Church saves
lives. Martina and Marisa are joyful servants of Christ today, as
are hundreds of others, because of this ministry.
The center carries out its mission as loving disciples of Christ,
providing compassionate care for women in varied circumstances
without casting judgment. They do it with professionalism. The
services include pregnancy counseling, referral to good adoption
agencies when that option is chosen, three years of outstanding
support for mothers who give birth, and abortion recovery help
for women suffering from the a ermath of that choice. This is
not just a place to deal with unwanted pregnancy, it is a place
where people are supported in building positive futures for
themselves and their children, and disciples are made for Christ
in the process of loving as Jesus loved.
Why is the center so powerful as an evangelistic ministry? The
staff and volunteers connect with people. They relate. While
doing so they recognize the realities of culture, respond with
respect rather than disdain, but consistently live in a
countercultural way. They engage the culture with reason and
inspire with the love of Christ. They sacrifice in remarkable ways.
And they enter into the experience of those they serve over
several years.
Their service is not a biblical lecture delivered as a warning of
impending doom; it is incarnational and missional love
demonstrated in caring relationships. The staff and volunteers of
the center are incarnational. They do offer Bible study groups.
They do invite clients to church. But the testimony of those
blessed by the ministry of the center is that they were drawn to
Christ by the compassion they experienced before they became
interested in biblical teaching.
Readers may retreat from the idea of a ministry to women like
Martina, wondering just how a local congregation can succeed in
such a large-scale mission. It is true that First Baptist of Orlando
has significant resources. There are three areas for reflection
when considering what might seem too big a challenge in the
service of Christ. The first is vision. Nothing great in the service
of Christ happens without someone first grasping a vision, and
then prayerfully proceeding in faith and collaboration with
others to act on that vision. The second is the power of God. He is
able to do great things when we claim His power, moving forward
with prayerfully formed judgment one step at a time. The
Pregnancy Center, as you would expect, began to serve in a more
limited way, and experienced blessing as they moved forward.
They believed in the blessing of God and carefully advanced step
by step. The third reflection is to consider the many Christians
who will sacrifice both financially and in service in unusual ways
for such a ministry. Our faith in the abundant blessing of God is
o en too small. People and corporations can respond generously
when vision and action are present. It may mean a nonprofit
organization is formed to receive contributions. It will mean
giving people the opportunity to support. People respond
generously to big ideas, not small ones. Our government can also
support faith-based initiatives of this sort. Claim the abundant
blessings of God, not in presumption, but in faith, prayerfully
advancing one step at a time in the direction of a God-honoring
vision.
Christians who connect with others, respect them, serve them
with grace, and invite them to follow Jesus, provide this ministry.
Such ministries may be directly fostered by a church, or by an
association of churches in an urban area, or even by the initiative
of someone or a small group who will follow through with
invitations for assimilation into an area church.
The nature and presence of the church as a local worshipping
community is vital to the process of transformational evangelism.
We, the church, must be relating, serving, and creating
community! Do not leave compassionate service to social agencies
alone. God has created us as relational persons. He has created us
for community. Martina is a transformed person, a spiritual
person, and a disciple of Christ who worships with the church
body. God's will for her could only be experienced through
engagement with the church in her need.
Serving Jesus offers unexpected opportunities, perhaps like the
unexpected pregnancies women like Martina experience. But in
every such circumstance God may transform people and usher in
new life. Jesus certainly has compassion for the unborn.
"Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands
on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus
said, 'Let the li le children come to me and do not hinder them,
for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven'" (Ma hew 19:13-15).
 Changing Lives in
Transformational Housing
The space in which we live should be for the person we
are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.
— Marie Kondo

Amber's love for her work is evident. She serves as one of the
care coordinators and an administrative assistant at Joshua
Station, a transformational housing ministry in Denver. The
residential complex provides services to around 30 families at any
given time. The services include safe housing, life skills training,
job training and placement, personal and family counseling,
addiction counseling, legal services, financial management,
parenting classes, spiritual direction, and more. In the process of
exploring these services, I became overwhelmed with the
immensity of the vision of this place and the effectiveness of
what they do evident in all the staff and residents.
Amber's story was typical and extraordinary at the same time.
She surprised me when she revealed she had once been a resident
herself. Now, over a decade later, she had become a part of the
professional team. Joshua Station had changed her life. As she
shared her journey, I marveled at her transformation and the
story of her daughter. Home is where the heart is, and Joshua
Station had become home.
Denver's History
The city of Denver formed along the South Pla e River close to
the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in the mid 19th century. It
became everything you imagine a frontier town with an economy
based on the mining industry to be. Gold prospectors flocked to
the area hoping to strike it rich during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush.
Business owners generally did be er than the prospectors
themselves by providing the sought-a er mining supplies and
machinery, saloons, and livestock. The city was called Montana
City in its early years. General William Larimer named the
se lement Denver City a er Kansas Territorial Governor James
Denver in the fall of 1858. In 1865 it became the territorial capital
of Colorado and in 1876 the state capital when Colorado was
admi ed to the union. Since 1876 marked the centennial year of
the forming of the United States, Denver is sometimes called the
Centennial City.
The name "Queen City of the Plains" was a ached to Denver
because of its important role in moving agricultural products
from the central plains to either coast of the United States.
Positioned in the center of the country, the city was ideally
situated to serve as a hub for trade and transportation of all
types.
By the early twentieth century Denver had developed a
diversified economy beyond minerals and agriculture, was
arguably the most important transportation center for the
heartland of the United States, and was known as the gateway to
the West. The city was maturing as a financial and trading center
linking the Eastern United States with the West.
Today Denver has a population in the metro area of about 4
million. The city enjoys a growing and diverse population with an
economy based more on the quality of life the region offers than
any single economic driving force. People just seem to want to live
in Denver.
Vision and Values
Denver is thought of as a place of opportunity. Generations
have migrated to the city in search of a new start and with the
hope of prosperity. Many of those who first populated the city
were people migrating away from hardships with renewed grand
dreams and hopes of opportunity for their families. As the editor
Horace Greeley is credited to advise, "Go West, young man. Go
West." Today that vision survives in an image of a healthy and
prosperous community.
That optimism may be deserved. The region did not experience
the manufacturing decline of Northeastern "rust belt" cities. The
population has seen steady growth, and the economy has never
experienced significant extended decline. Further, over time, the
idea of prosperity has shi ed from personal riches to celebrating
the quality of life the temperate climate and access to the varied
recreational opportunities of the Rocky Mountains provides for
people of all ages. The concept of hope and opportunity provided
by the city has gradually refocused. The image of prosperity is
seen as connected to outdoor activity, to recreation, beauty, even
family fulfillment. Residents tout the region as a great place to
live.
There is an a itude of civic engagement and collaboration that
enriches the quality of the natural, social, and built environments
in this city. The people of Denver take pride in the beauty of their
region and share a significant ownership of what they believe
makes Denver a great place to live. Community values reflect that
vision. The population is connected with the environment and
tends to center its energies on the beauty of the natural world, on
enjoyment of nature, what the outdoors provides, on family
activity in the outdoors, and even physical health.
Because the ecosystems of sunshine, mountain air, and water
that support health and prosperity are highly valued, the design
of the neighborhoods becomes especially significant. Thus, a
proliferation of parks, bike paths, hiking trails, and dedicated
green land can be seen and enjoyed in the spaces of the city.
Residents expect as much.
A Christian living in Denver is especially aware of the holistic
benefits to a family of good neighborhoods and housing. Vision
and values are expressed in the physical environment of a home,
the enjoyment of a neighborhood, or an inspiring view of the
mountains. Those benefits are received as a blessing of God. They
take on special meaning. So, when poverty, addiction, or abuse
threatens a place for living, especially housing, the vision and
values of the city are threatened. That is the concern that gave
birth to the transformational housing ministry called Joshua
Station.
More About Amber
Amber was born in Denver and then grew up in a town situated
a short drive from the city. Her adolescence had been marked by
turmoil with drug and alcohol issues followed by a bad
relationship with a mentally abusive partner lasting for several
years. Because of her own poor choices, she was homeless with a
5-year-old daughter while still in her early 20s. She and her child
occasionally sought shelter for a few nights away from the abuse,
sometimes just running with no idea where they might spend the
night. Drawn back to her partner, perhaps with hope, but in
reality because it was the only place she knew to go, the cycle
inevitably repeated itself. Amber had not finished high school,
and she had absolutely no direction or meaning in her life. All she
had was her daughter. She had a dim sense that God could bring
order into her chaotic world, but no confidence in institutional
religion.
As we reflected together about her experience in that period of
her life she quickly took responsibility for her situation. She
freely acknowledged her poor choices and how they had put her
life and subsequently her child's life at risk. I was pained to realize
that some abusive relationships were woven into experiences
with those a ached to the institutional church. Amber knew her
behaviors were wrong, but she had always felt some sort of
spiritual connection. The church, however, had failed to provide a
place of love, peace, and security, a home for her.
One day Amber made the decision that would eventually lead
her to Joshua Station. It was another of those life choices that she
had made on her own, with li le counsel. But this one led to
restoration. She stuffed everything she and her child owned in a
single duffle bag, found a ride to the bus station in her town, and
boarded a bus for Denver. When she and her 5-year-old stepped
off in downtown Denver, she had only a few dollars, no idea where
they would go, and no idea what they would do. She knew she
wanted to get job training and establish a safe home. She wanted
to get her life together. Weeks passed into months, and she and
her daughter spent nights in emergency shelters. She recalled one
such experience when the women were gathered to hear that
they would have to seek another place because the shelter was
closing for lack of funding. That was when someone told her
about Joshua Station.
Joshua Station
It is difficult to assign a single label to the ministry of Joshua
Station. It is a ministry providing homes for homeless families;
that is the core of what they do. But it is so much more. It is also a
place for personal and family counseling, life coaching, mentoring,
job placement, financial counseling, help with addictions, help
with spiritual formation, a place for security, and more. There are
parenting classes, cooking classes, wellness classes, classes dealing
with conflict and relationships, English as second language
classes, training in building maintenance and repair, instruction
in gardening, children's activities, teen activities, a Thursday night
community dinner, tutoring, and more. It serves families who
commit to or who are alumni of a two-year program, so it is much
more than temporary housing for the homeless. It is a long-term
live-in transformational life style center for homeless families.
Thus, the ministry finds a way to simplify a description for what
it does: transformational housing.
Joshua Station traces its beginnings to a church-based outreach
known as Mile High Ministries launched in the 1980s. A group of
10 pastors in the Denver Metro area came together across
denominational, cultural, and economic barriers and began a
conversation about the calling to serve the poor and marginalized
in urban neighborhoods. They invited their congregations to join
in a movement to renew lives and communities in the poorest of
Denver's neighborhoods. The pastors were convinced that their
members would respond to practical hands-on ways to transform
lives. Mile High Ministries describes its mission as mobilizing
communities and equipping leaders for God's transformational
work among the poor.
Mile High Ministries first engaged in small projects in urban
areas, then began to expand its vision. The ministry tends to
develop new ministries and spin off independent projects:
repurposed houses and office buildings in at risk neighborhoods
to serve as safe places for supporting women with unwanted
pregnancies, space for single moms who needed shelter, or rooms
available for women coming out of jail. Service to Denver's urban
neighborhoods now includes legal advocacy, immigration ma ers,
job training, leadership development, and more. Over 3000 people
volunteer in one or more of the ministries.
Joshua Station itself was launched in 2001. Joshua Station
publishes its mission as helping families make the transformation
from homelessness to a healthy, stable living environment. The
founders envisioned helping families who faced multiple barriers
to self-sufficiency establish positive lives for themselves. The
long-term transformational housing program is the medium for
that restoration. Through the years of operation, barriers to self-
sufficiency have been the grit that has formed the breadth of
what Joshua Station does for its resident families.
The ministry purchased and rehabbed a hotel complex on
Denver's near west side. That building complex has become a
residential campus with offices, garden space, and community
rooms. It can provide about 30 family units with housing at any
given time. Approximately 125 families who have finished the two-
year program and se led in the surrounding community
continue to visit on a weekly basis for counseling and other
support programs. Most of the families in residence have
experienced some sort of trauma: domestic violence, legal issues,
addictions, immigration problems, or mental illness. The families
are typically single moms, or a grandmother with children in
custody. Only a few are two-parent families. The families are
referred to Joshua Station by shelters, probation officers, social
agencies, churches, or just by word of mouth.
Joshua Station is clearly a place for people who are serious
about doing something to change the direction of their lives. It is
a transforming place, and a great deal of commitment and
accountability are required for that to happen. Families commit to
stay at Joshua Station for two years. As soon as possible they
begin paying minimal rent, which is then adjusted upward as
their job income progresses. They also agree to take
responsibilities in the complex like landscaping, gardening,
cleaning, monitoring, laundry, reception work, or cooking. Even
the children and teens are taught to take responsibility for
making the center the a ractive place that it is. There is a sense
in which the practical lifestyle classes are inter-woven with
experiential learning as these responsibilities are cared for.
When a family arrives at Joshua Station, a counselor works
carefully with them and performs an assessment. That is the core
activity of the intake process. Following their assessment, each
family is assigned an advocate. Acceptance into the program is a
privilege requiring specific commitments that their advocate will
coach and mentor them in. Their advocate provides intensive help
for the family during the initial 30 days, then continues on a less
demanding pace with the family during their extended stay. The
advocate helps the family form a "family goal plan" and helps
them update their plan quarterly. The family goal plan includes a
budget, future financial plans, educational goals and plans, job
training plans, health goals, a counseling prescription, spiritual
direction, family life skills, and help with addictions.
The first 30 days is called the connection phase. At the end of
that period the advocate evaluates the family commitment,
determining if they are serious about their family goals and the
disciplines of Joshua Station. The advocate has the power to
recommend them for continued residence or for referral
elsewhere to satisfy the need for temporary housing while
requiring less accountability. The commitment and responsibility
are sustained in the client-advocate relationship for the two years
that they are in residence. A three-person board including a
counselor, the advocate, and a randomly assigned staff member
reviews those families who are having difficulty keeping
appointments or otherwise violate the residential program.
People are removed from residence immediately for drug abuse,
sexual misconduct, or violent crimes. All residents must stay
clean of drugs and sober for the entire two years of their stay at
Joshua Station. Other substances, including marijuana and
alcohol, commonly accepted outside the residence, are not
permi ed anywhere on the premises.
As rigorous as the program is, significant dropout could be
expected, but 80% of those who are accepted into Joshua Station
complete the two-year program.
One of the professional counselors on staff, who serves as a
child counselor and family advocate, described the fulfillment she
experiences from being a part of the transformative experience
with resident families. She stresses that the two-year
commitment and follow-up a er the residency is absolutely
essential to the transforming process. Change takes time. A young
adult who wishes to make a difference in the world rather than
just earn a living, she related case a er case of families in crisis
that are now healthy with children thriving in the community
outside of Joshua Station a er their program completion. Her joy
was evident. It was clear that this young professional had found
meaning in her vocational calling.
The current program director, a native Coloradoan, comes to
her ministry with an educational background in social work, and
has a degree in holistic medicine. She has been at Joshua Station
for about ten years. Prior to her work at Joshua Station she
served at a pregnancy center, a treatment center for disturbed
adolescents, and a residency program for people struggling with
addictions. Her alignment with the vision of the ministry is clear.
At the moment of this writing there are 14 paid staff and a
number of interns, and she highly respects and nurtures each one.
Amber's Experience
When Amber appeared at Joshua Station she made it clear she
wanted her life to change. But she had no idea how to go about
that. She envisioned a life free from the poor choices that had
damaged her. She wanted to finish her education and provide for
herself and her daughter. Nothing in her life to date had really
prepared her to care for herself and her child and accomplish her
goals.
 Her advocate kept trying to instill confidence. First came a
clean and ordered environment. Then the agenda moved to time
and budget management. Life goals were established.
Socialization and friendships among the children were developed.
Coaching her in weekly sessions, he guided her through ge ing
her general education diploma. Then when she wanted to se le
into a low-paying minimum wage job, he encouraged her to
fashion a daily schedule and budget to continue on with her
education. It took time, and a great deal of emotional support,
continuing a er graduating from Joshua Station, but Amber
earned a college degree.
She established herself in a home some minutes away from
Joshua Station a er completing the residency program. Her
daughter began to flourish in school. On completing her degree,
Amber found employment as a counselor where she could apply
her training with an institution providing help for people with
alcohol and drug addictions. For five years she continued to
a end functions at Joshua Station, a ending the Thursday night
dinners, and to volunteer in other ways. One would expect that.
She owed her life to the love and care of the Christians who
provided ministry to her and her daughter that had changed
them so dramatically.
Amber describes the staff at Joshua Station as heroes and has
enormous respect for the care and mentoring shown by her
advocate. She remembers a conversation while pursuing her
college degree with the encouragement of her advocate in which
she jokingly told him she would someday take his job.
As she shares the story of her eventual employment at Joshua
Station, her voice changes to a reverent retelling of an incredible
narrative. A staff position opened for a volunteer coordinator.
Amber jumped at the chance to transfer her vocational interest to
Joshua Station. She could combine some administrative and
people skills with her counseling background, so she applied, and
was hired. Then a remarkable passing on of the love Christ
extends to all was demonstrated. Sadly, the person who had
served with distinction as her advocate succumbed to a disease.
Amber was asked to assume many of his responsibilities. A
transformational ministry had advanced to a place where Amber
herself could now care for others as she had been cared for.
Amber is transformed by the love of God expressed in disciples
of Christ who care without the agenda of their own interest. She
was once a teen with addiction issues, in a bad relationship, with a
child at risk. She was homeless and penniless. Now she is a
respected professional, a counselor, a manager of extended care
programs, serving families in any way she can to help them on the
path to recovery.
Amber does not a ach her care for others to religious
responsibility. She is quite guarded about institutions of faith.
Some wounds have altered her world-view and may never fully
heal. It is important to note that Joshua Station does not insist on
particulars of faith and belief. There is a Christian spirit about
the place you can feel everywhere, but no one is forced into
religious practice. Amber remembers her advocate respectfully
asking if he could pray for her and her daughter, and the prayers
she agreed to at each coaching session were meaningful to her.
But she is cautious about identifying herself with a church. She is
a transformed person, a servant of others, doing Christ's work in
a place of ministry. That is enough.
Her daughter? Amazing. This child is going to make a
contribution in her community. She will not be harmed by
repeating the history of an atrisk teen living in a town near
Denver. She will be following the footsteps of a mother who she
very much admires and pursuing pathways to serve like her
mother serves. Amber's daughter is now ge ing into late
adolescence, and Amber praises Joshua Station as the first place
her daughter experienced what it means to have a home.
Conclusion
Home is where the heart is. Amber will always consider Joshua
Station her home. It was there her heart was restored and her
daughter given a positive future. The two-year transformational
housing program of Joshua Station is so much more than
temporary shelter. Temporary shelters are needed, but this
ministry is about transformation of families, about the
restoration of life meaning. Christ is present providing
extraordinary care at Joshua Station. It is a place for love to take
root.
Every city in North America, likely every city around the world,
needs such a place. What would it take to plant a Joshua Station
in another city? The people in Denver can provide the model and
the coaching. What is needed is the vision — big vision. Much
prayer. And courage. Compassion. Care. Grace. Energy. Leadership.
Commitment. And, of course, the details must be well managed.
But most of all, extraordinary love is needed.
There is another evident lesson to be learned from Joshua
Station. Transformation takes time. The process of
transformation is not a brief encounter during a few weeks of
study; it is more than meeting around weekly worship services. It
is total engagement, it requires patience, and a great deal of love.
It means community. It requires sacrifice.
It is far easier for Christians to preach doctrines, even tell the
story of Christ, than to live like Christ. Being Christian in an
urban context means more than advocating for morality.
Spirituality is far more than morality. Discipleship calls us to
serve in ways that change lives with compassionate
transformational ministries like Joshua Station. There is no glory
or personal reward to the service these people provide. There is
no fame or wealth. Few even know of those who serve in the
name of Jesus at Joshua Station. They do not make news in
denominational papers. They serve because they love. Love
changes life and transforms the future.
 Broken Lives
There is a strength, a power even, in understanding
brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a
need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding
need to show mercy. When you experience mercy, you
learn things that are hard to learn otherwise. You see
things you cannot otherwise see; you hear things you
cannot otherwise hear. You begin to recognize the
humanity that resides in each of us. — Bryan Stevenson

A casual conversation with Sam at Dream Center leaves you

thinking he is a dedicated young pastor devoting his life to serve
the down-and-out in Phoenix. When you get to know him,
however, you are witness to an extraordinary story. Sam, when he
was a child, was in church three times a week. His father was
making a good living in Southern California; his was a respected
middleclass suburban family, deeply involved in their church.
With alarming speed, Sam's life fell apart. His father abandoned
the family, his mother descended into drug and alcohol abuse;
everything changed. Sam's world was broken.
He found escape from the pain by immersing himself in sports,
then in parties, and soon in drinking heavily. He recalls simply
trying to outdrink others at parties where most everyone was
underaged. Before long he was using drugs and pursuing
meaningless sexual relationships. Sam became the quintessential
wild child. His life was so messed up that when he dropped out of
high school no one actually cared. And Sam knew.
Sam hitched his way to Phoenix, Arizona. He lived on the
streets, doing pre y well supporting all kinds of vices through
pe y crimes, managing to avoid the legal consequences. He now
recalls a specific moment when the realization of what his life
had become reached a tipping point. Most of his acquaintances on
the street had paid for their crimes with prison time. Sam knew
he could not get by forever, and prison would eventually become
his reality as well. He was alone, and realized horrible habits
controlled him. He had no purpose in life. He was becoming more
and more careless, and really did not care what happened. Slowly,
he had become a dangerous person.
Daniel, a staffer at Dream Center (more on Dream Center later),
observed Sam at a table in a McDonald's restaurant one
a ernoon. Daniel had once been in the life situation Sam was
experiencing. He recognized all the signs. Most people would
carefully avoid conversation with a person like Sam. But Daniel
knew how to ask the right questions without being offensive. In a
brief graceful conversation, he told Sam about a street corner
where a hot breakfast and a morning word of encouragement was
available, inviting Sam to drop by.
Sam had heard of the gathering by word-of-mouth; he knew it
was actually only morning worship presented by some Christians
in a vacant lot accompanied by coffee and donated pastries. But
Sam decided he would check it out. He now sees Daniel's
invitation as God's providence. Sam has a hard time identifying
why he actually went. He reverently describes that the grace of
God is beyond what he can actually explain.
About one hundred people milled around the street corner and
in the vacant lot overgrown with weeds. While standing on a curb
at the edge of the broken concrete of an old sidewalk, sipping
coffee and eating day-old pastries, he began telling his story to
one of the volunteers. He was invited to spend a few days at a
nearby temporary shelter operated by Dream Center. The shelter
is a simple and typical urban "mission" that provides housing, but
there, he was told, he could take the time to think about what
direction his life might take. It was free. There were no
commitments. He was only invited to find some refuge and take
some time to think. The time was right, and Sam said yes.
The serving ended, a couple of praise songs were provided by a
small group from Dream Center, Scripture was read by one of the
staff over a microphone in the middle of the street, then came a
very short homily and prayer. A er clean-up, about a dozen
Dream Center staff formed a large circle right in the street, guided
Sam and one or two others who had also decided to seek refuge at
the mission into the center of the circle, and prayed for them.
That was it. Then off to the mission they all went.
The mission provides escape from the noise of the street. It is
not meant to be a large shelter. Dream Center does affirm those
facilities. But this space has a different purpose. It is a bridge
between the street and Dream Center, a modern residential and
retail center only a few miles away. Here at the mission, a small
number of people are invited to find food and shelter, learn about
the discipling program of Dream Center, and consider applying
for enrollment into the program. Some do apply. It is not that
enrollment in the Dream Center program is terribly exclusive, but
the ministry staff works to assure that someone is seeking a new
life before they become Dream Center residents. Sam was ready.
The City of Phoenix
Phoenix is a southwestern city of nearly two million, the 5th
largest city in the United States, and one of the fastest growing.
The Hohokam people developed an extensive irrigation system
that made agriculture possible in the desert environment before
the 15th century. The modern city can trace its history to the
renewal and expansion of the irrigation system by the Swilling
Irrigation Canal Company in the mid 19th century. The city's name
was selected to portray the springing of a new town from the
"ashes" of a former civilization.
Phoenix is known for its hot desert climate. The topography is
generally flat with a few sca ered low mountains surrounding an
expansive valley. The economy thrives from aerospace industry,
tourism, information technology, and financial services. The
Phoenix Biomedical Campus, linked with the University of
Arizona, has made the area a center for biomedical research.
According to the 2010 Census, a slim majority of the Phoenix
population identifies itself as white. Hispanic or Latino people are
just over 40% of the population.36
The city's location in a state bordering Mexico together with its
healthy economy contributes to making it a haven for Latino
immigration. Most immigrants come with the aid of family and
friends who already reside in the city.
Dream Center
Dream Center occupies a repurposed motel complex in an
industrial area at the edge of the city center. It is a residential and
retail center serving people who have experienced homelessness,
atrisk behaviors, incarceration, or circumstances of poverty. In
summary, it is a place for broken people to restart their lives.
About 300 people reside at Dream Center. In some ways the
Center feels like any other residential and retail complex with
space for apartments, health care offices, a cafeteria, cleaners,
family counselors, an education center, child day-care, barber and
beauty shops, and a church. However, it is not where you would
normally find such a development. A concrete area of around two
thousand square feet where men are li ing weights and working
out on machines surrounded by a chain link fence adjacent to one
of the parking areas gives the nature of the place away.
Ministry programs of Dream Center are formed for and by
people whose lives have been in crisis. The ministries include
Church on the Street, which is an offering of open-air praise
services in various neighborhoods of the city center combined
with meals, conversation, and an opportunity to escape the risks
of life on the street. Another ministry provides a recovery and
housing opportunity for women who wish to escape prostitution.
Dream Center addresses drug abuse rehabilitation as an
integrated part of all their work. One ministry tackles sex
trafficking. There are programs to reach teens in crisis following
expulsion from foster parenting se ings, or teens who have
separated from their family.
The Dream Center's advertised purpose is to provide resources,
opportunity, and support to people whose lives are in crisis in the
city of Phoenix. In short, their purpose is to heal broken lives.
Dream Center pursues its purpose through incarnational
ministries that place Christian staff and volunteers in contact
with broken people in an urban context. The way the ministries
are carried out can be understood through three perspectives.
The most evident, and arguably most important, transcends
identification within any one of the programs. In a word, the
ministries are highly relational. Every resident is supported by
someone who has himself or herself experienced his or her
circumstance, and they do ministry together. The staff live among
the people and make the center their home. They work alongside
recovering residents — maintaining the buildings, caring for the
landscape, doing administrative work, providing security, leading
in Bible study, working or eating in the cafeteria, doing ministries,
a ending worship services — essentially becoming the best
friends the recovering residents have.
A second perspective is learning Spiritled learning. Residents go
through a three-phase discipling program centered in a biblical
curriculum. It is not so much that residents are required to go
through the discipling program — it is part of the DNA of the
community. Everybody has and does. Those who come to Dream
Center agree to take part in the study sessions as part of their
contract for living at the center. They are introduced to the
implications of the Gospel, the will of God for their lives, and
what it means to live a life of service. They engage in one of the
ministries outside the Dream Center alongside staff and
volunteers as they progress into the third phase. In addition to
the teaching sessions, there are at least seven praise, prayer, and
preaching services every week at Dream Center. Dream Center
clearly is a community designed to lead people to discipleship.
They do not imagine recovery from the brokenness of life apart
from spiritual transformation.
A third perspective is the formation of basic services that
support a community of people — barber and beauty shops,
laundry, fitness classes, professional offices, medical offices,
rehabilitation services, food service, counseling, and adult
education. The contribution of the center in this perspective is
modeling such services in a Christian environment characterized
by integrity in business practice. For those entering Dream
Center, that is transforming.
Servants of God
Tim is one of several staff of the Dream Center who serve in a
ministry role defined as pastor. That does not mean Tim is a
seminary graduate. Nor is he among the core leadership team.
Rather, he is a highly relational person with the skills and training
to organize ministries while mentoring volunteers and recovering
residents in their Christian growth and service. His area of
activity is the Church on the Street ministry program.
Tim experienced a broken life. He grew up in a good family. His
home was situated in a nice rural area on the fringe of a mid-size
Arizona city; his parents were responsible and loving parents.
Li le choices led to his brokenness. He was introduced to
marijuana by a peer during high school, liked the experience, and
began a ending parties where harder drugs were available.
Before long he discovered drugs provided a way to make some
easy money. He was arrested at the age of 19 for dealing cocaine
and spent five years in prison. Prison did nothing to change his
life. Tim has been imprisoned four times.
Tim was invited by a Dream Center staff person to leave life on
the street and go to the mission. He credits that invitation, with
his subsequent residence at the center, for the opportunity to
know God and experience a new life. When I met Tim, he had
been serving at Dream Center as a staff person for 12 years. He
constantly affirms the grace and kindness of staff and the
teaching gi s of those leading in the discipling program for
leading him to Christ.
Tim had met Walt when he entered the mission, a pastor who
had been doing street ministry for over 30 years. Decades ago
Walt realized he was serving people on the street whose lives
were not changing. They could be given soup and bread, engage in
praise and listen to Bible teaching, but go right back to alcohol or
drugs, or be back in prison in a few weeks. Their lives were not
being changed. Walt envisioned a place where people could be
immersed in Spiritled praise and worship, study the Bible, and
find meaning in a life absorbed in service. Thus, the idea of Dream
Center was born.
Jesus is now the center of Tim's life. He met his wife in the
process of his ministry and was married at the age of 50. Both find
great joy in sharing ministry, living and serving at Dream Center.
He has been free of drugs for nearly two decades. He sees himself
as a Christian living and proclaiming the grace of God.
Church on the Street
The smell of hot dogs cooking on portable grills in the middle of
a vacant lot does a ract people. Church with hot dogs! Church on
the Street uses one vacant space adjacent to large municipal
housing projects in a neighborhood characterized by poverty and
associated crime. This service is only one of several in Phoenix.
This production of "Church on the Street" happens on Saturday
in the late a ernoon or early evening, just before sunset. Teens
come on their bicycles, and mothers with children walk from the
projects. A couple dozen chairs are set up for people to use as they
eat, but most stand around talking in small groups a er helping
themselves to the hot dogs and condiments. Some who a end are
obviously ill, with no other place to go as they deal with the
challenges of mental illness. The mothers from the projects
appreciate the food and opportunity for their children to be with
adult volunteers who give them some needed a ention. Men who
are out of work come and o en seem somewhat embarrassed to
be receiving a free meal.
The Dream Center knows how to bring church to the open
spaces of the city. They park a cargo trailer at the edge of the lot.
A er the grills and tables are set, an amplifier and speakers are
positioned for the worship service. People who gather know the
routine, they know a brief worship is provided: they enjoy a few
praise songs, Scripture, brief and simple Bible teaching, and
prayer. Even the teens and children pause from their conversation
and listen. In less than two hours the serving is done, worship is
provided, everything is cleaned up, and the trailer pulls away
from the lot.
At the time of this writing there are seven locations in the city
where Church on the Street provides regular worship services in
open spaces. All are in a particular urban neighborhood, and each
varies in delivery from the other. The number of services changes
as some are added or others terminated.
 One Church on the Street meets every weekday morning from
7:00 to 8:00 on a particular corner adjacent to a vacant lot not far
from the state capitol. The area is where most homeless people
find spaces to sleep at night without being moved by the police.
About 100 people gather for the breakfast and worship. Le over
pastries donated by area coffee shops, bread, oatmeal, orange
juice, and coffee are served. Several serving lines are provided,
with area church groups, especially youth, o en helping the staff.
The homeless stand in line for several minutes to be served from
one of the tables, then sit on cinder blocks, or on the curb, or
stand in the vacant lot as they eat. A few are suffering from
mental illness, a few are physically disabled, some are people
suffering from the control of addictions, but most are men who
are unemployed and looking for work. Many are strong and
healthy but just down on their luck. Some are people who have
recently been released from prison.
The atmosphere of caring within the space each morning is
remarkable. People, of course, look like they are living on the
street. Their clothes are dirty or ragged, and grooming is poor. But
you feel very safe as you eat with them, talk with them, and listen
to their stories. If someone is having a hard time due to an illness
or acting out under the effects of drug or alcohol, they receive
help. They share in brokenness, and care for each other.
The love expressed in a hot breakfast and in the greetings and
conversations of Dream Center staff contributes to the caring
community among those who a end. The love is unconditional.
Staff do not consider it a failure when all they can do is befriend a
suffering person. They accept that many will not break from their
addictions, even some who a end on a regular basis. But they
spend time in conversation with them, and welcome anyone who
is new to the service. If appropriate, they invite a person to the
mission with the possibility of entering the Dream Center
program.
Transformed People
When Sam entered Dream Center he knew his life needed to
change. He has now completed the discipleship program and been
part of the full-time ministry staff at Dream Center for two years.
He is a talented musician who writes praise songs, plays guitar
and piano, and leads in worship services at Dream Center and at
Church on the Street sites. His music ministry impacts lives. His
vision is to worship God, serve through music ministry, give his
testimony, and someday be blessed with a wife and children. He
describes Dream Center as a community that gives glory to God
as it provides learning, fellowship, and support for ministry. He
gives a clear testimony that Dream Center is the community God
uses to sustain him — he is blessed to be in the body of Christ.
Sam's story is typical of the many residents of Dream Center.
Each merges their testimony into life and ministry. Sam excels in
articulating what it means to serve Christ and is especially adept
at sharing faith with millennials who question God and faith. He
references life around biblical themes, but in winsome ways.
When someone challenges faith he reasons with him or her about
God's grace, the opposite options of moral reasoning, and the joy
of serving something greater than self.
Sandy is another person whose life has been transformed at
Dream Center. She grew up in a small town in the Northwest and
remembers Sunday School and going to church with her parents.
Two experiences with molestation, one inflicted by an extended
family member, changed the course of her life. Those experiences
damaged her ability to understand love and to relate properly to
men. She was already a broken human being by the time she
entered adolescence.
Physical touch became a substitute for love, and she fell into a
pa ern of sexual activity. Alcohol and drug abuse followed. She
recognizes now that she was trying to fill a void in her life. She
married while pregnant with no consideration of the character of
the man. Both continued using alcohol and drugs, spending most
evenings clubbing.
That life continued for many years. She then divorced, went
from one relationship to another, moved from state to state,
sometimes living in motels, sometimes on the street. Her
addiction to meth began to further alter her personality, and she
experienced severe depression. The state had already removed
her daughter from her because of her lifestyle.
Sandy was near death in her late 30s. Drugs, alcohol, and failure
to care for herself had destroyed her physical health. She
remembers struggling with the idea of ending her life but still
cherished love for her daughter and cling to a sense that there
was a God who was speaking to her heart. Sandy had a Christian
brother living in Phoenix who invited her to come and stay with
their family. She came — but quickly fell into her old habits.
Her brother got her into a rehab center, and from there she
went to Dream Center. That was many years ago. Her life is now
free of the habits that were destroying her, she is a staff member,
engages in praise and worship, and has reconnected with her
child, who has moved to Phoenix. Mother and daughter are now
reconciled and spend a great deal of time together.
Sandy knows love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. She is one for
whom much has been forgiven. She praises God and rejoices in
faith. How does she spend her time? She mentors broken young
women who make the transition to Dream Center. Because she
knows God can change people.
In Conclusion—Another Chance
In conversation with a resident of Dream Center, another
middle-aged Christian whose life had been transformed from
brokenness by the grace of God, I commented that Dream Center
seemed to me to be a place where people receive a second chance.
It was only a casual remark offered in conversation as we busily
engaged in a ministry. He abruptly stopped what he was doing,
looked at me with one of those expressions of discovery and
wonder. He seemed fascinated by something that had just
occurred to his mind. "No," he said, "Dream Center is a place
where we have chance a er chance a er chance. It is a place of
another chance." He explained that because they had been
redeemed from some really horrible places, they knew that the
love of God never ends.
Another chance. That is the learning from Dream Center. No
one is beyond the grace of God. He heals the broken. A er all, He
was broken for us. And these friends in Jesus who minister have
been broken. Like Jesus.
What is the lesson for ministry in the city? It is a lesson of
grace. The city is no place for Christians who piously proclaim,
"Live like me." Of course, we rejoice when life, theirs and ours, is
free of the destruction sin brings. Serving God in an urban se ing
means we love people whose lives are damaged by alcohol, drugs,
sexuality, and depression. More than that, we live among them
and work gracefully alongside them. In the dense population of a
city you cannot avoid the reality of their lives.
If you are a follower of Jesus, you realize that only by His grace
do you live a joyous life. In the city, with His people, you love
unconditionally. You believe in God's power to restore. You serve
His broken people. I will never see spirituality again without this
lesson of grace.
___________
36 h p://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/phoenix-population/accessed on March
9, 2016 at 5:19 pm.
 A New and Different
Church
Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to
develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy
life alone;you will develop into an oddity and peculiarism,
into something u erly unlike what God wants you to be.
The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the
society of God's own children, and you will soon find how
God alters your set. God does not contradict our social
instincts; He alters them. — Oswald Chambers

Paulo recalls the uneventful childhood he experienced in Brazil.

His mom taught in a Christian school while his father managed
an orphanage. It was a peaceful and happy existence. His parents
served others with compassion, nurtured their Christian faith,
and found community in their church.
Life turned when his parents immigrated to the United States.
Paulo was 10 years of age, and though his parents tried to
continue the focus that had given meaning to their home, the
cultural and financial challenges made it difficult. Paulo's father
was immersed in a Ph.D. program at a university in California.
Money was not available for Paulo to continue a ending a
Christian school, so he a ended a large public school where he
struggled with English and isolated himself from other students.
The cultural transition seemed to be overwhelming for him.
Emergence into adolescence only worsened the problem.
The challenge of adopting American culture and feeling
comfortable in a new Christian community eroded his interest in
going to church. His faith diminished to the point that by the
time of his mid-teens, he rarely went to church. Christianity no
longer provided meaning in his life. Traditional church seemed
irrelevant. Faith, if not entirely abandoned, offered no orientation
for his decisions. The friends he did make influenced poor
decisions that led to drug use and alcohol.
His parents divorced, and Paulo followed his dad to New York.
There his life continued to spiral downward. What was once
experimentation with drugs became addiction. He tried to find
meaning for his life, enrolling in a university. That did not go well.
His dad urged him to get involved in some kind of service and
helped him connect with a church organization that helps youth
and young adults sell Christian literature door to door. Though he
enjoyed the experience, there was still a void. Paulo looked
everywhere to find meaning for his life, and even experimented
with the Wiccan religion.
Realizing his life was not going in the right direction, he decided
to move to Puerto Rico. Perhaps, he reasoned, some distance from
family might be a good thing. He was only 19, and he did not
intend the move to be permanent. He simply wanted to see what a
new start in a different culture might offer. In Puerto Rico he met
others in late adolescence whose life seemed in order. They had
Christian faith and served with meaning in their lives.
Returning to the U.S., he resumed selling Christian materials
door to door. As Paulo reflects on those late years of adolescence,
he acknowledges there was a constant ba le in his life between
good and evil. He moved back and forth between a desire to
follow Jesus and the habits that had filled a void in his life for
several years.
Perhaps because he hoped to escape bad habits, or because he
wanted to avoid disappointing his father, Paulo went to Florida.
He entered a rehab facility soon a er his move. Though the
practical contributions to overcoming addiction were helpful,
there was no secure spiritual foundation. He began to try to help
others suffering from addiction, while struggling to put his own
life together. He felt compassion for others struggling as he had
with life on the streets and with drug abuse. He lived in a halfway
house, and his faith in God began to orient his life. If there was a
turning point Paulo can identify — where it was apparent the
Holy Spirit was prevailing in the contest his life had become —
these few months were it.
He felt impressed to return to Pennsylvania where his father
was now living. He believes that God's providence led him to that
decision. He did not approach this move as a temporary one,
resolving instead to dedicate himself to what God might make
apparent as a way to serve others. His dad had become
acquainted with the Pennsylvania Youth Challenge, a ministry
linking youth with mentors in a summer program of selling
Christian literature. They somehow accepted Paulo midsummer,
possibly because he had some experience, though it was
something they generally did not do. He found community. He
learned from his mentors about REACH Philadelphia, a new and
unique urban church linked with the Pennsylvania Youth
Challenge.
REACH, the church plant, was different from any congregation
Paulo had experienced. It was more of a gathering than a church
actually, and it was marked by authentic spirituality, grace, and
service. Paulo's life turned. Decidedly toward God. This time the
change was deep, and lasting.
Philadelphia
William Penn, a young and charismatic Anglican from England
who had become a Quaker, founded Philadelphia in the mid 17th
century. His notions of a free and democratic society would later
contribute to the formation of the American constitution. Penn's
charter for the se lement included guarantees for freedom of
religion, free and fair trial by jury, and free elections. Philadelphia,
the name given to the se lement, means brotherly love.
Ideally located at the convergence of the Delaware and
Schuylkill rivers, Philadelphia was envisioned by Penn as a
community reflecting the human values he espoused, and also an
investment that would provide a return for his family. Penn spent
a great deal of his adult life in the se lement. Largely because the
economic return never became a reality, England remained his
home.
Philadelphia became the right place for the founding fathers of
the United States to gather for the signing of the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution. The city subsequently played
a major role in the American Revolution by serving as capital of
the United States while Washington, D.C., was under construction.
Today Philadelphia is the cultural and economic cradle of the
Delaware Valley. It has grown to be a diverse city of 1.5 million
with a metropolitan area of over seven million. Philadelphia, as is
typical of American cities, is a mosaic of neighborhoods. The
seven best known are Old City, Society Hill, Queen Village, Ri en-
house Square, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, and University City. The
city is known as a major corporate center with prestigious
medical facilities. Health services represent a major source of
revenue including hospitals, medical schools, and pharmaceutical
companies. Visitors are drawn every summer to the historic sites
that preserve the history of America.
REACH Philadelphia
REACH Philadelphia (REACH) is a missional church plant in the
West Oak Lane community of Northwest Philadelphia. The
Chestnut Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church, a vibrant
multicultural congregation in the neighborhood of the same
name, sensed a call to serve a nearby urban neighborhood and
initiated the new congregation in 2011. They continue to sponsor
the ministry of the church plant. The overpowering first
impression of the REACH faith community is that they are young,
diverse, urban, and focused on service. They embody their
published vision:"Building loving communities where all people
encounter Jesus and are empowered as agents of restoration and
hope." These young Christians, about 40 in number, describe their
core values as restoration, empowerment, action, community, and
hope.
The church has been occupying rented space for various
purposes, but at the time of this writing is working to finish their
own building. A vacant former neighborhood tavern was
purchased and is being rehabbed to provide a ministry and
worship center.
REACH currently has two ongoing services it provides in its
neighborhood. One is tutoring for elementary school children in
West Oak Lane. Trained tutors help students in grades one
through eight in the critical subjects of reading and mathematics.
Each child receives one-on-one or small group weekly support.
The program is funded by grants and small fees families pay for
the tutoring.
The church also partnered with the city to develop garden plots
on empty lots in the West Oak Lane neighborhood. The purpose
of the gardening outreach is to provide the community with fresh
produce and help families learn to grow their own food. Members
see urban agriculture as a path to improving the future of
families in the neighborhoods they serve.
 Other projects and services to improve neighborhood life have
been provided. One of the more creative projects has been
arranging block parties with the city, securing permission to
temporarily close streets and set up activities for children and
families. These have built a sense of community while offering
enjoyable social activity. REACH is also imagining a juice bar or
cafe, a health and wellness service, a kid's club, a fitness ministry,
a food distribution service with support from area retailers, a
neighborhood movie night, and various compassion projects.
The church partners with entities within their denominational
affiliation to fund pastoral interns, some part-time and some full-
time, who are mentored in urban ministry by the church. They
serve year round living, in "Ministry Houses" that become centers
of ministry activities in a particular neighborhood. The interns
pursue a structured academic curriculum, visit homes, help in
both the ongoing and short-term community projects, engage in
community Bible study groups, form other small groups, and
organize social events. On Saturday mornings, the interns are
active in "Adopt-a-block," a process of visiting house-to-house to
introduce various ministries to neighbors and see what their
needs might be.
It may help identify REACH to reflect on the reality that
Adventist churches generally meet for a corporate worship on
Sabbath morning. But at REACH, service comes first. That is what
you do if you worship God. You help others. To be a Christian is to
love others and care for their needs. At present, it is only a er
serving on Sabbath morning that they gather mid-day for a meal,
fellowship, prayer, and study. This is a new and unique church.
Perhaps we could a ach a new name to REACH, not to replace
REACH, but to replace the moniker "church." Church suggests the
familiar and comfortable way of gathering. This is different, a
new experience in Christ.
One of the ministry interns writes the following about ministry
efforts at REACH. This reflection is typical of the enthusiasm the
interns form as they go about their learning and ministry activity:
 At Adopt-a-Block, where we go house-to-house visiting our
neighbors, we met a young man whose street name is Black.
A er establishing a relationship with him and visiting a few
times, I finally said, "Black, why don't we do Bible studies?" It
took a bit of persuasion with another ministry intern, but he
agreed. So far, we have studied the validity of the Bible and
the great controversy between Christ and Satan. He and
another friend listened intently and were convinced of these
biblical truths. At the end of the la er study, both men chose
to be on Jesus' side!
Teams of older teens, mentored by young adult members, have
joined the outreach for nine weeks each of the past several
summers going door to door in West Oak Lane and other nearby
neighborhoods selling Christian reading and family life resources,
materials addressing the need for wellness, literature to support
addiction free living, and devotional material. The students set
aside some of the earnings for their school tuition, and help with
community service projects with members of REACH.
Pastoral Leadership
Tara VinCross was serving the Chestnut Hills congregation as
pastor when the vision for REACH was born and launched. A er
nearly five years of fostering the vision and working with others
through the steps in planting the church, she and her family
accepted an invitation to serve in California. She recalls the
challenge and joy of the church plant in West Oak Lane with
fondness, describing the vision for the REACH plant emerging
from an emphasis on prayer and revival at Chestnut Hills: "It was
a whole church effort, which included people of different ages,
backgrounds, financial status, and cultures."
Members describe Pastor Tara as someone who was willing to
take risks. She challenged others to do the same. She o en
exhorted them, "Just try giving a Bible study," or "Try having a
small group in your home," or "Try this way of serving." When
members asked, "What if people say no?" she simply reminded
them, "Well, what happens? All they say is no to that idea."
Transitioning pastoral leadership, when the founding pastor
moves, can sometimes be traumatic. But that has not been the
case for REACH. New pastoral leadership emerged within the
church plant. Angel Smith became the new pastor, as well as the
director of Pennsylvania Youth Challenge, the ministry that
fosters teens and young adults giving a summer to distribute
Christian materials.
Pastor Smith's journey to pastoral ministry as a vocation is
remarkable. Angel was a recent college graduate fulfilling credit
requirements at a university in Houston, Texas, in preparation for
applying to medical school. She was searching for the appropriate
vocational match for her gi s, considering physical therapy or a
medical degree.
Like so many young adults, she had distanced herself from the
Christian faith of her parents. One of her close friends in lab class
was Muslim, another Buddhist. Angel had se led on a worldview
characterized by rationality. She loved talking philosophy, while
also leaving room in those conversations for the existence of God.
She saw Jesus as a good man but did not embrace faith in His
divine nature or salvation by a loving God. Spirituality was not a
part of her life. She embraced a secular worldview.
One lab partner described a Bible study group that was proving
a blessing in her life and invited Angel. Angel cannot identify why
she accepted the invitation, except to describe some subtle
realization that her worldview did not satisfy questions about
meaning. She accepted the invitation, and with the group, began
to form an interest in studying the Bible further.
Angel was accepted into a medical school in Philadelphia.
Aware that members of the Houston study group were Seventh-
day Adventists, she did an internet search for the closest
Adventist church when she arrived in Philadelphia. Chestnut
Hills came up in her search. There she met Pastor VinCross, joined
a study group, became passionate about the mission and ministry
of REACH, worked with the summer Pennsylvania Youth
Challenge mission experience, and was baptized.
As she looks back on those three post-graduate years of study
in Houston and Philadelphia, Angel identifies several moments
when God's providence was evident. Perhaps most significantly,
she describes forming a prayer life for the first time and praying
about her vocational decision. She became passionate about a life
of service to God and others.
Angel sees God's grace and the dynamic relational fellowship of
REACH as instruments of her transformation. The ministries of
REACH and of the Pennsylvania Youth Challenge had become
ways for her to serve, and she loved it. Her prayers led her closer
and closer to professional ministry. She applied for one of the
internship positions Pastor VinCross had developed and was
accepted. She found joy in the various challenges of the
internship, and realized having an impact on someone's life,
bringing them closer to Jesus, was her purpose in life.
She decided a fulltime life of ministry was her calling. Angel
had begun the Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry offered by the
Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs,
Michigan, when Pastor VinCross accepted the ministry transition
to California. The congregation turned to her for pastoral
leadership, and she was hired to serve as pastor of REACH and
also director of Pennsylvania Youth Challenge.
Pastor Smith continues serving the church plant and fulfilling
the founding vision of REACH. She sees the linking of summer
youth ministries as director of Pennsylvania Youth Challenge as a
vital contribution to the witness of the church. The projects
connecting church members with their neighborhood continue. A
food drive, a regular movie night, a kid's club, and other projects
are adding to the ministry of REACH under her pastoral
leadership.
She describes the gatherings on Sabbath a ernoons as relaxed
family fellowship meetings during which members and friends
dig into Scripture, deepen their devotion to Jesus, encourage each
other, worship together, and mentor each other for service to
others.
REACH Columbia Union
REACH Columbia Union Urban Evangelism School is a school
of urban ministry developed as a way to broaden the impact of
REACH Philadelphia. It offers an immersive experience in the city
of Philadelphia while linking its programs with the REACH
church plant. Students experience hands-on learning in the areas
of discipleship, community development, projects like tutoring
and the urban agriculture program, and other aspects of
evangelism. They learn valuable leadership and life skills as they
connect meaningfully with their neighbors to help effect lasting
change.
The school enrollment is small, 8 to 12 in a given year. Students
live in Ministry Houses in West Oak Lane. They immerse
themselves in the life of the urban neighborhood. The size of the
cohort allows for personal mentoring and spiritual development
alongside exploration of issues in urban life. Each receives a
scholarship provided from a denominational entity and earns 15
academic credits for the year in residence. They pursue a formal
curriculum including leadership, community development,
Christology, and systematic theology. Two summers are spent
with Pennsylvania Youth Challenge to support tuition and living
expenses. The core of their learning seems to be experienced in
collegial conversations, service projects, meals together, worships,
listening to families in the neighborhoods they serve, and from
the challenges they face in the culture.
Tiffany Brown serves as director of the school. An
undergraduate English major who holds a Master of Arts in
International Development from Eastern University in
Philadelphia, Tiffany is now completing a Masters in Pastoral
Ministry program. She caught the vision for the church plant
while a student at Eastern, and subsequently became involved in
the school. Her friendship with Pastor VinCross was a key factor
in forming that vision. Tiffany had been constructing the idea of a
church planting effort in a culture outside of North America but
became passionate about the urban neighborhood in her adopted
city. Required to do a semester internship in her international
development program, she wrote a proposal regarding the
evangelism school and presented it to her department director. It
was accepted. Today Tiffany voices a strong case for mission
within our own urban centers in North America. She sees her
calling as "very much an immersion response" to living and
ministering cross culturally.
Tiffany describes her job as casting vision, sharing the mission
of the school with others, hiring and mentoring staff, helping in
teaching, and assuring a spiritual climate. She recruits adjunct
teachers and arranges presentations from experts in the field of
urban ministry. Though the ordinary tasks of administration
occupy much of her time, her joy clearly comes from the
transformational learning students experience in the immersion.
She sees her most important work as keeping that focus alive.
More About Paulo
Paulo is now 25 years of age and has been serving as a paid staff
member with REACH for two years. He carries important
responsibilities at the school. He has become an enthusiastic
disciple of Jesus, and it is evident that his life is now solidly
centered on Jesus. He has found meaning in Christian service.
The tutoring of other young adults has been essential to his
Christian formation. Freedom from drug abuse came through
prayer and companionship. Meaning came through extending
grace to others as Jesus had so o en given him.
He has a message to comfortable Christians in middleclass
churches. "We cannot just sit in comfortable church pews. People
need love, they need justice, they need compassion. We are
disciples of Jesus, we are called to serve in our cities, to offer love."
Conclusion
Four perspectives regarding the nature of REACH are
informing regarding urban ministry. True, this is a church plant in
an urban neighborhood. In itself, that is commendable. But what
makes REACH notable requires further perspective. These four
perspectives help define a true Christian community.
First is service. REACH is less about corporate worship or
theological teaching than about serving the real needs of others.
This is a gathering of young Christians who believe that to be a
Christian means serving others with great love. The service I see
emerging from the activities of REACH is not designed as a "hook"
to get people in Bible study. They serve because they love.
Second is total immersion in the biblical teaching that every
member of the body of Christ is a minister. This o en is the case
with church plants, and it is especially so with this group. No one
comes to Sabbath a ernoon gatherings just because they like the
music or preaching. This is a body of ministers, welcoming any
who are exploring a relationship with Jesus to join them in
service. They do not imagine a person studying doctrine, and then
making a decision for baptism, and only then becoming engaged
in ministry. To serve is to become a disciple.
Third is the organic merging of spirituality with service. These
folks pray intensely. They love Scripture and find delight in its
reading and study. The quality of biblical spirituality is distinct
from other Christian bodies, not so much for time spent in prayer
and biblical study, but in the connection with serving. Their
spiritual life seems inseparable from serving. They truly celebrate
Jesus, pray that they can be a blessing to others, and long for
others to experience His grace. Spiritual growth and maturity
happens through love and compassion for others rather than
focus on personal morality or life choices. In reality the
spirituality evident in REACH creates transformation and a very
distinct life style, but somehow their lifestyle choices are not the
center of their identity. Jesus is.
Fourth is the value felt for diversity among the members of
REACH. This is a heterogeneous group. Rarely do you find,
especially in the church, people from varied racial, economic,
gender, or educational backgrounds fellowshipping, serving and
worshipping together with such apparent lack of awareness of
their cultural differences. It is not that they blend into one
assimilated culture. They do retain their unique identities. And
they value those distinctions without even needing to note them.
Community at REACH revolves around service. This church, at
least at the time of this writing, does not exist apart from service.
Even Sabbath centers in service. The contribution of REACH to
understanding transformational evangelism is especially strong
in this area. Ministry, spirituality, and even worship can be seen as
experienced in service. If we reflect on the nature of worship,
REACH leads us to ask, "What is the worship God desires?"
Will this experiment in urban church planting thrive in years to
come? I hope so. It is challenging to maintain the vision for such
service alongside the institutional realities or expectations that
face maturing congregations. There will be forces drawing it to a
more traditional expression of the church. The experience
REACH has inspired will survive regardless. I pray REACH does
flourish, because this is the body of Christ. This is what it means
to love as He loved us.
 Birthing a New Church
True discipleship involves deep relationships. Jesus didn't
simply lead a weekly Bible study. He lived life with His
disciples and taught through actions as well as words. —
Francis Chan

Carl and Lori are a young British couple who share a strong
Christian faith. Raised in Christian homes, they now worship at
Reality Church London on Sunday a ernoons. They also a end a
weekly small house group and volunteer in a neighborhood
service project sponsored by Reality Church. Their Christian
experience is quite different from what they were familiar with in
their childhood. Reality Church is a church plant and not at all
like the churches they knew situated in the outlying
neighborhoods of their youth. Those were churches that looked
like churches, and worship services that were marked by the
traditions of their Anglican faith. Carl and Lori live in the heart of
downtown London, and now walk from their flat to a rented club
where they worship with others. They come at around 3:30 on
Sunday a ernoon, have coffee and conversation with friends, and
then join in worship at 4:00 for an hour. A erwards, they usually
have supper in a nearby restaurant with friends from the church.
In so many ways Carl and Lori are like the thousands of British
young adults living in the city center neighborhoods of London.
They are doing well in business. Some would regard them as
prosperous. He is in technology, and she in retail. Each has
completed graduate study programs and excels in creativity. They
love what they do. There is no absence of purpose as they
describe their vocations, no sense that they do it just for the
money. They find meaning contributing to new technologies,
customer service, business ethics, improving people's lives, and in
treating people with grace and love. While most of their
colleagues are clearly secular minded, Carl and Lori find no
prejudice regarding their beliefs, and talk easily about Christ and
ma ers of faith in the frequent informal conversations with their
associates surrounding the community they find in the work
place.
Purpose in their lives is experienced in a blending of their
careers and the idea of service. And it does not seem that church
is a distinctly separated part of their daily lives. They do not dress
fashionably to a end church. Their demeanor seems relaxed and
natural as they mix with friends before and a er worship. As
they describe what they do, stories of annual mission trips and of
service projects in their city neighborhood seem to highlight the
rhythm of their urban life. It is like those activities are
expressions of what they do constantly, not a relief from daily
demands or a retreat. It seems natural, not a contradiction to the
purpose of what they do in their occupations.
Carl and Lori acknowledge the blessings they experience from
their significant incomes and find joy in the opportunity to
sponsor mission activity. But it is obvious they would not be
content to simply provide financial support. They value the
weekly time spent in service. They are externally focused. The
service that provides meaning in their lives is apparent in
material simplicity, and consistent with the space they call home.
Their living space is quite small and simple compared to the
suburban homes they were raised in. True, in a nice city center
neighborhood of London space is expensive! But there is no
interest in anything extravagant in their life style.
London
London is one of the most important political and economic
centers in our world. The River Thames defines the city in the
southeast region of the island of Great Britain. The origin of
London is linked with the Roman Empire. Romans established the
first major se lement in what is now London, calling it
Londinium. It became the capital of the Roman province
Britannia. A er the collapse of Roman rule, Saxons inhabited the
area and defined the population. In the ninth century an
amalgamation of raiders from Denmark, Iceland, and Norway
repeatedly a acked and dominated the region. The formation and
alliance in west France of these peoples (the Danes) further
influenced the development of London. When William the
Conqueror became the first Norman king of England a er the
Ba le of Hastings in 1066, he built the now famous Tower of
London to intimidate native inhabitants. The 15th century marks
the ascension of the Tudor dynasty and the continuing rule of
Welsh and English people of Great Britain to this day.
Today London is a city of about 8.6 million people, with a
metropolitan area population twice that size. Situated in the
Thames Valley, it is defined by several hills, including Parliament
Hill, Addington Hills, and Primrose Hill. There are 32 boroughs
surrounding the ancient core city of London. The West End, as it
is sometimes called, is the heart of financial and government
activity and a racts the greatest number of tourists. The
boroughs of Kensington, Westminster, and Chelsea are the best
known in this area. The east end is closest to the old port area, is
home for large immigrant populations, and holds some of the
poorest neighborhoods.
London is a city of diversity. Immigrant families make up
slightly more than half the population. The population has such
ethnic diversity that it becomes irrelevant to try and identify
ethnic groups by population density. Simply stated, Londoners
are of British, Asian, African, West Indian, other European, and
Middle Eastern descent. The distinct culture of Britain continues
both because of the influence of British populations in outlying
communities and because the nature of English culture itself has
o en been the driver of immigration. There is a pride in the
identity and character of England that is broadly shared
throughout the diverse people groups. The 2011 census reveals
that almost half the population identify as Christian, about a fi h
as having no religion, and around 12% as Muslim.
Finance, including banking, currency trading, and insurance, is
by far the largest employment engine in the city. At the end of the
19th century, England was the world's wealthiest economy, and
continues to provide world leadership in the financial industry.
Media, technology, and retail are other sources of employment
and income.
Weather in London is generally warm and mild in the summer,
but consistently cool, cloudy, and damp in the winter. The city
prides itself as being one of the world's greenest cities. The
Thames, other bodies of water, wetlands, reserves, large green
spaces, open spaces, parks and gardens, provide for varied species
of fish, birds, insects, and plant life. In London you are never far
from green spaces, gardens, and pleasant walks in natural
surroundings.
Reality Church
Reality Church London, where Carl and Lori a end, is one of
the congregations in Reality Church, a church planting movement
founded in the U.S. in 2003. The first of the church plants formed
in Carpintería, California, followed by Santa Barbara, Los Angeles,
Stockton, Ventura, Boston, and London. Reality sees themselves as
a family of churches held together by free relationship, shared
philosophy of ministry, and commitment to advancing the Gospel
through church planting. There are other church plants using the
name in various United States locations that are not associated
with the original Reality Church family in California, and the
family of churches itself is continually expanding with new
church plants.
Reality Church sees church planting as the most effective
evangelism. Every Reality Church plant embraces a mission to
seek renewal of the city through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to
launch and support other church plants. The congregations
fashion their own vision and mission statements, but it is evident
that they hold a common view. They also share a preference for
the term birthing rather than planting. They emphasize that term
because it is useful in describing church planting as slow and
intentional ministry. They commit to planting as a process that
requires a long and enduring commitment. They teach that
birthing a new church body can be seen as similar to the
formation of human life through various stages of development.
Reality Church is conservative. Their statement of faith is
easily visible and visitors are encouraged to reflect on it. It is not
hidden or concealed in any way. They want you to know what
they believe. They assert that Scripture is inspired, infallible,
authoritative, and inerrant. They speak of the Bible as the Word
of God. Their statement of belief covers such ma ers as the
doctrine of the trinity in conservative, orthodox, traditional, and
clear language. Their faith in the deity and resurrection of Christ
and ministry of the Holy Spirit is clearly stated. They believe in
salvation by grace, the sinful nature of humanity, and they assert
the transformed life of a Christian disciple. Resurrection at the
return of Christ to eternal life or eternal damnation is taught.
They call people to baptism by immersion. They believe in the
church and in mission.
Each Reality Church congregation holds some things in
common. Their a endance, though somewhat multigenerational,
is dominated by young adults in their 20s or 30s. Those involved
tend toward Eurocentric ethnicity, though again there is some
diversity. These are clearly not churches that can be described as
a ractive to first generation immigrant populations. As stated
above, each clearly holds to a conservative view of Scripture,
Christian belief, and lifestyle choices. The churches experience
contemporary worship with few or no remnants of more
traditional worship styles. Preaching is conversational and
focused on reasoning from scriptural perspectives on real life
issues. People a end with no interest in ever being named on an
official membership roll. They baptize into Christ. They do not
perceive of the church as an institutional expression with
membership, discipline procedures, etc. They do call every
member to engage in small group life, in faithful financial and
time stewardship, and in ministry.
Reality Church London
Reality Church London is the first church birthed by Reality
Church outside the United States. As with other congregations
planted by Reality Church, the process has been undertaken with
an assumption that growth will be slow. One family, Pastor Tim
Chaddick, his wife and children, commi ed to moving to London
with a long-term indefinite commitment, while eight others
purposed to provide support for a shorter tenure imagined as a
few years. All ten were residents of the Los Angeles area.
Tim Chaddick is the pastor. He and his wife live in London with
their three daughters Lily, Phoebe, and Paige. They share a vision
for ministry of the church in major urban centers and have
sought to devote themselves to helping churches begin and
flourish in their mission to share and reflect the gospel in the
heart of the city.
Tim was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. His first
experience in church planting was in Los Angeles. In 2015 a
prayerful process among the Reality Church church-planting
pastors culminated in a shared call to sponsor Tim and his family
to plant a church in London as part of the Reality family of
churches. The hope for Reality Church London is that over time a
leadership team will be raised up which cares deeply about Christ
and His people and which reflects the diversity of London.
The group determined to place themselves in the heart of
London. Their rented space is in the theater district, only a short
distance from Westminster. It is situated near the center of what
is called zone 1 in London transportation.
Reality Church London has no denominational affiliation. It is
clearly evangelical and conservative. They affirm a high view of
biblical inspiration. They introduce their belief statement with
the declaration that they believe in a message of good news —
that God entered our world in the person of Jesus Christ and did
for us what we could never do for ourselves: rescue, redeem, and
renew us from evil, brokenness, and death. They affirm the
community of church and describe their vision in five
affirmations: 1) we desire to be a theological church seeking to be
biblically faithful, 2) we desire to be a missional church actively
seeking God's purposes for our whole lives, 3) we desire to be a
communal church seeking to be relationally commi ed, 4) we
desire to be a contextual church seeking to be culturally
thoughtful, and 5) we desire to be a spiritual church seeking to be
supernaturally empowered by God's Spirit.
Community groups provide both relational growth for those
a ending, a focus on study and growing spirituality, and location
in their own neighborhoods. At present eight such groups meet
on weekday evenings.
On Sunday a ernoon around 80 people gather at the rented
space for worship. Most are British young adults of European
ancestry. There are a small number of West Indies origin people
who seem quite comfortable in the group, and there are several
American expatriates a ending. One of those Americans
describes the church as providing a bit of the feel of the
homeland she knew prior to coming to England for her studies.
The church is growing, and some worshippers describe
themselves as fairly new to the experience of church a endance.
The worship service is composed of excellent contemporary
praise singing, led by a band of skilled musicians. The worship has
no resemblance to a typical Anglican service. There is no liturgy,
incense, altar, clerical garb, or formality. The participation in the
singing is enthusiastic, even loud. The service is not long. The
music gives way to biblical preaching a er only three or four
songs, and the teaching segues into a unique call to accept Christ
and the emblems of communion at the end of the service.
Worshippers told me they love the service. They describe it as
biblical teaching, thoughtful, concise, spirit-filled, and always
speaking faith to reason.
The style of preaching in the worship service is significant to
what Reality Church is. It is conversational. There is no pulpit. It
is always exegetical and directed to practical issues in the
experience of professionals living in the city. The sermons speak
to reason, provide an apologetic for faith, and explore meaning in
human experience. It is not as though the preaching has become a
reasoned argument. It follows spirit-filled worship and is deeply
biblical. But it relies less on emotion than on voices of reason and
authentic spirituality from Scripture. When reflecting on the
process of preaching, Pastor Chaddick describes the importance
of confidence that God can reach the minds and the hearts of
secular people who are looking for true spirituality.
An important contribution of the church to the community is
what it calls the "School of Faith." That outreach is actually a
lecture series with accompanying dialogue on topics like
technology, robotics, ethics, business, humanist philosophy, social
issues, public health, or government service. Well-known and
respected professionals in their fields, who may or may not share
the faith of the church, deliver these lectures. The series provides
an opportunity for the community to be informed and to explore
meaning-making outside the more evident authority of Scripture
that accompanies the teaching and worshipping activity of the
church on Sunday.
The church spends practically nothing on marketing. There are
no posters, no signs, not even a sandwich board on the sidewalk
announcing the service. There is a website, and it is very
professional. Pastor Chaddick describes reliance on word-of-
mouth and social media for ge ing the word out about the
church plant.
There is some limited programming besides the community
groups and Sunday worship services. Friday night is youth night,
but the demographics of the church limit the number of teens.
There is a children's ministry, but again, most of those who a end
are single, or if married have chosen not to have children. There
are periodic spiritual retreats outside the city.
More on Carl and Lori
Carl and Lori model the hopes of older generations of
Christians for 30-something young adults. They are involved in
the community, educated, successful, faithful and generous in
stewardship, clearly witnessing for their faith, and enthusiastic
about their local congregation. While they form friendships with
others in their urban neighborhood, they are noticeably less
concerned for fashion or material things and hold to high moral
standards. They are disciples of Jesus in a contemporary urban
context.
The reflections they share regarding Reality London are
important. A careful student of urban culture among young
professional adults will notice the significance of their ideas. Lori
describes the church as providing encouragement in her life. She
sees the church as relevant to sorting out her moral choices. She
notes that the church has a clear focus on the Gospel. She
ascribes to biblical authority, but she does not see the church as
requiring a particular life style. She sees herself as having options,
and the church does not determine her decisions. Like others in
the congregation, she does not think of the church as judging her
regarding what choices she makes.
Carl shares those views. He sees the damage among colleagues
of poor life choices and rejects the notion of subjective moral
reasoning. He asserts that a person must have the Holy Spirit
guiding decisions, and that choices flow out of a relationship with
Christ. He makes the case for daily devotion and Bible reading.
But like Lori, he does not see the church as having the authority
of interpreting right or wrong choices. There is a sense of
personal responsibility for choices and recognition of the
freedom to make choices. He sees his decisions emerging from a
relationship with Christ. It seems that in his thinking the church
would be lessened if it assumed the authority to interpret those
choices.
 Carl and Lori acknowledge that evil is real, and that lives are
destroyed by poor choices. They affirm that Scripture is clear in
regard to the will of God for life. However, they distance
themselves from judging the behaviors of others. Neither do they
advocate formal church membership. They do not see themselves
as members of an institutional church and definitely not part of a
religious denomination. They describe themselves as persons who
believe in Christ and who join others in worship and service.
While some may worry about the church surviving as an
institution in society, that issue is of no concern in their thinking.
Conclusion
Planting new churches is among the most effective models for
sharing the Gospel in an urban context. Indeed, the argument is
convincing that this is the most meaningful strategy for mission
in true urban centers where educated and successful young
adults are establishing their futures in the cities that form the
developed countries of our world.
It is important to distinguish between the worship on Saturday
or Sunday of such new churches and how these newly birthed
churches contribute to the transformation of lives. My research
has shown that people come to Christ in our time through
relational exchanges and service to others. Community forms
around service and relationships. Common worship surfaces
from that fellowship. It follows. Even in a church like Reality
London, the small groups meeting in homes, the School of Faith
where worldviews and philosophy are explored, and the service
projects in the neighborhoods remain the primary focus of where
relationships are formed and where sharing the Gospel of Jesus
happens. Mission is experienced in real life, in the workplace, the
neighborhood, the home, and community organizations.
It also needs to be noted that these churches are not
denominational franchises. The association that identifies Reality
Church as a fellowship of churches is free and without obligation.
There is no central structure controlling belief, forming policies,
or managing resources. When I spoke with persons at Reality
London regarding the church as part of a denomination or
association there was a slight discomfort; they do not see
themselves that way. Even those who were fairly new were
disquieted by the thought. The effort to reject religion as an
institution is intentional. This clarity regarding authenticity, this
moving toward being counter-cultural in regard to the usual
norm of society seeing religion as an institution, is essential to
their success in my observation.
 There is some ambiguity and complexity apparent here. People
forming community at Reality London do not see their Christian
community determining or judging their decisions about what it
means to live like a follower of Christ. Yet they have a clear and
conservative statement of biblical belief. The apparent
contradiction seemed, in my conversations and observation, to
center around the ma er of authenticity. They prefer personal
responsibility for choices to live out their life in a Christ-like
manner rather than a community-driven expectation in regard to
those choices. Rather than being a rejection of discipline and
standards, it seems to be a wish to be personally accountable for
making decisions to follow Jesus. They do not wish to live a
certain way merely because others expect it.
Does this mean traditional churches are doomed to irrelevance?
Not at all. Does this mean followers of Christ who have come to
love the traditions and feel of their churches need to apologize?
No. It does mean that we can prayerfully support and affirm
God's movement among those who reform the church, who are
led by the Holy Spirit to new things, who boldly relate, serve, and
worship without those trappings that have identified church in
the past. We can do that. Actually, we must. Would we be faithful
if we prevented thousands like Carl and Lori from sharing the
Gospel in their city?
One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and
asked him, "Why don't your disciples fast like we do and the
Pharisees do?" Jesus replied, "Do wedding guests mourn
while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But
someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then
they will fast. Besides, who would patch old clothing with
new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away
from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old
skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and
ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so
that both are preserved." (Ma hew 9:14-17, NLT)
This section is a concluding call for the church to faithfully
witness for Christ in the urban center. The section describes how
six essential characteristics of urban mission and ministry are
put into practice in the context of the city center. Those essential
characteristics have been demonstrated in the case studies of
section two. The application forms the meaning of
transformational evangelism in the city.
 Six Characteristics of
Transformational
Evangelism in Urban
Mission and Ministry
God changes caterpillars into bu erflies, sand into pearls,
and coal into diamonds using time and pressure. He is
working on you too. — Rick Warren

The city is a place of hope and promise. Young professionals

launch their careers in the city center. There they seek fulfillment
through the application of their vocation in close proximity with
others. To them the city is a place where technology, service,
creativity, or art offer an opportunity to form meaning in life. For
others, financial security is offered by the ever-expanding
business activity of the city. It becomes a place for them to
enlarge their dreams. For immigrants the city is a place to seek a
be er life among others like themselves in the security of a
particular urban neighborhood. Where people are living in an
impoverished urban area they try to improve their situation in
their own neighborhood or by moving to another in the city.
Retirees come to the city welcoming access to culture and
community. Families increasingly choose to stay in the city or
return to enjoy parks and the stimulating environment for their
children.
The city is also a place where the worst of humanity is visible.
Injustice, crime, violence, even human depravity, is more visible
due to the density of the population. Some are deceived by this
circumstance. They begin to think of the city as a place that is
unsafe, unclean, or dominated by crime and violence.
 Regardless of how we view the city, political and economic
power continues to shi from rural communities to the city. It is
true partially because of the numbers. In a few short years about
80% of our population in developed countries of the world will
live in urban areas. It is also true because creativity and
technology are centered in the city. That is where ideas are
pursued, investments made, and social policy formed.
Accompanying the growth of cities is an increasing distinction
between the worldview of people in urban society and that of
suburban or rural communities. Urban populations, especially
those living in advantaged and wealthier neighborhoods, are
more secular. They tend to make meaning of life through reason
and science rather than established traditions or religious belief.
People in rural communities understandably begin to question
the values of the city.
The nature of the suspicion is complex. The circumstance is
partially due to the implications of population density. We
experience the visibility of violence or atrisk behaviors in a city
neighborhood and fail to accurately process a similar
proportional frequency of the same behaviors in rural
communities. Worldviews are subsequently shaped by public
reactions. Another factor is the prevailing preference for reason
in an educated professional culture of the city. Subjective moral
reasoning, as a way to make sense of life, presents a different
challenge to the Gospel than many Christians are used to. Still
another factor is the simple reality that historically many of us
have come from rural se ings. Our culture was developed there.
Urban culture moves at a different pace, sees the world
differently, sees people differently, and values change. Thus,
deeply rooted suspicions of urbanism emerge from our rural and
small-town history. Perhaps most troubling in the context of this
growing suspicion of urban culture is our cognitive bias for
people like ourselves who shared those small-town roots,
resulting in ethnic and racial prejudices.
The primary casualties of such distinctions regarding urban
culture are the disadvantaged people in poorer neighborhoods.
They are frequently underserved and wanting for social justice.
But the church also needs to grasp that the wealthier advantaged
population of the city, especially professional young adults, are
almost completely isolated from the reach of our witness for
Christ. In reality, all of society suffers when the urban center —
the place of our great architecture, commerce, communication,
and arts — is seen as a negative place.
A itudes toward the city have decisive impact on the ways that
rural or suburban church congregations view their urban
counterparts. It is more than a personal thing. Our shared
corporate a itude, rooted in rural beginnings, may be impairing
mission. Our view of the city can either promote or limit
resources directed there. Our views can either lead us to
encourage creative change in mission strategy or to resist new
strategy. We may prefer to insist that we keep doing ministry the
way we have successfully done it in the different context of the
small town, the countryside, or the suburb. Our profound
a itudes toward the worldview of an urban person may empower
or limit our evangelism. In summary, failure to understand the
city derails the witness of the church.
As a community of people gathered by God we must reflect on
our call to evangelize the city. Christ has called us to be there and
to share the Gospel. Faith-fulness will require us to reform our
mission strategy and methods.
What will the future of our mission and ministry in the city
look like? It will focus on transformation. In sequence it will first
be relational. People who believe in Christ will live and relate in
the city. Second it will involve unconditional service. Third it will
be a patient process of forming distinctive local community
where shared meaning-making happens. Fourth, authentic
spirituality will form. This perspective on spirituality will be
personal and also shared, but in ways reflective of an urban
gathering. Fi h, worship will be experienced. It is not so much a
renewal of worship because in many urban contexts there will be
an intentional departure of reference to how Christians or the
church have traditionally worshipped. Then corporately shared
worship will be expressed in the terms of the urban culture.
Finally, it will transform persons, their worldview, and the culture
of the city.
This book has been about urban mission and ministry as
transformational evangelism. The challenge is different from how
we have evangelized in past decades. It is a daunting task to
transform our shared images of what the process of evangelism
looks like. Naturally we have found security in the routines and
strategies that have served well over time and that still do reach
many people with the Gospel in other contexts.
The nine case studies model transformational evangelism in
the city center and inspire our faith that God can and is reaching
people in the context of the city center. Those case studies reveal
the six characteristics mentioned above. We can draw valuable
practical lessons from the case studies, but more importantly our
hope and trust in the leading of God can be strengthened.
Let's review the contribution of these six characteristics in the
context of urban mission and ministry. These essential
characteristics are constant within the nature of urban mission
and ministry.
Relationality
The primary tenet of urban mission and ministry as
transformational evangelism is relationality. God is a relational
God. Relationship is at the heart of the purpose for creation, and
Scripture unfolds a history replete with relational glimpses into
the nature of God.
Jesus is God with us (Ma . 1:23). He is God incarnate among us.
He carries out His mission in intimate relationships. He lives with
a band of people who become disciples, shares their meals, walks
and thinks together with them. Jesus remarkably asserted a
relational theology of mission by His application of the term
"friends" to those He personally mentored for mission (John 15:12-
17).
A biblical approach to evangelism in the city is relational. That
is the starting point. God is with us in our lives and in our cities
through relationships. This means we live in the city rather than
retreating to outposts. We do not enter the urban space with
judgment, arbitrary authority, or in isolation. We build
relationships. This means we get to know people, we invite them
into our homes, and we are in the parks, the museums, the
concerts, the restaurants and the shops. We are on the bus or
subway car. We do things with others who live their lives in those
spaces. And we do that without judging, preaching, or
condemning. It is thus evident that transformational evangelism
requires time and genuine interest in other people.
Service
Israel, formed as a people for mission, is spoken of as a servant
community (Jer. 30:10). Isaiah speaks of the coming Messiah in
"servant songs" (Isa. 42:1-7; 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12). Jesus Himself
demonstrates transformational evangelism in His choice through
the incarnation to be among us, to serve and sacrifice.
A biblical understanding of transformational evangelism moves
forward from relationship to service. Just as God serves His
creation, so much so that He lays down His life for them, we are
called to serve our neighborhood and community. We serve
because we love people. We relate, and then we serve. We also
invite people we serve to join with us in our service.
Transformational evangelism in the city means we subordinate
notions of institutional growth. We sacrifice for people because
we love them. We put the needs of others first and before the
advantages growth might provide our organized church. Yes, our
churches will grow. But if we seek to serve because we want to
add to our membership the relationships become artificial. People
know, especially the educated secular person in an urban context,
when caring and serving is authentic or merely a growth strategy.
We serve because we love. Period.
So, we help people manage the issues of life, we tutor children,
we find real solutions to food problems, we work for justice and
reconciliation, we counsel and shelter the mentally ill, we improve
schools and parks. We do free concerts. We provide forums to
address issues like ethics, moral reasoning, or human rights. The
church discovers real needs, organizes in the community, and
facilitates programs that respond to the needs of others.
Community
God is a God of community. Transformational evangelism has
the building up of Christian community as its aim: to establish
people in a spiritual community where intellectual, physical, and
spiritual growth occurs (Col. 1:28-29).
The local congregation is the primary expression of Christian
community. The congregation is a powerful antidote to the
behaviors that destroy life and the rigid reliance on human
reason that pervades secular culture. The local congregation
provides a sense of presence and place. Given its nature, the body
of Christian believers will not make a major impact in urban
mission unless it acts out on the local level through local
congregations.
Transformational evangelism is rooted within that primary
community. Evangelism forms around relationship and service
rather than biblical doctrine in the urban context. It is expressed
in such things as gardening, the struggle for social and economic
justice, in pastoral care, education for all ages, providing social
connections, or the delivery of needed human services.
As a Christian serves with unconditional love, the service itself
transforms the nature of relationships and moves one forward to
join in community. Especially among the more advantaged and
educated populations, the community is formed without overtly
asking for decisions to believe certain things about God and life.
Meaning-making is experienced as an outflow of relationship, of
serving together, and then community.
But the local congregation in the city has a unique challenge.
Secular urban culture is suspicious of religious institutions.
People who characterize the more advantaged neighborhoods in
the city especially reject the idea of denominational association
and of organizational authority. The dilemma is that we are all
connected outside ourselves. That is affirmed not only by social
observation but also in a biblical theology of the church. We are
part of a local community, and in turn that local community (the
congregation) connects outside itself with other congregations. If
we fail to do that we lose the sense of service beyond ourselves
and a sense of being within a universal body of Christ. So, we
must be in connection.
My discovery in the research that I have done for this book is
that even though people in the city tend to resist the idea of the
authority of the institutional church over what they believe, they
welcome that connection when it is missional. Perhaps there is an
opportunity here for all of us to recognize we are connected by
our shared purpose.
Still, this does make the end of community-building in
Christian discipleship more complex in an urban culture. We have
to build community in the process of relationship and service, and
subsequently trust the Holy Spirit to form biblically sound
understandings of God and Christian living as time unfolds
within that community. This is challenging for us and calls us to
rethink the nature of the congregation. Again, this tends to be
especially the case in advantaged neighborhoods.
The growing congregation in a city will welcome people to
identify with the serving and worshipping community who are
not prepared to join membership. That is not to say the church
will never provide a level of commi ed membership. But that step
will not become the essential of identifying as one of the serving
and worshipping community. For those who are less familiar with
the worldview of urban culture, this process may be a confusing
departure from how they formed church in their view of life. To
put it simply, relationships and service identify the local church,
community forms within those relationships, not what one
believes. Beliefs do change. Teaching and change progress over
time and transformation happens. But not before relationship,
service, and community are experienced.
Church planting is without question the best path for
accomplishing this stage of creating community in
transformational evangelism among those people groups who
have become the most suspicious of the organized church. That
church birthing process can result in churches that are marked
by relationship, service and community, and by worship that is
distinctly different from the church in the suburb or rural
community. Those congregations patiently form life together.
They may be house churches that thrive and connect with each
other without ever imagining becoming larger worshipping
bodies.37
Spirituality
God is not of His creation. He is over all and above all. God is
Spirit. The significance of that foundational truth for
transformational evangelism in urban mission and ministry is
that it establishes a call to biblically faithful spirituality. Biblical
spirituality is realized in relationship with God, God who is Spirit.
A biblical theology of transformational evangelism calls for the
formation of ongoing biblically faithful spirituality in the process
of evangelism. God is Spirit and desires to be known. The outcome
of mission is spirituality, not simply people who are friends, who
serve, who meet in community, or believe in a certain way.
In secular culture where reason prevails and subjective moral
reasoning forms the basis for sense-making in life, this is a
significant perspective in the process of discipleship. Spirituality
confronts secular philosophy. The challenge for the church is to
articulate this tension relationally, with persuasion, and with a
caring respectful spirit. We must first listen and respect. We must
engage in conversation. The process is marked by dialogue.
The prophetic proclamation of Scripture that marks
evangelism in rural and suburban culture is less effective in
advancing spirituality among most people groups in the city.
Instead, people wish to reflect, struggle, think critically, and
dialogue until they come to a Spiritled decision on life issues
emerging from Scripture integrated with reason and experience.
Faced with daily tensions in his or her personal life, a person in
the culture of the city builds on relationships. They then go to
Scripture through a relationship with another and seek to make
sense out of what is happening. Meaning-making is formed in
reflection. This means proof texting or authoritative exhortations
are less a part of the process of coming to faith, of transformation,
and of living a Christian life.
Worship
When spirituality forms, worship is an appropriate and
subsequent response. We are called to worship: "You are a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out
of darkness into His wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9, NIV). Worship
declares that God is worthy, that He is Creator and Lord of all.
Our worship is a response to God's revelation, not only of who He
is, but also what He has done, is doing, and will do. Significantly,
belief grows stronger as worship is expressed. Again, that
revelation has occurred through relationship, service, and
community.
Worship becomes part of the experience of an urban person in
the process of transformational evangelism. It even precedes
formation of exactly what one believes about God and His will for
our lives. We worship God personally and privately. Worship is
also something we do together. God has created us to be in
community and so together we will be drawn to respond to Him
in worship, in declaring His praise.
In the context of the city it is vital that worship is recognized as
all our responses to God: our mind, our emotions, our love and
trust, and our actions. That affirms the authenticity of worship.
Authenticity is so important in this context. Although worship is
expressed in words and in music, in the context of the experience
of a person in the city, these expressions become artificial if they
are thought to be simply reflections of the traditions of the
church.
That provides a dilemma. The church in the city needs to assure
creative worship, worship designed by those who gather, and
worship done with excellence. Again, this is especially true among
affluent young professionals who characterize secular urban
culture. Worship styles cannot be ported from rural or suburban
traditions. Formality is not welcome. Worship without
accompanying service disgusts young urban professionals.
Actions must be involved. Worship, to be genuine in the gathered
community, is expressed in mind and in action.
How worship together as a community looks is less a ma er of
renewal than it is a Godled creative formation of the community.
Transformation
Following Jesus changes us. Discipleship transforms life and
culture. Relationship, service, community, spirituality, and
worship lead to transformation of our worldview and impacts the
culture in which we live.
Change takes time. The challenge for the church in a city center
context is to trust the Holy Spirit to transform life over time. It
means a process of relationship, shared service, inquiring,
thinking, Spiritled reasoning, and spirituality formed within
community interaction.
Transformation is affirmed when people begin to seek God in
the process of sense-making in life rather than trusting in their
own understanding. We see its presence when disciplines of
spirituality are pursued. It is affirmed when energy is directed
toward engagement with the Christian community.
Transformation does lead to new ways of behaving, new
standards in relationships, and submission to biblical
exhortations in regard to Christian living, but not immediately. It
takes time. Transformation will eventually mean respectful
referencing of the experience of faith and the traditions formed
by those who have lived out faith in history.
Transformation is real. Life changes. It is deep. It is the work of
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in one's life. Such transformation
is the outgrowth of the above features of transformational
evangelism in the city, but we need to understand it is not a
strategy. Transformation is the work of God in a person's life, in a
neighborhood, community, and culture.
The key application in the process of transformational
evangelism is patience. That can be difficult for the organized
church when quick visible results are so affirming to our faith.
Our faith is encouraged when we see dramatic and comparatively
quick results from the work of the Holy Spirit in other contexts.
We ourselves can be transformed for the challenge of mission in
the city by reflection on models from Scripture such as the
patient formation of the disciples through three years of Christ's
ministry, or the patience of God over years with Israel. We can
pray for love that produces patience. We can also observe the
dramatic transformation of people and communities in the case
studies within this book, and countless others.
Conclusion
We live in cities. Some assert that we prefer the gentle pastoral
beauty and pace of life familiar to rural se ings, but the reality
tells us otherwise. For whatever reason, we gather in cities.
Today's cities are larger, more creative, diverse, and global than
ever. In the mid-19th century less than 10% percent of the world's
population lived in a metropolis of 100,000 or more. Today in
developed nations like Canada and the United States, it is an
astounding 75%. And the pace of migration to urban life is
quickening.
There is an optimism people have about the city, although large
portions of today's cities are marked by poverty. Cities will
continue to provide the narratives of our human experience.
The city is also a dilemma. Though cities hold promise, they do
not always satisfy human need. They drive cultural and ecological
change, growth, and pollution at the same time. Cities enchant us
with possibility, but, for too many, the a raction of the city has
been a deception, and the city is a place of injustice. One can
describe cities as flourishing, as providing abundance, and at the
same time as broken, in trouble, even as places of despair.
The city is a space for 21st century mission. It is an opportunity
for the church to respond with love and care to the challenges
facing urban populations and to transform the culture. Christians
bring their influence into the life of the city as they live there,
work there, play there, and socialize there.
Whether we live in a city, the countryside, or in the suburbs, our
destinies are inextricably linked. Suburban and rural
congregations can play a role in shaping urban mission and
ministry by understanding the challenge, affirming those who
live and serve in the city, and looking for opportunities to
resource those ministries.
There will be no significant urban mission unless there is
extensive involvement of congregations living and serving in
urban neighborhoods. Dynamic and creative ways to build
genuine relationships, to serve, and create community are
necessary. Some such ministries are demonstrated by the nine
case studies in this book. Each has produced a community that is
growing in spirituality and worship. People are being
transformed. The essentials of mission in the city are evident:
relationship, service, community, spirituality, worship, and
transformation.
Will the church witness to the Gospel in the city center? Will it
retreat from the city? The answer we live out is essential to the
life and future of the church and critical to the future of the city.
We could reflect on the words of Jeremiah, with some
exegetical liberty: "Seek the well-being of the city... for in its well-
being you will find your own well-being" (Jeremiah 29:7). That
message is still God's word for the church today.
___________
37 Simple Church is a thriving association of house churches in the Adventist faith that
nurtures and resources a house church movement.
 Appendix
The following sources have contributed to the research analysis
presented in this chapter:
1. Barna Group (2015b). "2015 Bible-Minded Cities," News Release.
h p://cities.barna.org
2. Benetsky, Megan J.; Burd, Charlynn A,; and Rapino, Melanie A.
(2015). "Young Adult Migration: 2007-2009 to 2010-2012,"
American Community Survey Reports, March 2015.
Washington, DC: United States Census.
3. Birch, Eugene L. (2005). "Who Lives Downtown," Living Cities
Census Series, November 2005. Washington, DC: The Brookings
Institution.
4. Frey, William H. (2013). "Greatest Metropolitan Net Migration
Gains, 20092012: Seniors and Millennials," Analysis of
American Community Survey, November 14, 2013. Washington,
DC: The Brookings Institution.
5. Grammich, Clifford; Hadaway, Kirk; Houseal, Richard; Jones,
Dale E.; Krindatch, Alexei; Stanley, Richie; and Taylor, Richard
H. (2012). 2010 U.S. Religious Census: Religious Congregations &
Membership Study. Kansas City, MO: Association of
Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.
6. Johnson, Kenneth M.; Winkler, Richelle; and Rogers, Luke T.
(2013). "Age and Lifecycle Pa erns Driving U.S. Migration
Shi s," Issue Brief No. 62, Spring 2013. Durham, NH: Casey
Institute, University of New Hampshire.
7. MacDonald, Graham (2012). "Metro migration: Where are we
moving?" Urban Wire, February 27, 2012. Washington, DC:
Urban Institute.
8. Ne eburg, Kermit; Wrenn, Bruce; Saliba, Simon; and Dudley,
Roger (1986). The North American Division Marketing Program
Volume 1: Profiling Adventist Members and Baptisms, with
 Implications for Church Growth, Communication, Publishing
and Education Strategies. Berrien Springs, MI: Institute of
Church Ministry, Andrews University.
9. Olson, David T. (2009). The American Church Research Project
Data Reports. Chicago, IL: www.theamericanchurch.org
10. Percept Group (2007). SourceBook A Reference to Percept's
Information Sources and Systems Version 4.01. Percept Group,
Inc.
11. Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life (2008). U.S. Religious
Landscape Survey Data Reports. Washington, DC: Pew
Research Center.
12. Sahlin, Monte (2003). Adventist Congregations Today. Lincoln,
NE: Center for Creative Ministry.
13. Sahlin, Monte (2006). Understanding Your Community Third
Edition. Takoma Park, MD: Center for Metropolitan Ministry.
 Appendix
See Petr Činčala and Monte Sahlin Identification of People
Groups, Their Demographics and Their Religious A itudes in
Selected American Cities, Research Prepared for Skip Bell, by Petr
Cincala and Monte Sahlin, December 2015, Institute of Church
Ministry Andrews University, for an explanation of both the
research design and the 10 urban centers that were the subject of
the study. They examined the work of William Frey, a scholar at
The Brookings Institution and considered by many to be the
leading expert on demographics in America today. He identified
20 metro areas with the largest net gain among young adults. The
cities included in this study are Washington, DC; Denver,
Colorado; Portland, Oregon; Houston, Texas; Austin, Texas; San
Francisco, California; Sea le, Washington; Dallas, Texas; Charlo e,
North Carolina; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. In each case the Zip
Code level of the most recent census data was examined to find a
cluster of Zip Codes in the central area. Hundreds of data points
were purchased for each of the ten sample clusters from Percept
Group, Inc. It is the only research firm that has specialized in
religion research and makes data available at the Zip Code level.
This is proprietary research on a itudes about faith, values,
religion and church outreach interrelated to census data and
other demographic information. Cincala and Sahlin also accessed
data from The American Church Research Project directed by
David T. Olson, from Barna Research, from the U.S. Census of
Religion produced by the Association of Statisticians of American
Religious Bodies (ASARB), and the Pew Research Center.