Examine six basic principles for starting an urban church in New Brunswick, NJ.

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God is working in America today.  As America becomes increasingly urban, there is a great need for urban church planting.  New strategies and ideas are coming out each year as urban ministries are becoming more popular in cities around the U.S.  With this move toward the city, we must be careful that urban ministry does not become a mere fad.  Instead, it is important to have in mind “the desires of the poor.”  In planning for the future of urban churches Larry McSwain says, “if we want to talk about the future of mission and ministry in the city, we need to focus on the entity that is at the heart of what urban mission is about, namely, the congregation.”

In this paper, I will examine six basic principles for starting an urban church in New Brunswick, NJ.  I have chosen New Brunswick, NJ because I am leading a team of ten graduates from Harding University to plant a church New Brunswick.  After describing each principle I will site an example of how each will change the dynamics of a church plant in the northeast and then describe each principle in my own context. 

The first basic principle for doing an urban ministry church plant is prayer.  Every church plant and church planter should keep in mind that God is the one who builds his church.  Any project is doomed to failure unless God is in it.  All of our church planting efforts must be based solidly on a commitment to prayer.  Jesus is the perfect example for our urban ministry church plant.  Conn writes that church growth in the city occurs as a direct result of prayer.  He continues by saying, “The message of the Gospels is that the new day of prayer has come.  And it begins with Jesus.”  He always cared for the city and his people in the city, like Jerusalem, which “he wept over” (Lk. 19:41).

John Edwin Fuder describes his training students for  and some specific activities they were involved with regarding prayer and urban ministry.  This particular day the students were joining in what John calls a “prayer tour.”  The students began by learning a brief overview of the neighborhood and then where shown the hundreds of homeless, the abortion clinics, the drug district, and the streets of the neighborhood.  After seeing the neighborhood, they began to pray for God’s work to be done through them.  I believe this is a prime example of a ministry of prayer, which is essential in all urban plants.  What is essential is not Fuders “prayer tour,” but activities that center on prayer.  In New Brunswick, we plan to make “prayer tours” a weekly activity.  This will help us realize the pain and suffering in the city because we will just walk through and observe what is happening through eyes of prayer.  It will also continue to remind us that this is God’s work and not our own.  If God is at work in a community then anything is possible.  

If prayer does not become an essential part of our ministry then our ministry will surely die.  Sider, Olson, and Unruh write, “When it comes to holistic ministry, prayer is not optional.”  They continue, “Prayer is what will draw, change, and cause people to be committed in their relationship with the Lord.”  Prayer changes people not just those who are being prayed for, but also those who are doing the praying.  Therefore, we see prayer as essential for every member of our church planting team, because prayer transforms the person praying.  If we are a team focused on God then we will be successful in his eyes, no matter if there are hundreds of new converts or only one.  The world around us must see the church as prayer warriors.  Sider, Olson, and Unruh write,

Prayer is not a seasoning to be sprinkled over social service to give it a pious flavor.  Prayer must bathe the entire process of development and implementation; it is not just a step in the process.  Prayer is as the heart of holistic ministry.

Even the apostle Paul writes to the church of the Thessalonians saying, “pray continually” (1 Thess. 5:17).  This basic principle of prayer is fundamental in church work.

The next principle in doing an urban ministry church plant is to live among the people.  We must be incarnational in our work to reach the lost.  God has long been working in the city, is currently working in the city, and therefore is a reason why we should live in and among the people.  God has always shown concern for the poor.  Amos writes of God’s concern for the poor,

You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.  For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts. (Amos 5:11-12)

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Jesus is the model for our church planting efforts in New Brunswick as He “became flesh and made his dwelling among us (Jn. 1:14).  When we talk about incarnational ministry we decide to put God’s efforts first and that is why we live like those we are going to reach.  

To reach the poor we cannot live in a mansion or dress like a million dollar man, but instead we sacrifice some of those things in order that God’s work may be done in us.  The incarnate church planter seeks to meet the needs of the city through ...

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