wfn.org | Gathering brings urban ministry workers from across globe

[Beth Hawn <BethAH@mbm.org>]

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August 9, 2000
Mennonite Board of Missions
Beth Hawn
Communications Coordinator
PO Box 370
Elkhart, IN 46515-0370
(219) 294-7523 phone
(219) 294-8669 fax
http://www.MBM.org

Gathering brings urban ministry workers from across globe

GOSHEN, Ind. (MBM/COM/CHM) - God is at work in the city.  The statement 
emerged as a refrain of the Global Urban Workers Gathering, the first
meeting 
of its kind to bring together Anabaptists to discuss theology as it relates
to 
urban ministry around the world.

"It's an empowering image to see the city as a place where God is already 
present," said Stuart Murray, a keynote speaker at the event.  Murray is a 
consultant on church planting and urban ministry in England and the editor 
of Anabaptism Today.

The event, held July 28-30 at Goshen (Ind.) College, brought together 
Mennonites from across a spectrum of ministries and locations, who 
share an interest in how Anabaptism influences urban ministry, and how 
urban ministry in turn impacts Anabaptism.

"Yes, there is in fact an Anabaptist understanding of urban mission," said 
John Powell, director of MBM's Evangelism and Church Development 
department.  He encouraged participants to use the weekend as an 
opportunity to begin articulating that understanding, especially through 
sharing their urban ministry experiences with each other.

Murray said the challenge for urban ministry practitioners, and for the
church 
as a whole, is to shift the understanding of the city from the image of a
corrupt 
Babylon to the hope and promise of the New Jerusalem.

A collaborative effort of MBM, the Commission on Overseas Mission, the 
Commission on Home Ministries, and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, 
the event brought together 80 participants representing 19 countries.  They 
included conference urban ministry directors, pastors, seminary students, 
MBM and COM workers, staff, and AMBS faculty.  

Participants formed small groups to examine three urban ministry case 
studies, and to articulate insights about Anabaptist theology (as it applies

to the city) that emerged from the discussions.  Worship services began 
and ended each day, and emphasized praise, storytelling and prayer for 
one another.

Powell noted the importance of worship and prayer not just for the weekend 
event, but for every area of urban ministry.  "If Christ isn't at the
center, 
maybe we all ought to pack our bags and go home," he said.

The weekend marked the intersection of the annual MBM/COM missions 
seminar and the AMBS Mission and Evangelism Institute, where Powell 
and Murray each taught a course.  

Participants expressed hope for continued forums for discussing Anabaptist 
urban ministry around the world.  "Urban mission expertise has been 
associated mostly with a North American context," said James Krabill, 
MBM vice president for Mission Advocacy and Communication and former 
worker in Ivory Coast.  "Workers sent overseas from North America don't 
really get a significant urban orientation.  We often end up in the cities,
but 
we haven't always profited from the work done in the North American 
context.  At the same time, urban ministry contexts elsewhere in the world 
aren't all the same.  We need to continue this interchange, in both
directions."

Powell said he hoped the gathering would be the beginning of an ongoing 
discussion.  "This is just one step," he said.  " I think we'll find more 
similarities and more differences as we continue to dialogue.  And we've 
got to keep the dialogue going."

* * *

Bethany Swope							PHOTOS
AVAILABLE

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