City Talk is a forum where information is shared and questions are raised to help stir dialogue about urban ministry issues. Please read through the following and let us know what you think.

What do urban missionaries mean by the term , "urban?" How is that modern day term linked to a Biblical theology of mission?

Four years ago, a questionnaire was distributed to 517 persons engaged in urban mission throughout the world with 265 responses divided into three groups: international respondents, North American respondents and lay respondents.

Several options were given for defining their use of "urban." The question posited was: "When I hear the phrase 'urban ministry' I most readily identify 'urban' as . . . (rank your three most significant descriptions, with "1" for most significant, "2" for next, etc.) The options given were these:

1. _____ any place where there is an agglomerate population, i.e. communities of 20,000 or more.
2. _____ principally those sectors of the city with serious economic needs, i.e. ghetto.
3. _____ principally those urban sectors requiring cross-cultural communication skills, i.e. immigrants.
4. _____ a "way of life" that is distinct from rural or small town lifestyles
5. _____ a center known for its political, economic, or cultural power, i.e. government center
6. _____ the hub of change where innovation and creativity abound, i.e. employment entertainment
7. _____ a population center that spawns and fosters alternate value systems, i.e. diversity over uniformity; freedom over security; anonymity over familiarity
8. _____ the devil's playground.

The responses generated the following conclusions:

1. North American non-lay urban ministers give preference to the definition of "urban" drawn on meanings informed by urban sociology: alternate value systems, economic needs, and lifestyle differences.

2. International urban ministers are much less inclined to define the city in terms of alternate value systems and economic needs but rather see the city as agglomerate population and power, in other words, in demographic and political terms.

3. Lay ministers specifically avoid the "power" definition and more nearly line up with the North American definitions and descriptions of the city.

The only meaning that did not attract broad support from any of the constituencies was the city "as the devil's pla yground." Sentiment through supplementary comments seems to imply that the city does not confine Satanic activity to its borders. Apparently, Jacques Ellul's pessimistic theological presumptions are not persuasive on at least this population of respondents.

The composite working definition from this research would be this:

"A city is an agglomerate social organism containing a population of at least 20,000 persons in a relative density that packages a critical population mass necessary for spawning and nurturing a variety of value systems, lifestyles and power constellations. Cities are particularly receptive to and instrumental in creative innovation and change. With this capacity for change is introduced various kinds of dysfunctional effects including cultural, sociological, economic, psychological and spiritual."

Closely related to definitions of the city is the concept of the "city region" described by Jane Jacobs as a core city with suburbs and outlying rural areas that are connected symbiotically by informational and economic linkages. Thus, many would suggest that urban ministry is not confined to core cities but must be understood as processes and integration inherent in city regions.

The questions we raise for dialogue include the following:

1. Is the description of "urban" given above an adequate functional definition?

2. Are facets of "urban" being overlooked?

3. How does "urban" contrast with its alternatives?

4. What are these alternatives?

5. Does a Biblical study on the word "city" mislead us into generalizations not necessarily appropriate for urban ministry in that those cities really didn't function as do modern cities?

6. What are the functions of modern cities not addressed by a Biblical study of the word "city?"

7. What alternative Biblical themes need to be studied that address issues of ministry in the modern city that go beyond a simplistic "city" word study of Scripture?

8. Does the Bible address urban issues in any way differently than it addresses non-urban issues? Are there such things as "non-urban issues" or "themes" in Scripture, irrelevant for the urban context?

9. Roman Catholic institutions generally do not define urban as a special category for study but rather address directly ethnic, immigrant and empowerment issues. Is it ignoring a necessary specialized study or is it understanding the increasing irrelevance of a dichotomistic perspective implied by "urban ministry?"

10. Does the term "urban" represent less a "place" than a process or a convergence of systems? If so, is there a need for a "theology of place?"

It's now your turn to thoughtfully respond. Please send your responses to me. --Michael Mata, Director, Urban Leadership Institute