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COVER STORYIntotheCitiesWith L ovingUsing Christ’s methods toArmsreach the world’s great citiesBy Gary KrauseOurMissionFieldsThe largest cities (arrangedalphabetically) in the world are:n Beijing, Chinan Buenos Aires, Argentinan Cairo, Egyptn Delhi, Indian Dhaka, Bangladeshn Guangzhou, Chinan Istanbul, Turkeyn Jakarta, Indonesian Karachi, Pakistann Kolkata, Indian Los Angeles, United Statesn Manila, Philippinesn Mexico City, Mexicon Moscow, Russian Mumbai, Indian New York, United Statesn Osaka-Kobe, Japann Rio de Janeiro, Braziln Sao Paulo, Braziln Shanghai, Chinan Tokyo, JapanThe first weekend after the September11, 2001, terroristattacks in New York and Washington,D.C., Graydon Carter, editorof Vanity Fair, was on the phone toChristopher Hitchens, a contributingeditor to the magazine.Carter was in his home near SeventhAvenue, Manhattan; Hitchenswas stranded at the Denver, Colorado,airport. While talking, they both hearda band playing “Battle Hymn of theRepublic.” Intrigued, Carter headedout into the street and saw a smallmarching band of African-Americanteenagers, a group of Seventh-dayAdventist students from OakwoodCollege (now Oakwood University).The group, in New York City fromHuntsville, Alabama, had touched theheart of a secular editor of a secularmagazine in the heart of one of theworld’s most secular cities. “Theirnoble posture and their music heldthe people around them like a pair ofloving arms,” wrote Carter. “At thatmoment, and in that place, it was acharm that soothed this savagedbreast.” 1The cities of the world desperatelyneed to be wrapped in the loving armsof the gospel. More than 100 years agoEllen White wrote: “The Lord has beencalling our attention to the neglectedmultitudes in the large cities, yet littleregard has been given to the matter.” 2The ChallengeImagine standing in the New Marketarea in Dhaka, Bangladesh, watchingrickshaws roll down PeelkhanaRoad, each carrying a person, oneevery minute. Statistically speaking,you’d be standing there for nearly sevendays before a rickshaw came past carryingan Adventist. 3 Similar scenarios—some even more dramatic—play out inurban areas around the world. 4In the 1880s the Seventh-dayAdventist Church placed a high priorityon city missions in the UnitedStates. The General Conference publishedan annual report on city missionfrom 1885 through 1899. In 1886 thereport indicated there were 36 missions,employing a total of 102 denominationalworkers, and training 224 laymembers as interns and trainees. 516 Adventist World | October 2011
AdventistsinCitiesn There are at least 2O cities with populations of at least 10 million.By the turn of the century a “medicalmissionary” project in Chicago,sponsored by Dr. John H. Kellogg,included “a small hospital, free clinics,a soup kitchen, visiting nurses program,emergency residences for menand women, and the Life Boat Mission,where evangelistic and socialwork was done.” 6 When looking forwhere best to locate the mission,Kellogg and an Elder Olsen approachedthe police chief and asked for “thedirtiest and wickedest spot in allChicago.” 7Yet just a few years later EllenWhite said that the Seventh-dayAdventist Church had “neglected” thecities. If we’re candid, we have toadmit that 100 years later little haschanged. In 1910 the population ofNew York City was nearly 5 million;today it’s almost double that. In 1910Ellen White described urban ministryas “the essential work for this time.” 8How would she describe it today?The Way ForwardAs we face the incredible challenge ofthe cities, how should we move forward?Ellen White summarized the incarnationalministry of Jesus, which she called“Christ’s method,” in five steps. 9 Thismethod is key to urban ministry.1. Mingling. In the late 1990s,under the leadership of MarkMcCleary, the Southwest PhiladelphiaSeventh-day Adventist Church, inPennsylvania, planted three new congregations.McCleary led his churchmembers in mingling with the peopleof their communities. They formed alocal chapter of Sisters for Christ, aprogram to prepare young women foradulthood; they helped flood victims;they mentored young people. PastorMcCleary was an officer on the WestPhiladelphia Partnership Board—agroup of organizations partnering toenhance civic life in the community.The church plants were involved ineverything from helping people findjobs to baby dedications and VacationBible Schools. When McClearyreceived a call to lead a church inWashington, D.C., community leaderslobbied the mayor of Philadelphia tokeep McCleary in the city. 10Jesus left heaven, came to earth,Continued on next pageOurGreatestMıssıonChallengeThe world’s urban areas are ourgreatest mission challenge for at leastthree reasons.1. Sheer numbers. In Stockholm,Sweden, 410 Adventists live among apopulation of 1.25 million—a ratio of morethan 3,000 people for every Seventh-dayAdventist. In Kolkata, India, there are 558church members among a population of 15million. That’s one Adventist for more than26,000 people.In the United States 80 percent ofthe population lives in urban areas 1 —butonly one in three Adventist churches islocated in an urban area. In Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania—a metropolitan area with2.4 million—there are fewer Adventiststoday than there were in 1948 whenGeorge Vandeman held evangelisticmeetings in that city. 2Urban areas thrive and groweverywhere—Africa, Asia, the Pacific,Europe, and the Americas. MainlandChina has nearly 40 cities with more than 2million people. Cities contain most peoplein the 10/40 window and in the secularWest. They’re the world’s future—arapidly growing future.2. Unique urban issues. In manyparts of the world, a Global Missionpioneer running an outreach effort isthe biggest show in town, bringing outalmost the entire village. Try the samething in downtown Sydney, Australia, andyou’re competing with theaters, cinemas,restaurants, concert halls, clubs, andnumerous other places of entertainment—along with the sheer busyness of people’slives. For many, church is a quaintcuriosity, a relic of another era.3. Adventist dislocation from cities.While most people live in urban areas,most Seventh-day Adventists, churches,and institutions are located away fromthis mission field. In many cases, urbanchurches are commuter churches—withmany or most of their members drivingto church from the suburbs. Withoutproximity to the mission field, the church isdistant, an observer, at best an occasionalvisitor.1Stone and Wolfteich Sabbath in the City, p. 2.2Monte Sahlin, Mission in Metropolis: The Adventist Movementin an Urban World (Lincoln, Nebr.: Center for Creative Ministry,2007), p. 156.October 2011 | Adventist World 17
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Page 7 and 8: photos by Libna Stevensation Skills
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