A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about the church’s ministry in an urban setting. I haven’t pursued the topic because I have some hesitancy about over generalizing. Nevertheless, I am going to push ahead with the understanding that these are not necessarily “universals.”

After abandoning the center city in the 1960’s and 1970’s, urban planners have come to realize the vital importance of a healthy and vibrant urban center. Cities like Louisville have made many changes in the past 10-15 years to revitalize their centers. They are doing this to try to recapture the “soul” of the city that was lost in the urban to suburban shifts and then homogenized to nothing once it went to the ‘burbs. So, in our city we have a newly restored “front lawn”. We have a skate park, bar/entertainment district, arena (maybe), new museums, etc. (I wish that we could get a new public library like the new one in Seattle.) But of course there is no one taking measures to reintroduce the churches and congregations that once gave cities a large part of their soul. I would suggest that a primary reason to be involved in a city church, and for us to exist as we do at 3ABC, is to make space for Christianity in the cultural landscape of the city. I am not talking about taking over the city government, but I am suggesting that Christians live, work, and worship in the city so that the new “soul” of a city like Louisville is not just sports and entertainment. Those who come to these newly revitalized cities will want/need to see people living out their faith around them and be to them the aroma of life. In general I think that city churches can be the aroma of life better than suburban churches, but I will save that for another post.

Posted in Culture, Evangelism & Missions |