I just read this chilling article by Christina Cleveland and we need to listen to her as we plant. I am curious about your thoughts for those of you who are starting and multiplying churches – especially in urban areas.
I don’t want to be an unhelpful, ignorant, or overbearing white guy, so listening to voices like this is helpful for me. Furthermore we are a body of christ in mission and we need to remember that – especially as we start.
Just a few days ago I was having coffee with Alexia Salvatierra and she reminded me that the Holy Spirit is at work already in the neighborhoods we are trying to reach. We need to look for that and not believe that we are the only ones who care about the mission. There are people rooted in the community that have been here much longer than us and we need to partner with them. Of course I have gifts to give in the neighborhood I live in, but so do many people that I don’t normally associate with.
Here is an excerpt from Christina’s post and a link to read it all…
One older African-American pastor said he’s heard chilling reports of meetings, in which representatives from many of the suburban churches have gathered around a map of the city and marked each church’s “territory,” as if Buffalo was theirs to divvy up. The indigenous leaders were not invited to these meetings, nor have they been contacted by these churches. It’s as if they don’t exist, their churches don’t exist, and their expertise doesn’t exist. The suburban churches are simply marching in.
This is happening all over the U.S. In Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Boston , Charlotte and many other cities, I’ve seen predominantly white, wealthy suburban churches take an imperialistic glance at the urban center, decide that they are called to “take back the city” and then proceed with all of the honor and finesse of a military invasion.
Read the whole post here
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Sadly as leaders our zeal for our own calling blinds us to our neighbor who is also laboring hard to spread the Gospel. As we feel called to plant we need to learn to determine if a new church is needed or can we accomplish more if we provide support for an existing work.
I read this article the other day as well. It is sobering and needs more thought and consideration, as well as prayer. I am a chapter planter with IVCF and will be heading to an inner city community college to plant soon. I’m a country boy who went to college in the near suburbs of Detroit. I’ve planted a chapter at a community college between suburbs and urban contexts. And now God is calling me to the inner city in another state. I’ll be interested to hear from those who live in, do ministry in and have done ministry in the inner city. I’m excited, yet nervous. What resources would be helpful in preparing?