Robert C Linthicum Urban Ministry Summary

In the introductory chapters, she draws upon her own experiences overseas and comments on the mistakes she has made and how they can be prevented through best practice. Next, Butrin outlines methods for assessing communities through identifying the resources individuals possess, the needs of the community, and strategies for meeting those needs through meaningful partnerships with the local people. She asserts that our view of poverty directly relates to how we act in compassion and if we view it only as material deficit than our work will never truly alleviate poverty. The church should play a large role in this entire process because proclamation of the Gospel is a vital component of holistic ministry. Only God can bring true transformations to communities and people. If the message of salvation is absent from efforts towards justice than we have barely scratched the service and are responding to the external as opposed to addressing the root causes. The text concludes with decisive commentary on applying the principles of best practice to all

It is determined by the readers and writers’ religious response to the world and by a person's final cultural categories of rhetoric. Apostle Paul’s journey to minister and teach the church, embodied more than one religious response, his primary response was the Reformist view of the world (see Table 1). This assumes that salvation would come from supernaturally given insight to deal with corruption in social organizations and structures (Robbins, 1996). His secondary religious response to the world was Revolutionist (see Table 1). This view declares that a supernatural power has to destroy the natural earth for salvation to come, as believers feel compelled to participate in changing the world in word and in deed (Robbins, 1996). Apostle Paul encouraged the church of Philippi to be humble and work together because others are watching their example. It is clear that his ministry was a religious movement due to his consciousness of the group. In chapter 2 verse 4, the Apostle Paul appeals to keep the harmony and solidarity of the group (Desilva, 2004); explaining that Christ’s example of humility is the solution to selfish motivations and vanity.

just as the eighth-century prophets left their little villages and carried their “thus saithe the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns; and just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Greco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid (King 1).

Galindo analyzes that the fundamental “mission” of a congregation is the same as any other congregation that exists in any part of the world. He argues that though every congregation has a mission and a vision, at the same time, it shares a basic common mission. (43) This reminds me of my home church The First Church of Evanston and my Field Site, The Evanston Vineyard Church. Both churches have a common mission of welcoming people to the church, irrespective of their ethnic, cultural, racial, and economic and, gender backgrounds. The mission is to help people be received in the house of God with due and deserved Christian love so that they feel loved and welcomed. Both these churches encourage church attendees to attend the service and receive the Eucharist.

Dr. Ron Crandall holds a doctoral degree in Pastoral Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He retired in 2008 from Ashbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, where he was a professor of evangelism and practical theology. He has served as an Elder in the United Methodist Church and is now the Executive Director of ABIDE. ABIDE the program that he helped come up with to revitalize churches. Crandall has researched and written in the areas of evangelism, leadership, and church growth. He is best known for WITNESS: Learning to Share Your Christian Faith, and Turnaround And Beyond: A Hopeful Future for Small Membership Churches.

These are the issue that the modern African American pastor must address currently. His/Her preaching must speak true, authentic words for the oppressed, the down-trodden, the deprived, the captives, the poor, the rich, the illiterate, as well as to the intellect. Presently, the hostile moment of worldliness is a belief that life is to be realized at any cost to self. Thus, here lies the Christian paradox: through the Gospel we have to see Jesus as a truth relevant to humanity’s need to rise higher. The Gospel is to be preached to all. It is a Gospel to save the humanity of African American people but the gospel is beneficial for all. Therefore, the African American preacher’s message must have within its content something more than that which causes the people to enter in a foot-patting, hand-clapping, highly emotional, ecstatic worldly experience, but also a content which serves to balance the life of God’s people on earth.

I, Lina Young, the duly elected delegate of the VCE am honored to make the following report on behalf of Liberty Hill AME Zion church, where Rev. Ola Dixon is the pastor.

This book calls the church to rethink and modify its practices, by providing a middle path between the emerging church and the conservative that aims to benefit all. There are major shift happening in the Western Church that has people talking. The problem is that churches fail to follow a mission-centered approach. Chester and Timmis have found that in order to refocus the churches

As I elaborate on the theme, “Equipping Saints for Ministry in the New Millennium”, I will discuss Paul’s words in Ephesians 4 to illustrate

“I have carefully and thoroughly read the entire book as assigned.” Throughout David Platt’s book, “Radical : Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream”, he encourages the reader to take a look at their life and see whether or not Christ is all they need to impact their life for Jesus in a radical way. He asks the reader to carefully examine their life, and see if there are areas that perhaps the Lord would desire for change to take place. Platt challenges the Church to step up and see the urgency in missions realizing that this is the way God designed the lost and dying world to hear the Good News of the Risen and Glorified Savior Jesus Christ.

“Kingdom Politics” by Kristopher Norris and Sam Speers neatly explores the FYS question, “How will we live in the world?” via five microcosms across the United States. They journey across the United States, exploring five different churches. Each, with innovative ways to balance the relationship between faith and society. “Kingdom Politics” is not necessarily an explanation of those two terms, but an insight into how various churches live out the relationship between their allegiance to God and country.

Author Dan Yarnell suggested seven characteristics of a Christ-honoring church in the 21st century: worship, fellowship, interaction with Scripture, discipleship, community, living sacrificially, and living missionally. However, Yarnell contradicted himself when he stated that the church originated at Pentecost (Acts 2) and proceeded to provide examples of the effects of cultural development and new missional opportunities on the church prior to Pentecost. While the term “church” or “” is unique to Acts and the following New Testament writings, its concept and precepts existed from the time of Genesis. In fact, Yarnell did not reference any Old Testament passages or practices. Therefore, Yarnell contradicted himself and ignored Old

The short story “Life in the Iron-Mills” by Rebecca Harding Davis is about a town that centers around an iron mill and the workers whose lives revolve around the mill. At the beginning of the story, this becomes evident when the narrator says, “The mills were deserted on Sundays, except by the hands who fed the fires, and those who had no lodgings and slept usually on the ash-heaps” (1715). The only day that there are not workers at the iron mill is on Sunday because most of Sunday is spent at church. In the short story, Davis begins to suggest that there are strong, spiritual elements throughout the story. Most people who think about God believe that God and faith can bring those who are struggling out of the dark cloud that seems to be encompassing their lives.

God has a plan to reconcile His relationship with man after sin entered the world. This plan revolves around making His name known throughout all tribes and nations. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, the Bible presents God’s missionary purpose for humanity. For this reason, Christians involved in missions will travel to dangerous places to proclaim God’s name and saving power.

Reading Lohfink was an experience in climbing an inviting ladder of which some of the rungs were missing when you got there. His description of how the community of believers lived their faith and the impact they had is truly inspiring. It leaves me to reflect on the life of our own community: Have we indeed left everything to follow Jesus? Are we living toward each other with the kind of love that is uncommon in the world? Are we a people of peace, light to the world, flavorful salt in how we live? Reading the accounts of how the early church lived among the pagans and loved sacrificially, there is a call for me as a leader to teach, practice and exemplify that kind of love among our people, along with making opportunities for us to practice it together. On the other hand, Lohfink’s polarizing reaction to “individualism” failed to recognize that a contrast-community consists of individuals who have been transformed by the cross of Jesus and the power of His Spirit. Lohfink argues that no missionary effort is needed because the church as contrast-society will gather people to itself by attraction. He quotes Bronx, saying: “…if it is possible at all to speak of the ancient church's missionary theory the most that can be said is this. The twelve apostles preached the