March 20, 2014
Christena Cleveland responds to the practice of large suburban (mostly white) churches expanding into urban environments. She explains how the approach is not especially helpful and the people initiating this activity are often blinded by their own privilege.
“Privilege says I’m called and equipped to minister to all people (but minorities are only called and equipped to minister to people who are just like them). Privilege says that the largest ministry with the most resources is the most effective ministry.”
She offers suggestions, ways a suburban (often well funded) church could support the urban ministries already in place.
“Many of the urban pastors that I know are experts at ministering to the people in their neighborhoods. But they serve low-income populations and are desperately under-resourced. Just because they don’t have a huge church or haven’t single-handedly transformed a broken neighborhood, doesn’t mean that they’re not effectively ministering within their limited means. If suburban pastors truly understood this truth, they would be running to sit at the feet of these amazing male and female urban ministers.”
Read this thoughtful and challenging post by Christena Cleveland.
posted by Marg Herder
