Where is the Church, Where is its Steeple, Where are the People?

I distinctly remember a commercial that showed a desolate town with no one around.  A single person is shown wandering through the town — a panicked look on face — crying out, “where is everybody?”  Finally, a voice from the heavens says, “they went to Arby’s.”  This commercial comes to mind when I think about urbanization.  When we look around and scream, “where is everybody?,” we hear the voice say, “they went to the city.”  That’s what urbanization is – the world moving to the city. 

We have heard about this phenomenon of urbanization.  Unfortunately, however, the evangelical church, largely, has not changed their outlook or philosophy of ministry toward the city, yet urbanization continues.  Thus, there is the need to say it again.  On the whole, people are moving to the city.  Over 50 percent of the world’s population lives in the city, and over 80 percent of Americans live in the city.  The United Nations predicts that the world’s city population will increase to over 60 percent by 2030.  At that time, there will be over 5 billion people living in the world’s cities.  An astounding 3 out of 5 people will live in the city. 

When I think of the church’s response to urbanization, I am reminded of a scene from the movie “Hotel Rwanda.”  The American film crew is filming the mass destruction and horrible genocide taking place.  One of the Africans who sees the footage thanks them for filming it and urges them to show the American people so that they will come help his country.  The reporter looks at him and says that Americans will look up from the dinner table to see the news and say, “Isn’t that a shame,” and go back to eating their meal.  The issues are obviously not the same, but the church responds to the needs of the city with the same disregard.  We hear of the disadvantaged and the hurting and say, “Isn’t that a shame?” and live as if we had never heard of the issues.

In order to review the church’s response to the city, we can categorize churches by location.  Of the four major categories of churches, only a quarter are making much effort to reach the cities for Christ.  Though we must generalize about the churches, if we are honest in our analysis, the categories are pretty fair.  The four categories are:

First, the rural church.  This church is most often a country church.  Typically, this church has mostly blue-collar workers.  The churches are usually small in number.  Most often, the rural, country church shows little concern for those outside the church, especially those who are very different from them.  The city is only a distant place. 

Second, the suburban church.  This church is usually a more affluent church made up of middle and upper middle class members.  It may be small in membership or large.  Most mega-churches are suburban churches.  If the church is missions minded, it will reach out to other middle and upper class people in the suburbs and may send members overseas for brief mission trips.  The city is a place to work and shop – any ministry there is short-term, with no lasting commitment.

Third, the suburban-urban church.  This church is like the second church, but the location of the church is urban.  Though the church is in the city, it does not resemble its surrounding community.  Most members drive in from the suburbs.  They typically show little concern for those in the church’s neighborhood.

Fourth, the urban church.  This church may be a store front church plant or a larger congregation.  They may meet in a church building or a movie theatre.  Often, these churches are ethnic churches.  While many urban churches are not doing much for the gospel of Christ in the city, some are.  It is typically the urban church that is concerned with urban peoples and urban problems.  Some are working hard to serve the poor and disadvantaged.  Some are looking for ways to make connections with those in the city who have power, money, and influence.  They are working to bring Christ to the nations who are in the city.

Of course, not every church fits neatly into these categories.  Regardless of the category, however, every church has a responsibility to minister in the city.  Three major ways to reach the cities for Christ are:

Pray — Pray for the city nearest you and cities of the world.  Christians should constantly pray for those in the cities and weep over the vast numbers of lost souls that reside there. 

Give — Churches and their members should give financially to those in the city.  Give to churches or Christian organizations that are meeting the needs of the disadvantaged and sharing the gospel with them.  Give to missionaries who are trying to make a difference in the city.

Go — Some should even move to the cities of North America and the world to be missionaries.  Many should find ways to lead ministry in the city, like opening a low-cost grocery store or starting a clothes closet.  Most should regularly get in the city to do ministry, like feeding the homeless, ministering to prostitutes, participating in community clean-up events.  Every Christian should give of their time to minister in the city and share the Gospel – even if it is only periodically or as a short-term trip.

Where is everybody?  They are in the cities.  Where are all the Christians?  They need to go to the cities.  Every church – from the country church of 30 members to the large church of the suburbs – can make a difference in the city.

How Do You View The City?

The city is a unique place. It is home to a large range of activities and utilized by an equally large range of types of people. Some use the city for jobs or entertainment. Others call it home. People from all different ethnic and economic backgrounds live, work, and play in the city. The city is the opportune place for ministry as it is filled with people from all walks of life who are hurting and needy.

However one views the city, one should see that it is filled with people. Today, over half the world lives in the urban context. The United Nations predicts that by 2030, there will be over 5 billion people living in the world’s cities. An astounding 3 out of 5 people will live in the city. Ministry must take place where people are.

The city is a place in which we can reach the nations. Globalization is bringing people from all over the world to cities. Even small cities cannot escape from the phenomenon known as globalization. People from all walks of life rub shoulders at the mall, in restaurants, or at the workplace.

The cities are filled with hurting people. The city has a wide range of hurting people, including the wealthy who work in the city or live in developed, gentrified areas of the city. While they can escape poverty and attain earthly pleasures, they cannot escape their unfilled need for Christ and ultimately unfulfilled life. The poor are also hurting. They deal with physical and psychological pains. Some live in fear of what the streets bring, and hope is not in their grasp.

The cities are filled with needy people. Ultimately, there is the need for a personal relationship with Christ. However, there are other needs that must be met at the same time. The disadvantaged regularly deal with racism and lack of resources. There are needs for quality education, jobs and job training, trustworthy financial institutions, adequate housing, reliable transportation, quality grocery stores, and good health care. The city also needs to have leaders who are a voice for the disadvantaged and stand up against institutionalized sin.

The church is the best institution to meet the needs of hurting, needy people. The church should be the place that is filled with people of compassion and love. It should be the place that reaches out to help those in need. It should be the place that stands up for justice and seeks the welfare of the disadvantaged. It should be a place of unity and fellowship. It should be the place in which people can come to find Truth and hope in Christ. It should be the place that is sending missionaries to cities locally and globally. It should be a place that is training leaders and discipling believers.

The church has failed to be this institution. The church must reclaim their Great Commission. What better place to fulfill Christ’s calling than the city?!

Meeting Needs…Sharing Christ

It always seemed logical to me that meeting people’s needs and sharing Christ with them was a natural way to do ministry.  As I grew in my Christian walk, I found that Christ did personal evangelism as he met felt needs (Matt. 11:4-5).  I didn’t realize until I was older that not everyone does ministry this way.  Charles Roesel, pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church Leesburg, Florida, however, does.  He coined the term “Ministry Evangelism” and is proof that doing ministry like Christ did really does work (imagine that!).

After visiting FBC Leesburg and Roesel’s ranch, I have become even more aware of the success we can have by following Christ’s example of Ministry Evangelism.  The Ministry Village, FBC’s Christian Care Center complex, magnificently holds together meeting needs and sharing Christ.  The Ministry Village meets the needs of the community through their Men’s Rescue Mission, Women’s Care Center, Benevolence Center, Children’s Shelter Home, Teen Shelter Home, Pregnancy Care Center, and Community Medical Care Center.  The ministries are run by the members and volunteers of the church, and proclaiming the gospel is accomplished daily.  The center is an example of putting biblical concepts for evangelism into practice.

First, ministry evangelism is biblical.  When we take a close look at Christ’s ministry, we see that he did not separate the spiritual and the social (Matt 4:23). Christ did not neglect the spiritual for the social, or the converse (Luke 4:17-21). Christ’s concern for people’s social welfare included a concern for their spiritual welfare.  His compassion for their social needs moved Him to act, but not to the point of minimizing their need to follow Him by faith.  We see Christ’s ministry as one that holds gospel proclamation and social ministry together.

Second, ministry evangelism is intentional.  Ministry Evangelism intentionally seeks to understand the needs of those in the community.  Then, it works to meet those needs and intentionally share the message of Christ.  Churches must not wait for the lost to come to them.  We must intentionally seek the lost and proclaim the gospel to them.  FBC Leesburg, for instance, began Ministry Evangelism because they saw that their community had a specific need that had to be met – young, single girls were getting pregnant and needed help.  They decided to provide not only help and encouragement, but also love and Christ.  Lovingly and intentionally seeking to meet the needs of the lost shows Christ’s love and provides opportunities for the gospel to be shared.

Third, ministry evangelism is relational.  When we do Ministry Evangelism, we gain a hearing.  We build a relationship with those to whom we minister.  We show people that we genuinely love and care about them.  If we see people as simply souls to be won, they not only become a project, but we also rob them of their humanity.  Being image-bearers of God includes one’s whole being, not just the soul.  When we build relationships through ministry, we begin to see people as whole persons.  The face from the street that seeks food becomes a friend about whom we care.  We are given permission to verbally share Christ because we have connected and started a genuine relationship.

Fourth, ministry evangelism is practical.  Ministry Evangelism meets people where they are.  It meets real, felt needs.  It provides for a physical need and allows for spiritual needs to be met as well.  At the Benevolence Center of the Ministry Village, people receive food, clothing, and financial assistance with bills.  They don’t leave, though, without receiving spiritual counseling and hearing the gospel.  Ministry Evangelism accomplishes our biblical calling to do ministry and evangelism.

Fifth, ministry evangelism is successful.  Those who are committed to ministry and evangelism are seeing people come to Christ, and entire lives are being changed.  One of the reasons why the early church was successful in evangelism is because, as Michael Green explains, “There was no dichotomy between a social and a spiritual gospel” (Evangelism in the Early Church, 385).  Since starting Ministry Evangelism, FBC Leesburg regularly baptizes 200-300 people each year.  While visiting the Rescue Mission and the Women’s Shelter, I met and heard stories from men and women whose lives had been completely changed through Ministry Evangelism.  Such stories are proof that sharing Christ with those to whom we minister is a successful way to fulfill the Great Commission.  Ministry Evangelism simply works.  And why shouldn’t it, since Christ modeled it for us?  Meeting needs and sharing Christ can be held together without compromise. 

It’s easy to become overwhelmed when seeing the many successful ministries that FBC Leesburg has developed.  Ministry Evangelism, however, is manageable.  Any church, regardless of size, can meet people’s needs and share Christ with them.  Our churches must start meeting needs and sharing Christ.

Education in the City

Most of the time, I present a more formal article as my blog.  This entry, however, is a short blurb that people need to hear. 

While teaching Urban Ministry in Atlanta, Georgia, I visited a city church.  A young woman in the congregation shared her heart for her mission field — the city public schools.  She is a highschool teacher.  She was sharing with the congregation in order to spur them to help meet the needs in her classrooms. 

She explained that many of her students don’t have parents in the home.  Some don’t even live with their parents.  Some have been tossed around to different foster families.  Some have more than one daddy and others don’t have a daddy at home at all. 

She explained how often, her students don’t have motivation to do any learning.  They go to a school that has old, falling apart books.  They lack the essentials, like pencils and paper.  She explained that they have already used their entire paper budget.  The school cannot afford to buy paper for students to use.  In suburban schools, parents can supply many of the needs for students. 

Often, the students don’t have the energy to learn.  Most are continually sick from malnutrition and the conditions in which they live.  She was asking for donations for Kleenex.  They also are worn out from having to take care of themselves and, many times, their siblings too. 

She explained that when they come to school, the condition of the classrooms, the lack of supplies and materials, and the hardships of life make them feel as if no one cares about them.  They don’t have a sense of connection.  They don’t have a sense that people care enough to even provide pencils for them. 

This school is not some “gettho” school.  This is a typical public school in the heart of the city.  A reality check is in store for those that say: “those people,”  “they are just lazy,” “why can’t they just get a job?, “  and “they just can’t take care of their stuff.” 

The scales are not equal.  Disadvantage is reality.  Poor education is common.  The city needs compassion rather than critique, justice rather than judgment, and acceptance rather than assumptions/accusations.

Capturing Jesus’ Heart for the City

I am not a city boy.  I grew up both rural and suburban.  I know how to survive in the woods and have shoveled my share of manure.  I love Starbucks and have a dresser filled with polo shirts.  I am content with a canoe paddle in hand or a laptop in lap.  I love to drive my 4×4 pick-up, but I have also had a convertible sports car. 

However, experiences, urban friends, professors, and Bible study have cultivated my heart for the city.  I have grown to love the city — the sights, the sounds, and sometimes the smells.  I am enamored by the places and the people of the city.  Skylines and their high rises are captivating.  The people often remind me of what heaven will look like — different ethnicities, cultures, and languages. 

When I examine what has shaped my heart for the city, I find several key aspects that I pray that all would find:

1. God has a heart for the city.
While some read the city into everything in the Bible, most do not recognize God’s concern for the city in the Scriptures.  Many read the Bible with their rural or suburban lens.  God shows concern for the well-being of society as a whole. He is concerned with people and place (Gen 18:16-33; Neh 2:1-6, 11:1-2; Jer 5:1; Ezek 16:48-50), and He has compassion and concern for public welfare (Ps 72:1-4, 12-14; 122:6-9; Isa 58:3-7; Jer 29:4-7).

If we are going to consistently follow Christ, we cannot avoid seeing His compassionate and specific work in and for the city.  Jesus ministered in and sent his disciples to minister in cities and towns of Galilee (Matt 9:35-11:1; Mark 6:6, 56). Urban institutions, like courts, worship centers, city squares, and marketplaces are found throughout Christ’s ministry (Matt 5:25, 23:7; Mark 6:56).

Most of Paul’s ministry was focused in urban centers, and the early church utilized urban centers for the spread of the gospel.  Research shows that nearly two-thirds of the populations of the Roman Empire and of Christians were in the major urban cities (Stark, Cities of God, 6, 13-14, 60). Christianity spread where the majority of people were concentrated.  I believe God has called us to the mission field known as the city.

2. The city is the global mission field.
The world is coming to the city through urbanization and globalization.  People from all walks of life claim the city as their place to live, work, and/or play.  New York City will show you this phenomenon.  Residents of The Big Apple speak approximately 170 different languages.  Even the small city of Springfield, OH (a city of only 62,500 where I spent some time ministering during college) has 40 different nationalities represented.  The city provides a place where people from all tribes can be reached. God has brought people of all nations to the cities, and the church has an opportunity to minister to all nations while serving in the city. 

3. The city is the place of influence as a change agent.
The city is a change agent.  The city is the hub of power and influence.  Cities are centers of politics, economics, government, and social structures.  When city people are changed by Christ and begin to live, work, and play from a biblical worldview, cities are changed.  In turn, politics, economics, government, and social structures are changed.  When Christians influence the city, the city influences culture beyond itself for Christ.  There is such great opportunity for seeing and expressing God’s glory in the city!

4. The city is full of potential.
Both place and people are full of potential.  Cities are places of power and influence.  Most of the influence and power, however, is not being used for God’s glory.  Urban people have potential in their talents, abilities, and gifts God has granted.  Furthermore, different cultures and economic classes bring new and complementary views and ideas to those of traditional, white, middle-class suburbanites.  Urbanites simply need to be discipled and have their potential cultivated.  I see such great potential in people saved by Christ — and He is still saving people.

5. The city is full of people.
When I travel to a big city, I am reminded about the number of people who live in the city.   I am moved when I think about the fact that in the U.S. alone, 250 million of the 300 million reside in metropolitan areas (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006).  Over half of the population of the world resides in an urban context.  During my recent trip to L.A., I felt like over half the population of the world was trying to drive on the same road as I.  Most of these people living, working, and playing in the city need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We cannot miss the opportunity to make a difference in the city.  Get involved in the city by:

• Reading a book on urban ministry (See books by Ray Bakke, David Claerbaut, Harvey Conn, Roger Greenway)
• Praying for the major cities in your state.
• Visiting an urban church or a city ministry in your area.
• Driving through the “rough” neighborhoods to get a glimpse of what most urbanites deal with everyday.
• Praying about how you can begin to have an influence in the lives of those in the city.

By: Kevin S. Hall

Assistant to the Dean, The Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth
Associate Director of The Dehoney Center of Urban Ministry Training
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary;
Executive Assistant to the President of a nationally known church consultant firm, The Lawless Group

Welcome

Like my Urbanmin website, this blog was developed out of a neccessity to provide a balanced outlook for urban ministry today.  The reality of urbanization (people moving to the cities, must be realized.  More than 50% of the earth’s population lives in today’s cities.  By 2025, the urban setting will have 65% of the world’s population.  The city boundaries are blurring and technology has further complicated the distinct lines that used to exist between ruarl and urban.  Cities are growing demographically and geographically.  The reality of urbanization coupled with globalization makes urban ministry a must for all those who desire to truly follow the Great Commission. 

This site is designed to provide resources for students, educators, and those in the trenches.  Biblical Urban Ministry is more than meeting social needs alone or working toward a place where peace, or shaloam, can be found.  It is more than simply social justice and reconcilation.  Nor is it simply having the church doors open or handing out a tract.  Urban Ministry from a biblical worldview must provide people reconciliation with their Creator through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ without negating the sociocultural needs or missing the opportunity to take care of “the least of these.”