The Urban Ministry Podcast

Professor and pastor Timothy Paul Jones interviews Dave Owens about church planting in urban contexts.

Jacob Boss is Affinity Leader for European Peoples with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Prior to his current role in London, he served two years as the Vice President of Global Training for Meridian University. At Meridian, he implemented simple, reproducible tools to develop healthy churches throughout the 10/40 window. In this episode, Jacob joins Timothy to discuss the unique dynamics sharing the gospel with diverse populations in urban contexts. For more information about the International Mission Board, please go to https://www.imb.org.

Michael Crane serves as a director of Radius Global Cities Network, a think tank for urban missions research. Passionate about church planting, he helped to launch a church planting network in Southeast Asia called Gospel City Network. Michael also serves on the faculty of two graduate schools. He has authored or co-authored several books, including Sowing Seeds of Change: Cultivating Transformation in the City (Urban Loft, 2015) and City Shaped Churches: Planting Churches in the Global Era (Urban Loft, 2018). In this episode, Michael joins Timothy to discuss the importance of a sense of place in urban missions. For more information about Radius Global Cities Network, please go to https://radiusglobal.org.

Stephen Dinkins and his family moved to East Africa in 2013 to serve with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Stephen now serves as the Nairobi City Team Leader in Nairobi, Kenya. In this episode, Stephen and Timothy discuss the distinct dynamics of urban church planting in sub-Saharan Africa. For more information about the International Mission Board, please go to https://www.imb.org.

Thousands of churches in urban contexts are ripe for revitalization—but church revitalization isn’t easy! James Fields has spent nearly two years working with a congregation near Churchill Downs in Louisville, seeking to revitalize a once-thriving church. He joins Timothy Paul Jones to discuss what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what he’s learned.

What is the role of the pastor’s wife? Amber Williams and Karen Cheong serve faithfully as members of Sojourn Church Midtown in inner-city Louisville, Kentucky, and they join Timothy Paul Jones to discuss the role that the pastor’s wife plays in the church. For more information about Sojourn Church Midtown, please go to http://www.sojournchurch.com/midtown/.

Nathan Ivey is president and founder of Seed to Oaks, a non-profit organization that brings real and lasting change in communities through collaborations between local churches, businesses, and civic agencies, filling the space between the three. These initiatives are proven, strategic and straight forward to implement; designed as a sustainable means for community change that is real and measurable. For more information about Seed to Oaks, please go to https://seedtooaks.com/.

Thanksgiving! Christmas! New Year’s! When you hear those words, you probably think of family traditions and the fragrance of foods that your family enjoys. But what do refugees think about when they hear these words? Some refugees may think of traditions from their homelands that are very different from anything you might associate with these holidays. Others may see them as uniquely Western or American. Still others may never have heard of these holidays at all. So how can Christians serve refugees during the holiday season? That’s the question that we will be exploring today on the Urban Ministry Podcast. Our guest is John Barnett, executive director of Refuge. If you are interested in sharing the gospel with immigrants and refugees, you will not want to miss this episode.

Today, we want to provide you with a vision for the future of missions in your neighborhood. Love Thy Neighborhood is an urban ministry for young adults that seeks to make an impact for Christ in the areas of homelessness, the sex industry, crisis pregnancy, orphan care, healthcare, neighborhood renewal, and nonprofit leadership. Their goal is to equip and to mobilize the next generation of Christian leaders to work with the poor, the suffering, and the marginalized. Here are some of the questions that we’ll be exploring today: How could your church begin to engage the poor, the suffering, and the marginalized? What might God do in your church, if this became part of your vision for the future? What is the first step that you could take toward gathering young adults to love your neighborhood. With us today is Jesse Eubanks, the founder and executive director of Love Thy Neighborhood. If neighborhood outreach is part of your church’s vision, you won’t want to miss this episode of Urban Ministry Podcast.

One of the most beautiful aspects of urban ministry is its diversity. Ethnic diversity! Racial diversity! Socioeconomic diversity! But this diversity can also be a challenge when it comes to evangelism and discipleship. The gospel and the Word of God are the tools that God uses to transform people’s lives, no matter what their background may be. And yet, the ways that we make these truths understandable change depending on our context. If you have a passion for seeing people’s lives transformed in urban contexts, this episode of the Urban Ministry Podcast is for you. Our guest is Kevin Jones, professor of education at Kentucky State University.

There is in the New Testament a trajectory toward diversity. Jesus begins by calling together a group of Jewish males and then his circle of disciples expands to include women and Samaritans and then the risen Christ commissions his disciples to make disciples of all the nations. Throughout the book of Acts, people from an increasingly diverse range of colors and cultures gather together in local communities of faith in the name of Jesus Christ. And yet, despite this trajectory in Scripture, churches in the United States today are not diverse. According to recent research from LifeWay, 86 percent of pastors say that their churches are not racially diverse at all. So what is it that keeps churches from becoming racially diverse? If that’s a question that matters to you, this episode of the Urban Ministry Podcast is for you. Jamaal Williams, lead pastor of Sojourn Community Church Midtown, is joining us today to answer that question.

Urbanization! It’s happening all around us. In 2010, for the first time in human history, more than half of the people on this planet lived in urban contexts. In the past, many churches have taken a “rescue mission” approach to lower-income urban areas, providing charity for people in need. But there are other ways that believers in Jesus Christ can be present in urban areas! One of these ways is to teach in urban schools. In this episode of the Urban Ministry Podcast, we’ll be talking to Dr. Kevin Jones, chair of the school of education at Kentucky State University. If you’re interested in the development of urban communities, you won’t want to miss this episode of the Urban Ministry Podcast.

If you’re the pastor of an inner-city church, should you live in the same neighborhood as your church? And, if so, what are some of the unique challenges and opportunities of living in the inner city? That’s what we will be exploring today on the Urban Ministry Podcast. If you want to learn more about what it means to serve God in the city, then this episode is for you.

God did not create us as disembodied or decontextualized creatures. He created us as physical beings who live in particular places. And, in the beginning, he called Adam and Eve to cultivate their physical space and to create culture in the context where he had placed them. If you’re called to serve God in the city, how can you learn to love the context where God has placed you? That’s what I’ll discuss today with urban church planter Charles Shannon.

What you do for God beyond your home will never typically be greater than what you practice with God within your home. Whether you’re single or married, with children or without, your family has a profound impact on your ministry. That’s why one of the qualifications that Paul gave for pastors was “to manage his own household well.” So how can you as a pastor or a church planter care for your family well? I have with me today two urban pastors to discuss this topic. If you want to lead your family well as a pastor, you won’t want to miss this episode of the Urban Ministry Podcast.

What you do for God beyond your home will never typically be greater than what you practice with God within your home. Whether you’re single or married, with children or without, your family has a profound impact on your ministry. That’s why one of the qualifications that Paul gave for pastors was “to manage his own household well.” So how can you as a pastor or a church planter care for your family well? I have with me today two urban pastors to discuss this topic. If you want to lead your family well as a pastor, you won’t want to miss this episode of the Urban Ministry Podcast.

Ministry is filled with surprises—but the types of surprises you face in ministry will be different, depending on your context. Paul urged Timothy against “myths and endless genealogies” in Ephesus—but the warning he gave to Titus in Crete was against “empty talkers and deceivers.” This week, our goal is to help you to pay attention to the unique challenges of the context where God has placed you. On today’s episode, I’ll be talking with Charles Shannon about the challenges he’s faced in his first year as an urban church planter. If you’re considering planting a church, pastoring a church, or participating in a church in an urban context, this episode is for you.

The inner city is defined by poverty—literally. The inner city has been defined as a region in a metropolitan area in which 20 percent or more of households live in poverty and where the median household income is 50 percent or less than that of the region as a whole. But how did the inner city become the inner city? In this episode, we’ll discuss this issue with Dr. Kevin Jones, chair of the school of education at Kentucky State University. If you want to understand the inner city, you don’t want to miss this episode.

According to the book of Hebrews, “we do not have a lasting city here; we seek the city that is to come.” And yet, between now and the time when God reveals that lasting city that is to come, we are called to proclaim the gospel in every place, and that includes urban contexts. Today, Dr. Lilly Park talks with Dr. Timothy Paul Jones, director of the Dehoney Center for Urban Ministry Training, about why an urban ministry podcast is needed and why urban ministry matters.

“‘Teacher,’ said John, ‘we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.’ ‘Don’t stop him!’ Jesus replied.” These words from Mark chapter 9 remind us that, whenever we arrive in a particular place to proclaim the gospel, there very well may be others who were there long before we arrived. And so, when planting a church in an urban context, how should we engage the congregations that are already there? That’s the topic that we’ll be exploring today on the Urban Ministry Podcast. Our guest is Jamaal Williams, lead pastor of Sojourn Community Church Midtown.

“‘Teacher,’ said John, ‘we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.’ ‘Don’t stop him!’ Jesus replied.” These words from Mark chapter 9 remind us that, whenever we arrive in a particular place to proclaim the gospel, there very well may be others who were there long before we arrived. And so, when planting a church in an urban context, how should we engage the congregations that are already there? That’s the topic that we’ll be exploring today on the Urban Ministry Podcast. Our guest is Jamaal Williams, lead pastor of Sojourn Community Church Midtown.

In this episode, we’ll be talking to Dr. Kevin Jones, professor of education and chair of the school of education at Kentucky State University.

Raymond Johnson serves as senior pastor at Christ Church West Chester in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and he’s also the author of I See Dead People: The Function of the Resurrection of the Saints in Matthew 27:51–54 (P&R). Christ Church in West Chester has experienced a profound revitalization under Raymond’s leadership. In this episode, Raymond Johnson joins Timothy to share what God has taught him about church revitalization in urban contexts. For more information about Christ Church West Chester, please go to https://www.christchurchwc.org.

More than 68 million individuals are currently displaced due to religious persecution, war, or other violence. Globally, one out of every 110 people is either seeking asylum, displaced within their own country, or a refugee. Many of these individuals seek refuge in cities throughout the United States. But how should Christians respond to refugees? How can we show compassion to them and seek justice for them? And, most importantly, how can we impact their lives with the gospel of Jesus Christ? That’s what we’ll be discussing today on the Urban Ministry Podcast. My guest is John Barnett, a social entrepreneur who has served refugees in Africa, Europe, and North America as well as working to create sustainable economies among the urban poor in Algeria, Uganda, and France. This is an episode that you won’t want to miss!

Suppose God has called you to plant a church in the city. You’re struggling simply to gather a core group. When someone asks you about small groups, you wonder, “Do I really need to think about small groups? Why isn’t it enough to simply have an outstanding Sunday morning worship experience and deal with groups later, after the church is growing?” Today, our guest is Brad House, the author of Community: Taking Your Small Group Off Life Support and the coauthor with Gregg Allison of the book Multichurch. Brad House and Timothy Paul Jones discuss the unique dynamics of small groups in urban contexts.

The gospel that we proclaim as believers in Jesus Christ is an all-sufficient message for salvation--but the compassion of Jesus conveyed to us through the gospel calls us not only to seek the salvation of people’s souls but also to assist them with their physical and emotional needs. In urban contexts, in particular, these needs always seem to be greater than the resources we have available. So how can Christians partner with organizations in their community to provide comprehensive help for their communities without compromising the gospel? That’s the topic that we’ll be talking about today on the Urban Ministry Podcast. Our guest will be Jesse Eubanks, founder and executive director of Love Thy Neighborhood.

Brian Davis serves as a pastor at Risen Christ Fellowship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He completed a church planting internship at Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, North Carolina as well as a pastoral internship at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Brian joins Timothy to discuss the distinct dynamics of planting a church in the inner city. For more information about Risen Christ Fellowship, please go to https://rcfphilly.com.