I know, its a silly title but bear with me. I’ve said on numerous occasions that the bulk of church planting materials out today seemed to be geared towards planting in a suburban context in and among a very homogeneous grouping (i.e. Anglo, young families, etc). In these training materials there’s a high emphasis placed on a hoppin’ children’s and youth ministries which is geared towards the family. But what if the area you’re planting in is (a) not suburban and (b) among predominantly singles or marrieds with no kids, and (c) non-homogeneous?
As many of you know the process of gentrification is simply the process of revamping and renewing inner city neighborhoods and turning them into desirous places to live by or in the downtown core. “Gentrification sometimes involves replacing older buildings with new, high-rise apartment buildings or condominiums.” (Global Cities, 31) Who typically lives in these gentrified neighborhoods? “Young urban professionals (yuppies) and dual-income, no kids (dinks) households. A large portion of yuppies and dinks in professional occupations (lawyers, accountants, information technology specialists, etc.).” (31)
So, what does your church planting strategy looks like then if you’re not targeting families? Again, we’re good at doing children’s ministries, VBS, backyard Bible clubs, and so on but if the church you’re planting has little to no children then what? Not only that but what do you do when these young singles start to get married or the dinks start having children? How will you keep them from fleeing the city center to the pull of the suburbs? What does your church need to do to make the city centers a viable place to raise children? (or do you think that is even a worthy goal or endeavor?) What does that look like? Investment in better schools? More family-friendly neighborhoods and adequate parks? Most know that while gentrified neighborhoods are swank places to live, for the most part, there’s a reason why inner city public schools have a bad reputation.
So here are some questions to think through when it comes to planting in the city especially in gentrified neighborhoods: (1) How do you create and foster relationships and connections in the neighborhoods that aren’t centered around children? (2) What is your plan to retain families once couples in your church start having children? (3) How can your church serve the city (Jer. 29:7) and make it a better place?
October 4, 2009 at 2:12 pm |
great learnings for me this weekend. Spent the last 3 days going to Pittsburgh museums and galleries. What a contrast from Tucson! For me, this has been the easiest way to see and describe the different city cultures. Have you ever given this a try?
btw, as a sink (single income no kids couple), we’ve got things to say… for one thing, if you read a suburban bulletin scanning the various announcements, I’ve felt that youth and kids ministries were more fun, dynamic, enthusiastic, hopeful, etc. For example, “Radical Faith” is more likely to be a title for a youth event than for an adult event.