Urbanization of the Globe: The Greatest Missional Challenge
by Monte Sahlin
By far and away the most significant thing that happened at the recent Annual Council of the General Conference executive committee of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the adoption of a strategy document entitled, “Mission to the Cities.” It forthrightly recognizes that the world is rapidly urbanizing and this represents the major challenge for the cause of Christ and the future of the Adventist movement.
Around the world, the Adventist faith has made the greatest penetration in relatively small island nations. Pitcairn, the smallest territory on the United Nations list of countries, has the highest percentage of Adventists in the population, and that population is less than 100. Antigua has the highest percentage of Adventists of any country in the Americas and it is one of the smallest. Adventist faith seems to do best at the margins and not do very well in the largest blocks of the population.
In fact, in the largest cities on the globe, in many cases the majority of the Adventist membership is made up of immigrants and there are virtually no converts among the indigenous residents. Often these are immigrants from island nations in the Caribbean and the South Pacific where the percentage of Adventists in the population is very high.
Why has the Adventist movement not done better at reaching the mainstream of the population? Whenever I hear this discussed in Sabbath School or conversations around the potluck table, I hear the same excuses.
- Adventist faith demands too high a ‘cost’ in lifestyle requirements, Sabbath-keeping, etc., to attract worldly urbanites.
- Ellen White said we should move out of the cities.
- The secular city is prejudiced against the Adventist message.
In fact, none of these has any hard evidence to support it. What is true is that urban mission is demanding and we usually look for the quick and dirty approach to doing the work of Jesus.
The strategy document voted at the 2011 Annual Council makes it clear the quick and dirty approach is no longer acceptable. Urban ministry is to be ‘comprehensive,’ including “caring compassion … meeting needs” as well as evangelism. It specifically asks for “a sustained and ongoing approach that does not culminate with a major public evangelistic meeting.” It includes public evangelism, but that is not to be the bulk of the enterprise that gets most of the budget and time.
The example of Jesus, Scripture and statements by Ellen White are all included in the document to underline the reality that the cities cannot be significantly impacted if the Adventist Church continues to focus on quickly cherry-picking a few converts instead of digging in for the long, hard path of truly wholistic and Christian ministry.
Near the top of the document there is an affirmation of those Adventists who “for decades…have been living in and effectively sharing their faith in many of the world’s great cities.” This document nonetheless represents a sea of change in the way we do outreach. It will be a real test of the denomination’s leadership to see if they have the vision and patience and fortitude to gently, insistently help local churches and pastors change their long-accustomed ways of doing things and learn new patterns.
The percentage that the average conference spends on evangelism and community service is in the low single digits. We spend almost all of our money and energy on maintaining existing institutions and taking care of the saints. Investment in research and development, creating new approaches is virtually nonexistent in most conferences.
The strategy document envisions a systematic process of innovation through pilot projects. First, the General Conference will work directly with the North American Division and the two union conferences and five local conferences in the New York City metro area to establish a model program there. Then, each of the 13 world divisions will be asked to select a major metropolitan area in their territory for a similar project. Then, ‘each of the nearly 130 unions’ will be asked to do the same, and eventually ‘each of the over 500 conferences’ and similar organizations.
That process is seen as taking until the next General Conference Session in 2015 to get fully rolled out. That fact will undoubtedly raise the cynicism of some observers, knowing the history of denominational leadership reveals a typically short attention span that will run out of steam before significant impacts are achieved. Yet, the facts are that eventually — sooner or later, around this initiative or some other events — this transformation is bound to happen. It is an inevitable part of the spiritual heritage and calling of the Adventist movement. It is also a part of the maturing of new religious movements as they get to the size and sophistication of ours.
I want to speak a word of appreciation for Pastor Ted Wilson, the GC president who is leading this charge. To those who know him, it does not come as a surprise. He started his ministry as a missionary to New York City. He wrote a Ph.D., dissertation at New York University on this topic. His heart is in urban mission. The greatest contribution of the first second-generation GC president will be the denomination’s embrace of urban ministry. His father believed in it and it has been part of his spiritual development from an early age.
Ultimately, the real potential for change in this landmark document is in the hands of pastor and lay leaders in local churches and conferences. Ask your church board to discuss this document and say what it means for your local church. (You can download a copy here). What impact is your church making on the community where it is located? Do you have ministries of compassion and service that meet needs every week? Do civic leaders view your church as making a significant contribution to the community? Do you have a flow of potential new members into group activities and social settings where your members can make friends with them? Are there small groups or seminars or house churches or community Bible classes that teach what it means to follow Jesus each week? How many hours per week of volunteer time is invested outside the internal activity of the congregation on Sabbath? What percentage of your budget or local giving is devoted to outreach?
There are many examples of Adventist churches across North America who have started model ministries and are impacting their community. A number of these are in urban communities. If you really want to, you could do the same.
Are there dedicated Adventists who thoroughly understand the culture of the cities' populations? They are far different from the usual rurual and small towns where Adventism has flourished in the past. Large urban centers are usually only work places with the high-end office employees heading out to the suburbs and beyond or stay in the city to enjoy the night life. Commuting from the cities is a way of life. The residents are often there because they cannot afford to move out.
They are mostly jaded, skeptical, and distrustful of anything new that appears to be a "sell." We know very little of the future plans. People are often distrustful and trust must be gained before they will listen. The usual 6-week evangelistic or Revelation seminars are doomed from the get-go. Unless someone is an expert publicity expert and experienced marketing professional (do we even have such who are Adventists?) to plan and devise public announcements or making people aware of our presence in the city.
There should be long months of planning before this gets off the ground.
Monte,
The approach outlined above seems to focus on methodology and process as the cause of our current weakness in urban areas. Similarly, changing these is seen as the solution. There are no doubt many other factors including lifestyles, education, and cultures.
However, perhaps all of these, and particularly a focus on methodology, miss a key issue: Message content.
What if the nuts and bolts of what we are taking to the people misses the mark? What if it will always be a "misfit" to the education, lifesyles and cultures of urbanized people? We can change our "marketing" all we want, but if the content of our "package" is not what people want or need, what do we achieve by all our effort in change?
Of course if the problem is content not method, then we must ask the question: "Can we change our content to meet the urban education, lifestyle and cultures without losing the essence of its value? I think the answer is yes. If we should, are we willing? How do we do so?
In short, I suspect we need to "urbanize" the Gospel, not our methodology. (most of that should get tossed out altogether). We need to take faith beyond a carefully crafted doctrinal package to a simple belief that "God Is". An urbanized gospel will seek simply to show that living a life knowing God Is, and treating others as you would treat yourself is pretty much the whole story. What grows out of that is God's business, because worship and faith are very much personal matters of the heart.
Chris,
I believe you ask questions that should be considered. I would even agree with your conclusion that we need to 'urbanise' our message. I just don't believe we need to go as far as reducing it to "God is". With one or two possible exceptions I believe the SDA message can be presented in a form that makes sense to modern urban people without losing the historic content of the Christian gospel.
That we are not being successful with reaching urban areas is obvious. I saw figures a few days ago that in Sydney Conference 64% of its members have no roots in Australia. I take that to mean that 36% of the members were either born here in Australia or have at least one parent born here. I am not sure that the figures for Melbourne would be much different. There are 'native' Australian churches that are growing in the cities, but most are on the outer edges. Most growth in Australia seems to come either from SDA migrants moving here or migrants becoming SDA when they arrive. I still believe we can reach urban (and rural) areas with the gospel, but I do sometimes wonder if our leaders or people are prepared for both the hard work and the changes necessary to do that. Perhaps respectable middle class suburban comfort is our greatest enemy.
Adventism claims that is fulfilling the commission given by Jesus to take the Gospel to all the world. This has been adjusted, modified, and edited to mean that it is Adventism that should be taken to the world. This is a corruption of the Great Commission which did not include the Law with its focus on Sabbath and a six-day creation, prophetic writing 2,000 years after the Bible with additional instructions, dietary restrictions, tithing and more. If this is the Gospel that is to be preached, and converts added, it is a life-time project, and the long-lasting retention rate is not encourging.
I wonder how many of the “frequent commentators” live in the great metropolis, care to share the good news or more important they are involved to do it.
Hi Kevin and others…
"God Is" does push the boundaries a bit I guess. Those percentages on Sydney are interesting. When I think about it our local Church here would have a quite high percentage too. It would be interesting to see what could come out of some brainstorming of how to "urbanize" the Gospel, especially if trying to maintain a fairly distinctive SDA look.
David, I now live in a relatively small city (60K), but have lived in larger. Am I involved? Do I share the good news? That all depends how you measure it: if you measure by "am I involved in a Seminar, door knocking, giving studies, etc etc. NO. But, I think measurement tools like that, or most other of our traditional ways of defining that we are "doing evangelism" are part of the problem and need to be re-assessed too:)
cb25, Kevin and David, I am encouraged by your dialog. I am a fourth-generation Adventist and for some reason I simply don't see all of the negative aspects of Adventist faith that so many people see. I respect their concerns; they make sense. But I just don't see them. Maybe I am self-deluded. Maybe it is faith. I see something different in the heritage of Adventist faith, which is particularly appropriate to urban, postmodern culture. I see a faith that is Christocentric, inclusive, compassionate, progressive and hopeful. I see God's bottom line in the city of Revelation 21, not in Revelation 19. Elaine, the "Great Commission" of Matthew 28 must always be seen in the context of the introduction to Christ's mission in Luke 4. "I have been ordained to bring good news to the poor … those suffering from disease and disability … the oppressed." The most Second Advent-focused sermon of Jesus in Matthew 24-25 puts it together and describes what it is that Christ is asking His followers to do while they wait for His return. It is about how we live. It is a clear message, but not necessarily a message of doctrinal assertions as much as a message conveyed in "the fruit" (quality of life) of spiritual connection with Jesus and His way. Don't get me started; I am writing a book. I have seen the power that this hopeful, compassionate, creative, progressive, inclusive, authentically Christocentric Adventist faith can have among urban, postmodern people. Don't miss the forest by focusing on the down trees in your path and the weeds along the way.
If only there was not so much concern on Adventist doctrine and more on compassion and true concern for those in need (and not simply a "hook" to introduce Bible studies) Adventists could do so much more. But the projection of distributing millions of the Great Controversy, without a concern for its success or even antagonism, is one of the most futile exercises of monies that has been proposed in many decades. Who is expected to fund this exercise? What are the projections of conversions with a book that risks antagonizing many of its readers? If this is the mission to the cities, God help us!
Elaine
I am still not persuaded there is a necessary connection between placing less emphasis on SDA doctrine and more on 'compassion and true concern'. I would agree with Monte that these things are already part of the SDA package. It is how we put it together in real life, not in theory, that we need to work on.
I attend a church with a membership of over 470, and so far I have not met a nasty or uncaring person among them. They want to reach out to their neighbours, and many do on a personal basis. What is needed is a way of moving people form "SDAs make good neighbours and friends" to "I think I'd like to learn more about the SDA church". And I agree with William's comment below that that comes from listening to – and following – the Holy Spirit far more than from trying the latest Conference supported program. Not that the programs are necessarily bad, but they aren't really the answer we are looking for.
Stand aside, all you theorists and those who expound about it! Let me share a few thoughts from my three years doing mission work in New York City where my wife and I were part of the Greatern New York Conference's Medical Van Ministry from 1980-83.
The organized church will never be effective at evangelizing the metro New York Area because concepts of ministry and outreach that church leaders will give verbal or financial support are too far removed from street-level reality to ever be effective. This includes public evangelistic meetings, most literature distribution, colporteurs, health seminars, etc. They simply do not work with any effectiveness.
Success depends on very simple elements where individuals have been redeemed by God and have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to share their love for God with others. It does not require preaching, teaching, giving Bible studies or working in health care. It does require letting the Holy Spirit lead you into the ministry He has empowered you to do. From my experience, I'll give you a 95% probability that it will be outside the activities and concepts we typically associate with evangelism. This means people will be connecting with their co-workers, neighbors and people they meet on the street and touching their lives with God's love in ways that turn their hearts to Him.
If church leaders want to promote church growth in metro areas they can be most effective by illustrating the need and encouraging people to seek jobs in the cities so they can evangelize one-on-one. Then they need to step aside, leave those people to depend totally on the Holy Spirit to provide the resources they need to be effective.
My wife and I have many fond memories of working in New York City. We have some real adventure stories to tell. While I enjoy reflecting on those times, what I savor the most is recalling the times I met someone who told me they were in the church because I had touched them with kindness and taken an interest in them personally without pushing religion on them.
These are some very important comments on another sister site:
"I was born in NYC and have lived here all of my life. I am not from Texas and a NYC wanna be. I was not schooled in Battle Creek, or Berrien Springs and if I were, I would certainly know nothing about how to work a big city like NYC. I am not a pastor who read a book on city work and now thinks they are a genius. No, I am simply a New Yorker who is tired of the (put your own word here) that everyone is speaking about.
All this talk about "Mission To The Cities" from people who know nothing about NYC. I was the former pastor of Church of the Advent Hope in New York City just a few years ago. I resigned my position there when it became clear (EDITED BECAUSE I HAVE A MORTGAGE) Get it? I got it and got out. Get it? You want to know the real scoop of what goes on behind the scenes? Write me and I will tell you. It will all be in the book. Please Get it, when I publish it!
I am now the pastor of Manhattan Church in the West Village. That is Greenwich Village – you know where Gay people, Actors, Film Makers, Musicians and most of New York City's elite live and walk and enjoy life. It is a vibrant place to be, whoever you are. I have been there only a few weeks and boy, do I need the prayers of those I love. Not because of the neighbors, but because of the members. Get it?
Jesus Christ would have lived in Greenwich Village and he would have loved everyone there. Christ was a New Yorker at heart. He accepted everyone. Get it?
We have blown it in NYC. The New York Center, located in the heart of Times Sq. was sold in the 1970's to The Church of Scientology for about 1 million dollars. The Church of Scientology!, now serving as it's world headquarters. It was given away, by a conference president and an administration who knew nothing about business or NYC. You don't sell property in NYC you lease it. Get it?
I was 23 years old back then. I warned them not to sell the building as I was working for the NYC Department of Urban Planning at the time and knew first hand that the Times Square area was going to be rebuilt. Of course that news meant nothing to the conference, since they never went to see a play or a concert in the area. You know "Good Adventists" don't go to those type of places. When that building was sold, (and by the way, Mr. Wilson had nothing to do with the sale) the work in Greater NYC came to a complete stop.
Then let us talk about the hospital, Bates Memorial Hospital, once operated for a few hours less than 30 minutes from midtown, that was taken over by the State of New York. The church lost that magnificent property since the State played with the leadership of the church like a little child and took it over. That wonderful place never even opened it's doors.
There is even a current building that remains on West 40th Street that is under utilized and a waste of time in it's current state of not only use, but of how it looks. I was trapped in it's elevator for an hour one evening, because the elevator hasn't really been working up to speed for years. Years. I don't get it. Get it?
This is New York City not some ragweed infested backwater. Get it?
Our current president G. Earl Knight is a good man and is providing new and focused leadership. He is supportive and wants to do great things here. With little funding it is very hard indeed. What the conference, what New York City needs are committed people, not tourists who will come here for a few weeks then skip town to the comforts of Berrien Springs or points North, East, South and West.
They are welcome to come and more than a few would do well to live here. Get it?
Let me stop now before I get in real trouble. I need a bagel. Not the kind they serve in Collegdale, TN.
Elaine,
That is the voice of real experience! The Manhattan Church was the first church I visited after arriving in NYC and I have been there numerous times. That neighborhood is one of the most challenging local mission fields I have ever seen.
Hey folks,
I'm new to the site and Adventist Today, but I'm not new to urban ministry. Monte knows me well and what we have done in our context. I have been in the inner urban area of Cleveland, Ohio for 15 years and planted a church there. Been here from the beginning as the founding pastor and have learned much. ( note: my family and I moved into the area and live within 15 blocks of our church, I am well known in my community and volunteer at the recreation center as a coach, I do not drive into my district) I know its not NY, but I believe it still registers in the top 50 largest cities in North America. Our "church" worships in a store front that is our community center. We give out clothes, food, serve hot meals, offer our building to homeless for an address and phone number and give the homeless a chance to do laundry. We are open 6 days a week and serve over 500 people from the community every month. We are here for the long haul and we have made a difference. We are rebranding Adventism in our community from the people with rules to the people who really are nice and help people. I have a supportive conference and I enjoy what I do. You can check out more on our web site http://www.woff.org if you want. Watch the two videos posted and you can see first hand our building and some of our ministries.
Kevin,
That is real ministry in the model Christ gave us. Keep up the good work!
A wonderful ministry, Kevin. This is what churches need to do more of. God bless.
Kevin I saw your web and video, you are doing a great job! I think other “cities” could learn from your experience. Your post is refreshing in this desert of criticism to the SDA church and message. I’ll be happy to send a donation to your project. Keep the good work
We should quit worrying about growing the church and instead focus on gaining converts for the kingdom. E.G.W. tells us in the Testimonies that it is better to have 6 true converts than 60 nominal converts. It seems there are too many trying to drag the church into the Saddleback seeker-sensitive ideas or the emerging church/faith house Manhatten waste-of-time approaches which water down the Everlasting Gospel, 3 Angels Message, The Beauty of the Sanctuary Doctrine, the Sabbath, etc.
There is no need to water down the purity of truth for "growth". We don't want the church to end up like the Hollywood church.
That's a sobering reminder of our challenge. Jesus told us to make disciples (followers). Too often we stop at just baptizing them and fail to mentor them into mature christians.
I do not advocate any dilution of truth. Still, we must remember that growth in Christ is a progressive experience and not everyone is ready to accept everything right away. If we try to teach them too much, we are in serious danger of turning them off to everything. I long ago lost count of the people I've seen leave the church because of how certain members were expecting these spiritual infants to have a mature understanding of all doctrines.
I do not espouse to be a megalopolis guru, (although I worked and was mentored (and continue to be) by a few for a number of years) but I do have a heart that enjoys being drawn toward where God is already working in a community and requesting His permission to stand beside Him and for Him. I have done so in a number of cities.
During my last call, when we entered the Greater Chartiers Valley area of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan region in 2004, there was absolutely no Adventist presence. Pittsburgh has the absolute lowest Adventist presence of any 1 million or more Metro area in the United states. We were able to define for the community what Seventh-day Adventism IS. We do not see ourselves as progressively redifining, rather agressively re-establishing our pre-'Historic' 1940-50's heritage. We want to go back to being a people of community involvement as well as in be involved in important societal calls to recognize issues close to God's Heart such as Unity among the Body of Christ, ambivalence toward unhealthy public norms, injustice, equality, peace, and care for the other (those that have issue with ecumenical effort, please refer to the book of Evangelism, bottom of page 143 through to 144… Considering Pastors of Other Denominations as well as sections refered within and following).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htzzdAHs4co
This is a video of an Adventist Pastor fighting to get an occupancy permit to begin a social-entrepreneurial enterprise on East Main Street (center of city business district) in Carnegie (Pittsburgh Metro). The primary downtown area was still struggling to develop after a devastating flood 2 years prior. Townspeople cosistently told us that if the downtown district was not rebuilt and stores did not come back, that the city was destined to be blighted and not recover until it was restored. So we began developing business plans to stand beside other courageous entrepreneurs that were determined to inject life back into the sector. The local officials assured me that we would not get the vote required for an occupancy variance, even though we were dedicated to paying all regular business and property taxes. The best vote I could hope for was a 5-1 no vote (our only supporter had watched first hand ACS in Florida help get his brother back to his feet after the hurricaines there. He also stood beside us in initial clean-up efforts in town. Supported us, but would not advocate out of fear of costing too many political chips with the other good 'ol boys on council) They even for the first time (that I witnessed in three years) had one council member 'present' via telephone to assure the 'no' vote (listen to Larry's confusion as he hears his colleuges vote 'yes' through the telephone speaker… "What the…did Vera say? I ABSTAIN!", and after all the other council people vote Yes? "You can't abstain Larry… Larry… Larry, you can't abstain…) my favorite part of the event 🙂 Due to the work of Adventists in the area the previous three years, the boro council meeting (normal attendance at the time on a 'good' night was 15-20 people) was inundated with support from the community. Those we aided and those we stood beside aiding others. Note that the only Adventist speaker was myself, the Pastor. There may have been 10 Adventists in the entire room. 7 were employees of Adventist Community services-Greater Pittsburgh. The clip was created on the side by the volunteer of the city, that up until that evening, recorded all council meetings and turned them into comcast for airing. He also makes local commercials for comcast… he made a quick swing by his department to edit 6 hours worth of film into a moving 6 minute clip… then he dropped the film off to the proper department 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9S481jGfHs
This clip reflects the next stages of the aforementioned venture
We are no longer in the Pittsburgh region as we have moved on to Philadelphia to start what God is showing us to be our next venture: to explore and create an approach to Urban-Suburban Partnerships in our denomination. But I am proud and thankful to God that we replaced ourselves with another Adventist pastoral family that has since grown both the number and scope of social entrepreneurial projects as well as the church plant. (Pastors in our denomination with creativity, spirituality, and denominational affinity do exist…in abundance!) People we began relationships with over a half a decade ago are now being baptized. The process is not short, but it is incredibly rewarding. I am overwhelmed by the vision and perseverence of the Pensylvania conference's true dedication to treating our state as a mission field. The project (7 years in) is just now starting to grow a church and reflect baptisms into the local, newly formed church body. The Conference still dedicates a full salary to the project each year as they realize reaching oppressed people groups without any religious backgrounds in our largest city metroplexes need to be prioritized.
I know that Kevin, the Ohio Conference, the Pennsylvania Conference and myself are not in a vaccum. I have read about, exchanged stories with, and witnessed first hand similar developments in Austrailia, Europe, and elsewhere in the US from the higher densities of LA on Hollywood Boulevard to the lower densities of Reading PA at Grace Outlet. Anybody with a heart transformed by God can find Him in a community and ask for His guidance. The work He has for so many of us do is much, much bigger than ourselves simply to definitively exploit who really is in charge.
Adventism has plenty of People United by Love to Serve and Empower. We need to educate, share stories with, dialouge with and most importantly, encourage one another. Why waste time dwelling on what we believe does not work? Save that energy on changing things. Life is too short and God is coming back too quick. I can not agree with Monte more, we can be involved if we want to. My conference will more than likely be looking for 20 Metropolitan Missionaries in the next 12 months and hope to raise that to at least 100 over the next five years. We are either part of the solution or part of the problem. Period.
I welcome a continued dialouge if you feel you truly want to do something and don't know where to start or if you have a movement you would like to talk about, or perhaps just need encouragement. agclark@paconference.org or feel free to find me on facebook.
Happy to be in the PULSE of God,
~Andy
Prag,
Keep working as God directs. We few who are actually involved need to support each other more so the realities of our ministries don't get drowned-out by the roaring stadium-full of church members who think they're involved when they're just making noise in the nosebleed section.