Urban Churches, Vital Signs: Beyond Charity Toward Justice

Rating:
Summary: Best synopsis yet of what works in effective urban churches
Review: Nile Harper wrote the book in the late 60's on what works in effective urban churches. He has done it again. He presents the stories of 28 congregations who have moved beyond in-turned care of parishioners and whining about lack of resources and denominational disinvestment, to develop extensive ministries of charity, social service and social justice. Through these case presentations he illustrates the 15 "vital signs" of effective urban congregations. The central keys have been high-energy culturally- appropriate worship, bold visions, commitment of leadership to stay for the long-term, engaging the existing assets of leaders and neighbors, and community building with an entrepreneurial spirit and willingmess to take risks and form creative partnerships. The framework of the book makes learnings very accessible. Each chapter, on a specific congregation, ends with a concise bulleted listing of learnings. In his closing comments Harper presents a somewhat helpful typology differentiating between charity, service and justice. This typology fails to directly address the long-standing debate between conflict/issue mobilization community organizing and consensus-oriented community developing modes of intervention, seemingly combining these strategies under the category of "justice." The choice of cases presented leans heavily toward large churches which began small, with less inclusion of those which have remained small but effective. But these deficits do not impede the usefulness of the resource. Harper ends with a good set of questions for group study, which a congregation might use along with other resources to plan its own path.