28 March, 2024

Urban Ministry: Not Just an Academic Concern

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by | 17 November, 2012 | 0 comments

The International Society of Urban Mission met for the first time in January in Bangkok.

By Kendi Howells Douglas

In January 2012, an academic society was formed and met for the first time in Bangkok, Thailand. The International Society of Urban Mission is a gathering of like-minded Christians, teachers, missionaries, and urban practitioners from around the world. Its members focus on the issues of urban life, specifically serving those who live in poverty-stricken conditions in the growing slums around the world. Officially, “The International Society For Urban Mission exists, therefore, to be a fellowship of urban missiologists committed to seeking God”s Shalom in cities, especially majority world cities, through active reflection, solidarity and leadership development.”1

Ash Barker organized this first meeting of the society. Most who gathered were from the Christian churches/churches of Christ. They came from at least five countries, and are connected to organizations and schools working to raise awareness that God”s world is increasingly urban and that urban poverty is a significant injustice. Today more than half of all people live in urban areas, with more than 1 billion in urban slums. Almost 100,000 new slum residents are added each day, and by 2050 half the world”s population could live in these morphing and moving neighborhoods.

Representatives from organizations, such as World Vision, Urban Neighbours of Hope, Churches of Christ Australia, Stirling Theological College, Great Lakes Christian College, Johnson University, Step Ahead, CMF International, and others attended this first gathering (with the next scheduled for January 2013).

Activities of ISUM included the launching of New Urban World journal2; annual Urban Mission Summits; Urban Learning Exchanges/Urban Educators Without Borders; immersion courses; educational partnerships; internships; and research and resource sharing.

Many will read this and be glad ISUM is meeting, publishing, and working for the common good of urban slums, and many will read this news and go on, without considering how their lives can intersect the need for urban ministry in our world.

But there is much to do if we, the church, are to have an effective presence in the new urban world. And it”s going to take everyone. Christian churches/churches of Christ have always struggled to have an effective presence in urban areas of the world. As a frontier/rural movement, we stayed out of cities. That may no longer be an option, and certainly it is not an option if we do not want to face complete and total irrelevancy and failure to meet the needs of this new world.

Academic societies are not for everyone, and yet our young people training for ministry desperately need to be informed and supported by churches who engage and understand the world, and partner with urban organizations that foster and train urban ministry principles.

Every church, no matter its size, budget, or location, can be involved in a number of ways with urban ministry. The accompanying article (page 28) about my church, Delta Community Christian Church in Lansing, Michigan, can serve as an encouragement for any church to get involved.

I am encouraged by the steps taken to understand urban mission strategy, and for the new society, and the new journal, etc., but the real work comes down to people just doing it. There are many very simple ways typical suburban or rural churches can become more urban minded and help train up a generation of young people to be much more effective and comfortable in the cities of our world.

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1Quoted from the founding documents of the International Society of Urban Mission, 2012.

2New Urban World journal includes scholarly articles, but also accessible news, stories, opportunities for involvement, reviews, poetry, and pictures from diverse urban Christians. Stephen Burris and Kendi Howells Douglas serve as editor and associate editor, respectively. There are two editions a year. Contact the editors for more details at [email protected]. Keep in contact by joining the Facebook page and New Urban World blog at www.newurbanworld.org.

Kendi Howells Douglas is professor of cross-cultural ministry at Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing, Michigan.

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