by Charles E. Van Engen (Editor), Jude Tiersma (Editor)
From the explosive contexts of Nairobi, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Madras burst fresh insights on the mission of the church for the city. Jude Tiersma and Charles Van Engen worked closely with an international team of experienced urban practitioners to explore the most urgent issues facing those who minister in today's cities. From each particular urban setting, a team member contributed a story from ministry in the city. Each story uniquely illustrates a different challenge of urban ministry in the face of injustice, marginalization, and urban structures. This book brings you these stories, then retells them in light of Scripture, introducing new hope to each one. From these stories emerge new ideas about the nature of cities and how to practice ministry in them. The new methodology employed by Van Engen and Tiersma's team leads us in the first steps toward a theology of mission for the city. God So Loves the City is a must for pastors, seminary students, missiologists, congregation members, and all who are concerned about urban ministry.
Author Biography
Jude Tiersma lives and works in a Hispanic immigrant neighborhood in central Los Angeles as part of Cambria Community, Innerchange. She coordinates the concentration in urban mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, where she is pursuing her PhD studies.
Charles Van Engen served the National Presbyterian Church in Mexico in theological education, evangelism, youth ministries, and refugee relief from 1973-1985. In 1981 he completed the PhD in missiology from the Free University of Amsterdam. He is presently Associate Professor of mission, church growth, and Latin American studies at Fuller Theological Seminary.