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Urban Ministry
paperback
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- Length: 527 pages
- Dimensions: 6 × 9 in
- Published: February 12, 2010
- Imprint: IVP Academic
- Item Code: 3870
- ISBN: 9780830838707
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Other Retailers:
Amazon*
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No. 3 in the Academy of Parish Clergy Top Ten Books of the Year
The city presents serious challenges that cry out for answers: poverty, racism, human exploitation and government corruption. How can the church move ahead in the midst of these demands with the gospel of hope?
Here, in one comprehensive volume, Harvie Conn and Manuel Ortiz, two noted scholars and proven practitioners of urban ministry, address the vital work of the church in the city. Their dual goal: to understand the city and God's work in it.
Through four great waves of development, Conn and Ortiz trace the history of the city around the world. Then they tackle the critical issue of a biblical basis for urban mission. How does the Bible view the city? Are we closer to God in the country than the city? Does the Bible have an anti-urban bias? These questions are given a thorough analysis that unveils God's urban mandate as reflected in both Old and New Testaments.
From this foundation the authors unpack the multifaceted nature of the city as place, as process, as center, as power, and as a place of change and stability. They move us beyond fragmented stereotypes to a new way of seeing that is holistic enough for a fully biblical ministry to develop.
In addition, Conn and Ortiz lay out what the social sciences have to offer urban mission, including ethnographic and demographic studies and they focus on the particular issues and needs of urban leadership, including a plan for developing and mentoring leaders while equipping the laity for ministry in the city.
This is the essential text for bringing God's kingdom to the city through the people of God. Now in paperback!
"Urban Ministry . . . is a pivotal resource for those interested in understanding God's perspective on ministering within urban contexts of the 21st century."
"As a refreshingly exhaustive, provacative, relevant, and practical opus, though, Urban Ministry will serve many current and future urban church workers quite well as both a textbook and a reference book for grappling with the various complexities of and ripe opportunities for ministry in twenty-first century urban contexts."
"Conn and Ortiz in Urban Ministry set out with the goal to understand the city and God's work in it. They undertake this task with a thorough examination of the urban milieu historically, psychologically, sociologically, ethnographically, demographically, and biblically. Not being an Evangelical, I still highly recommend that every Christian who is involved or interested in urban ministry read this book."
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Part One: The City: Past Present
1. From the Present to the Past
2. Into the Industrial Age
3. The Fourth Great Urban Wave
Part Two: Biblical Perspectives
4. God the Old Testament City: Love or Hate?
5. Temptation Testing, Promise Fulfillment
6. Jesus, the Spirit the Church
7. A New Lord, a New People, a New World
Part Three: Understanding the City
8. Place, Process Misperception
9. Religion in the City
10. The City as Power
11. The City as Center
12. Urban Constancy Change
13. The Contemporary Church Responds
Part Four: Developing Urban Church Growth Eyes
14. The Social Sciences Mission
15. Ethnographic Studies Mission
16. Demographic Studies Mission
Part Five: Promoting Kingdom Signs in the City
17. Reachable People Groups the City
18. Shalom Social Transformation
19. Spiritual Warfare in the City
Part Six: Leadership Discipleship for the Urban Church
20. Contextual Traits of Urban Leadership
21. Selecting Candidates for Urban Leadership Development
22. Curriculum for Developing Urban Leaders
23. Mentoring the Urban Leader
24. Equipping the Laity for Urban Ministry
Works Cited
Index
