urban expression

Visiting Urban Expression teams in Manchester last Friday, we found ourselves in somewhat unusual surroundings.  In the space of 8 hours we visited a Sure Start children’s centre, an Asda supermarket, the Rampant Lion pub, walked round a local Estate and finally gathered for reflection and prayer – in Tesco’s café!

BMS first partnered with Urban Expression in the late 1990’s when they were getting started and we have been doing so again over the last year or so.  Although BMS primarily works outside the UK, we share the vision of those committed to mission on the margins of society, which in the UK can often mean ministry in the inner city.

With Juliet Kilpin as our guide, Peter, Mat and I met with Clare and Tim, Gary and Derek, and Angie… and others along the way.  And what came home, perhaps unsurprisingly, was the parallels to the kind of mission work we are used to doing in countries around the world. 

I was in no doubt that the inner city option was not the easy choice , or the natural choice for most of those we met.  It was a vocational presence – a calling if you like!  A language we are familiar with.

For those who had more recently made the move to the inner city, there was a new culture to learn, and maybe in some ways a new language too.  So, in the first hour I found myself sat with a young couple from the Middle East, only four years in the country but their English was good, and when we stumbled over words, well - they had an iPhone App for that! We talked about family and friends, their respect for the fact that the law in the UK seemed to apply to everyone, and of course religion – and they brought up the fact that they were Muslims. They invited us for lunch – the kind of hospitality that so often outs us to shame – but we couldn’t go.

And if ever we think mission work anywhere is attractive, the reality is usually somewhat different. Walking round the estate, we followed a young family – Mum with baby in a pushchair, and a 5 year old tagging along after them – stepping over the condom lying by a bin, the little lad in a sleeveless short on what was, for me, an increasingly cold afternoon.

The Muslim family who run the Rampant Lion pub welcomed us as Gary spoke openly about his ‘church’ group who meet on their premises – they were proud of these regulars! It was hard to get my head around all that this meant, but it reinforced how much we are so often scared of getting out of our churches.  People don’t bite, in fact throughout the day I sensed a real welcome to the varied presence of believers in the community.

And so the day ended and we left with memories and questions.

Does BMS have a role to play here?  As we sat in Tesco we were encouraged to believe that the cross-cultural insights we take for granted may be useful to share.

What kind of leadership is best in these settings?  We all know that local indigenous leadership is best in the long run.  But I couldn’t help thinking that someone from outside, someone who isn't beaten down by the prevailing hopelessness of some places, or whose horizon hasn’t been limited by circumstance and upbringing, can bring hope and envision people.  We see it so often when one of our mission workers enters a new community in various countries. 

And how does this kind of mission affect your theology?  This is a favourite of mine – seeing again and again how our once watertight doctrinal formulations leak like a sieve once we actually sit down and get to know the kind of people our theology sometimes alienates. 

Urban Expression are wonderful people, engaged in mission that doesn’t grab the headlines but there is something very Christ-like about it.  They embrace the margins, and these days, the margins of our society are found in the heart  of our cities. 

David Kerrigan

Comments

[Peter Dominey]

Good to hear of BMS heart for the margins and shared vision with those on the same path in the UK.

[David Kerrigan]

Thanks Peter - may CFS and all the other stuff you're involved in - prosper.

[Chris Duffett]

Thank you for this post David.

So good to read and to be reminded of the amazing work of Urban Expressions. I also have a heart for the heart of our cities despite living in a rural context!- I shared 4 convictions I have about the gospel for the city centers at a recent EA council meeting...
http://duffett.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/a-gospel-for-the-city-centre/

Anyhoo- thanks again!

[Account Deleted]

Good to read about your adventures with Urban Expressions - we recently got to know a member of the Spurgeons College team who is a part of the East London Urban Expressions team. Fascinating to talk with him about some of these issues, incarnational mission and re-imagining church.

I was especially interested by your reflections on mission and theology, and how the two interact:

"And how does this kind of mission affect your theology? This is a favourite of mine – seeing again and again how our once watertight doctrinal formulations leak like a sieve once we actually sit down and get to know the kind of people our theology sometimes alienates."

I wonder whether we need to differentiate theology from missiology (or eccesiology I suppose). I suspect that, very often, our theology is not well expressed in our practice,- leading to the alienation you've mentioned. We could also question whether, if our theology alienates people, have we got it right? Or are there cases when we need to allow our theology to challenge cultural values and - perhaps - allow it to be seen in some sense as 'alienating'?

'How does this kind of mission affect our theology' is a penetrating question - but so is the opposite question: "how does your theology affect your mission?"

For us here in Thailand, we've found our theology being challenged by what we see and experience of engagement with local culture: the Thai emphasis on the value and power of community, for example, constantly challenges our highly individualistic understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ. At the same time, though, our theology - what we humbly believe to be true things about God, his kingdom and his kingdom people - can also bring us into places where we have no option but to object, (as gently/gracefully as we can!) to certain aspects or values of this culture.

How do we handle the perceived 'alienation' that may (and does) result from that sort of situation? There's a delicate and fascinating interaction in all that between our theology and our missiology - and both need our careful attention!

Thought-provoking indeed! Thank you for your reflections.

[Mikepcshaw]

David,

Great blog, only just been able to comment, as I have limited internet access. But wondered whether it would be possible for a BMS action team to be based either with UE or part of an urban area in the UK.

I am currently studying at Bristol Baptist College, having previously worked with the WEBA iniative re:Source Bristol (www.resourcebristol.org), I am hoping to do my NAM's in an Urban Church, and it would be great if a BMS action team was released to serve in an UPA in the UK.

Michael Shaw,
Associate Missional Pastor (in Training)
East Street Baptist Church
07958 408 551
[email protected]

[David Kerrigan]

Chris - enjoyed the video!

Pete and Liz - your para that begins "For is here in Thailand..." captures the tension. We go into a situation as messengers and ambassadors, entrusted with this ministry, albeit it in jars of clay. And along the way we too are changed. And in the process of becoming changed people, so our theological insights (and sometimes, but not always, our convictions) get changed too. Wasn't this the Peter & Cornelius encounter. And so the process goes on going on: 'encounter-transformation-fresh encounter- further transformation' and so on.

Mike - apart from the hat, your post was an encouragement!! And believe it or not the idea of a UK based action team is, so I'm told, being considered somewhere within BMS right now.

[lynn]

mmm, great post. One of my most favourite emails to receive are the updates I get from from Clay Community Church, the UE team in Possil, Glasgow. They are such encouraging emails, and your post reminded me why I love getting them so much (and email the team to tell them) - the living Christ within these guys really impacts vulnerable children, lonely young parents, lends a hand in local schools, changes physically rundown areas, (the back-green gardening is one of my favurite transformation stories!) and offers friendship, hope and new life in the context of service.

[Mikepcshaw]

David,

I was wearing the hat while out in Peru earlier this year with a BMS mission trip as part of my time at BBC. Scott Williamson brought us all hats to wear so that we could encourage some of the local kids to come along to a fun morning of games we were doing, so you can blame Scott for that.

I am glad you are thinking of doing a UK based Action Tea.

Michael