URBAN MINISTRY
URBAN MINISTRY CONFERENCES
1) Special Conference, Unwrapping the Gift of Urban Ministry, October 28, 2000 from 9 am to 3 pm, at St. Michael and All Angels, 2013 St Paul Street, Baltimore, MD. Parking will be available across the street from Saint Michael and All Angels in the Saint Mark's Lutheran Church parking lot. Bishop Ihloff, The Mission Strategy Committee and the Urban Task Force are sponsoring this conference for clergy and parishioners interested in hearing and sharing exciting ideas for creating new cooperative efforts in urban ministry within our diocese.
The Reverend Dr. Douglass M. Bailey, Rector of downtown Calvary Church, Memphis, Tennessee, will be the presenter and will facilitate the discussion of a Biblical vision and ways to implement that vision for urban ministry in our cities today. He is passionate as well as articulate concerning the Theology and Spirituality of Urban Ministry and the essentiality of balancing Social Justice; and Soul Justice. Doug is a national leader in urban ministry initiatives. He and Calvary Church co-sponsored and hosted the first College of Preachers Conference on Urban Ministry, The City of God for American Cities: Reinventing the Urban Church, in May 2000.
2) The City of God for American Cities: Reinventing the Urban church is a Conference in Memphis featuring: The Reverend Walter Brueggemann, (the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA), The Reverend Dr. Douglass M Bailey (Rector of downtown Calvary Church, Memphis, TN), The Reverend Canon Dr. Erica B. Wood, (Warden of the College of Preachers at Washington National Cathedral), and The Reverend Alvin O Jackson (Senior Pastor, National City Christian Church, Washington, DC, and former pastor, Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, Memphis TN).
The aim of the Urban Ministry conference is to provide those who minister in urban arenas with:
- a prophetic vision of the Biblical mandates for making the Word of God manifest in the city;
- direct experience of specific urban ministries where lives are being transformed and communities are being renewed;
- development of specific skills and creative networking;
- discerning how God is speaking to situations in the various cities, and calling circumstances in your own urban centers.
The conference began May 19, 2000, May 26, 2000. There were 25 attendees -- 1 laity, 4 deacons, 20 priests and 1 seminarian. There were Episcopalians, a Lutheran, and a Presbyterian. We hope that next year there will be more diversity among the Faith Community.
Insights from the conference, in no particular order:
1) Importance of Relationship
- Need for churches to develop relationships
- Build partnerships
- Ministries come out of relationships
- Way to do Urban Ministry is WITH vs to or for
- Network, Network, Network, Network
2) Need to develop Theology and Spirituality of Urban Ministry
- Unafraid to be SECULAR
- Unashamed to be RELIGIOUS
3) Need to live Theology of Abundance
- Scarcity -- Individualism -- Hoarding
- ABUNDANCE -- COMMUNITY -- GENEROSITY
4) Scripture to Heart vs. learning Scripture by heart
5) Necessity of Celebrating Urban Ministry
6) Urban renewal -- Urban Ministry is Empowerment of others
7) Work at discovering the "gold diamond in the rough" in the community
8) Think non-parochially
- World is Our PARISH vs Parish is our world
9) Get pass DEMON -- Denominationalism
10) Urban Ministry crosses all boundary lines
11) Have a clear VISION. Make Plans to live out the Vision, Implement Plan
12) Think both big vision and small ministries at same time
- Grow larger and smaller simultaneously
13) Think aggressively BIG -- there is ENOUGH for ALL
14) Do things differently. Take LID off of box
15) LIVE the Questions
16) Important to know, hear and tell the STORY of the CITY -- LISTEN to the CITY
17) Marketing churches important even necessary
18) Balance Soul Justice vs. Social Justice Ministries
19) Need Excellence of quality of Worship
20) AFFIRMATION OF OTHERS
For more information on conferences contact:
Deacon Lauren M. Welch, or phone (410) 668 4564