City Core Initiative _____________ A Heart for the City

To infuse the city core with the gospel of Jesus Christ requires that there must first be a radical departure from typical city church ministry, i.e., ministry as usual. This departure is away from a mindset of church building toward one of community building – community transformation begins with transformational congregations. This departure also embraces the need for new transforming expressions of church starting. It builds on the biblical premise that God loves the city and that He scattered His churches throughout the cities of the world to manifest His incarnation and coming kingdom. It accepts that Jesus Christ came to redeem both human beings and human systems from the fallen-ness of sin to the abundance of life in God.

Community transformation embraces a functional knowledge of demographics, lifestyles, economic enterprise, cultural markers, social capital, and congregational strength present and emerging in city core communities.

Some core principles are:

• Change begins with new knowledge that engages the heart
• Transformational and multicultural collaboration is essential to success
• Church clusters that focus on the same geography generate synergistic potential for change
• Improved quality of life is the best social and economic measures of success
• Tides-of-worship is the best spiritual measure of success
• Economic enterprise and mutually enhancing relationships are the matrix for progress
• Community renewal focuses first on the capacities and assets within a community
• Churches must focus on such things as; the good of the city, social justice, economic equity, wealth generation, kingdom prayer, spiritual warfare, and prophetic worship
  
• The environment and relationships necessary to sustainable transformation presupposes a catalytic and synergistic dynamic

Larry James' Urban Daily

UK Baptists Lead March on global Poverty at G8 Meeting

Great idea. I look forward to participating in the blog.

A Heart for the City... Jeremiah 29:7

City Core Initiative
Tommy Goode
Baptist General Convention of Texas
333 N Washington
Dallas TX 72546-1798
O 214.828.5242
M 214.478.4714
citycoreinitiative@bgct.org
www.citycoreinitiative.com
www.blogspot.citycoreinitiative.com

OUR PASSION is to follow the heart of God to the heart of the city.

OUR PURPOSE is to create the environment and relationships necessary to equip, empower, and engage Christian mission and ministry in the city cores that is characteristically incarnational and transformational.

WE WILL pray for kingdom power, pursue kingdom values, partner for kingdom goals.

CITY CORE INITIATIVE is not another program; it is a movement dedicated to reclaim the city core for the kingdom of God. We are networking the Body of Christ to join hearts and resources for one unified sustained effort to bring about holistic transformation in persons, churches, communities, and culture in every city core!

CCI PRINCIPLES
Collaborative - Cross Denominational - Culturally Relevant - Entrepreneurial - Highly Effective - Incarnational - Innovative - Multicultural - Overtly Christian - Relational - Reproducible -
Sustainable - Transformational

CCI IS ABOUT… Following the heart of God to the heart of the city - Focusing the Christian church toward the core of the city - Kingdom growth through holistic community transformation - Building bridges between the Church and society - Being the presence of Christ - Multicultural missions - Compassionate ministry - Prophetic proclamation - Responding to change - Economic empowerment

MONDAY MORNING
April 12, 2004


6When the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, are you going to free Israel now and restore our kingdom?”
7“The Father sets those dates,” he replied, “and they are not for you to know. 8But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9It was not long after he said this that he was taken up into the sky while they were watching, and he disappeared into a cloud. 10As they were straining their eyes to see him, two white-robed men suddenly stood there among them. 11They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has been taken away from you into heaven. And someday, just as you saw him go, he will return!”
Acts 1:6-11 (NLT)

Community Transformation
The Coming of The Spirit is The Confirmation of The Resurrection – The Affirmation of Our Faith in The Resurrected One. To infuse the city core with the gospel of Jesus Christ requires that there must first be a radical departure from typical city church ministry, i.e., ministry as usual. This departure is away from a mindset of church building toward one of community building – community transformation begins with transformational congregations. This departure also embraces the need for new transforming expressions of church starting. It builds on the biblical premise that God loves the city and that He scattered His churches throughout the cities of the world to manifest His Incarnation and Coming Kingdom. It is behavior based on belief that Jesus came, prophesied, died, arose, and ascended to redeem human beings and human systems from the fallen-ness of sin to the abundance of life in God.

Best Practice
Rise Above, a worship community in San Antonio whose pastor is Skip Brooks, practices a self-described “punk-music” worship style. This church is built around bold music, bold worship, bold prayer, bold lifestyle, and bold witness. Sometimes thought of as “outcasts” in the normative culture, Rise Above and similar churches are forming a growing global network of ministries penetrating the veil of unbelieving peoples through the artistry of music that talks-up Jesus.

Praise and Prayer
Pray for Rise Above and other new church starts in the urban cores that embody incarnational, prophetic worship

Pray for upcoming decisions and meetings that will set the course for City Core Initiative strategies in the focus cities: Abilene, Dallas, San Antonio, and Tyler

Pray for strategic leadership decisions for the future of City Core Initiative

Give thanks - I celebrate my one-year anniversary this month with BGCT and City Core Initiative

Our family celebrated togetherness and birthdays this week – all are blessings – some are present only in our hearts and memories

Blessings,
Tommy

MONDAY MORNING
March 22, 2004

UP-DATE: CITY CORE INITIATIVE

The Week Ahead
MONDAY Dallas, in office
Bryan Houser and Dennis Hochgraber, Shiloh Terrace Baptist
TUESDAY Dallas, in office
Rick Davis, BGCT Strategic Evangelism Center
True Believers Baptist Church, African-American Pastors’ Fellowship
WEDNESDAY Waco, Community Leaders Lunch
Gaynor Yancey and Kelly Atkinson, Baylor University
THURSDAY Dallas, in office
Eddie Sanchez, Ross Avenue Baptist
Diana Luck, Episcopal Diocese of Dallas
FRIDAY Dallas, in office

Praise and Prayer
This one thing WE CAN DO is to pray for our cities... in groups of ones, twos, tens, hundreds, thousands... will you be the one to launch or lead this in your home, your church, your community, your city? If so, PLEASE REPLY AND SAY SO to me at the return address.
THERE ARE ALREADY CITY REACHING PRAYER MOVEMENTS IN MANY OF OUR CITIES, HOWEVER, THERE IS NOT YET A CITY CORE PRAYER MOVEMENT PRAYING “GOD’S WILL BE DONE, GOD’S KINGDOM COME – RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!” Please contact me if you need information on how to get involved in prayer for the city core.
Pray for a heart for the city.
Give thanks for the progress in City Core Initiative in all four Texas focus cities: Abilene, Dallas, San Antonio and Tyler
Give thanks for the development of resources that serve the special interests of Christian ministries
Give thanks for the many Kingdom connections that are made every week for City Core Initiative

This week, I am bringing you up to date on some of the strategic happenings in my ministry through City Core Initiative and inviting you to make these a matter of personal prayer and involvement.

City Core Initiative processes are in place in each of these Texas cities: Abilene, Dallas, San Antonio, and Tyler. However, there is still much to do to develop greater local leadership and ownership.

We are still building a network of relationships for each of the cities, among mainline evangelical denominations, among the many cultural groups, among Christian institutions, among city leaders, and especially among Texas Baptists

We are launching a plan for a Summit on Economic Development and the Church for the fall of 2005. There will be a group of experts in the field of economics and business who will be leading this endeavor.

We have commissioned a project with Baylor University School of Social Work to develop a new research instrument and process to help city core churches better interpret and analyze their communities.

We have a working partnership with Baptist Associaitons in each of the focus cities to do research and to network transdenominationally the Christian community for City Core Initiative.

We are currently pursuing conversations with Assemblies of God, Episcopal, and United Methodist denominational leaders to formalize their participation in City Core Initiative. And, we are actively seeking this level of conversation with other mainline Christian denominations.

We are launching a transdenominational pilot research project in Dallas.

We are assisting in the development and/or walking along side several emerging models of community transformation as part of the City Core Initiative research project. These models are directed at holistic community transformation which effectiveness is measured by the improvement of “quality of life” factors.

We are exploring ways to bring economic enterprise and faith-based capital investment back to the city core. We are asking questions as to the role of the Church for both wealth distribution and wealth creation.

We are attempting to develop a better understanding of the whole of the city core, i.e., all sectors, all social and economic classes, all cultures, all macro systems, and asking the “so what” questions from the perspective of Christian mission and ministry.

We are seeking solutions to the problems of sustainability and relevance for church life in the city core. We are concerned about the decline in strength and viability of urban congregations. We are concerned for the development of new church starting among the unchurched population.

We are exploring the idea of creating an urban training center that concentrates on connecting, equipping and calling persons to minister to and within the city core through short-term praxis oriented learning experiences.

We are identifying streams of funding and organizational alliances to resource city core mission and ministry. We are attempting to learn from philanthropic projects that are focused on city core solutions.

We are attempting to build and identity and contributing role for City Core Initiative as a local city initiative and as a city reaching movement. The following statements are an attempt to express this vision:
CITY CORE INITIATIVE is not another program; it is a movement dedicated to reclaim the city core for the kingdom of God. We are networking the Body of Christ to join hearts and resources for one unified sustained effort to bring about holistic transformation, one person, one church, one block, one neighborhood, one city core at a time!
OUR PASSION to follow the heart of God to the heart of the city
OUR MISSION to create the environment and relationships necessary to equip - empower - engage transformational, sustainable, reproducible, highly effective, transdenominational, multicultural Christian mission and ministry in the city core
WE CAN 1) unite in kingdom prayer 2) pursue collaboration 3) partner for success

My personal conviction is that we must succeed. For, in much of the city core, we have already lost a relevant and believable witness to Christ. We must conserve what God already has in place, and we must find new building blocks to make His kingdom more of a reality for the whole city. It is shortsighted to think this is just a spiritual matter, neglecting to address issues of government, economics, family, safety, as so forth. I have pledged my life to this task and calling. I thank the Father that there appears to be a growing army of like-minded believers who have a heart for the city.

Finally, it is to the credit of the Baptist General Convention of Texas that launched the City Core Initiative and continues as the sole financial sponsor. I am eager for the day when this will be a company of the many.


Blessings,
Tommy

A Heart for the City... Jeremiah 29:7

City Core Initiative
Tommy Goode
Baptist General Convention of Texas
333 N Washington
Dallas TX 75246-1798
O 214.828.5242
M 214.478.4714
citycoreinitiative@bgct.org
www.citycoreinitiative.com
www.blogspot.citycoreinitiative.com

MONDAY MORNING
January 26, 2004

Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Matt. 9:35-38 (HCSB)


Community Transformation
All across Texas, urban core churches are grappling with issues of maintenance, ministry, and mission. For sure, there are no quick fixes. There are no easy solutions. However, one key principle may be found in our selected Bible text, “He felt compassion for them...” This key is to “care about people.” Churches that focus on the harvest tend toward being compassionate, caring churches. Obviously, in itself, this does not solve all of the institutional issues facing city core churches, but there is great strength that comes from doing what Jesus did. This kind of compassion is best developed through human interaction, not as an abstract idea. It is at the heart of incarnational ministry. Compassion ministries must involve more and more members if the focus of the church is to change from inward to outward. Compassion-driven churches have a heart for the Harvest.

Best Practice
Excerpt of an email from Chris Simmons:
Got Rehab Skills? Wanta learn some? Volunteers needed to remodel Grand Avenue Ministry Center. Need willing workers, electrical, carpentry, plumbing, sheetrock, mechanical, clean up--even helpers to pull out nails! Grand Avenue will provide more Cornerstone Care Ministry for South Dallas community. Current Care Center on Ervay is maxxed out!
MEET: Saturdays 8-12 a.m. at Cornerstone Care Center 2711 S. Ervay, Dallas 75215 (Weekday volunteers needed too.) GROUPS WELCOME!!!
BRING: Yourself and tools, if you have them.
SIGN UP: Contact Chris Simmons chris@cornerstoneministrydallas.org (214) 426-5468

MONDAY MORNING
January 19, 2004

35Jesus traveled through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went, he healed people of every sort of disease and illness. 36He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. 37He said to his disciples, “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. 38So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields.” Matt. 9:35-38 (NLT)

Community Transformation
The pastor said, “I’ve been at my church for 14 years. I have always pastored large city churches that have grown. However, this is the first time that my church has declined every year. A couple of the churches our church help start over the years are located out on the bypass and they are really growing. Our church made a commitment to stay downtown, but we cannot attract new people.”

This story can be echoed a thousand times over by pastors of downtown metropolitan traditional churches that have consciously chosen to remain downtown when other churches were choosing to relocate to the bypass or suburbs.
Are these pastors and staff less capable?
Are these churches less spiritual?
Did these churches make a mistake in judgment?
Is it fair that others grow and they don’t?
Is it just not possible to have a growing downtown church?
Is this the price of faithfulness?
Did Jesus have this type situation in mind when he said the laborers are few?

All across Texas, downtown churches are grappling with issues of maintenance and ministry. Pastors, missionologists, and church growth consultants, alike, are scratching their heads over what to do. Books have been written. Consulting firms have been developed. Conferences have been conducted. Yet, over and again, the only solution for the vast majority of downtown churches seems to be relocate or decline.

These churches are often stuck with facilities that accommodated more than twice the number that now attend. The cost of doing church has robbed the budget of money for missions and ministry. Pastors begin to evaluate themselves poorly. And, there is a general melancholy that settles over the church like a heavy dew. It’s like an aging person who can only find joy in their memories.

For sure, there are no quick fixes. There are no easy solutions. But, one key to recovery may be found in our selected Bible text from the Gospel of John… Do you think the work of harvesting will not begin until the summer ends four months from now? Look around you! Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready now for the harvest. John 4:35 (NLT) This key is to “focus on the harvest.” Churches that focus on the harvest tend toward becoming healthy growing churches. Obviously, in itself, this does not solve all of the institutional issues facing downtown churches, but at least this focus should divert negative thinking and give occasion for a fresh sense of purpose. Focusing on the harvest must permeate all aspects of church life to have the desired renewal effect.

Next week I will look at another key to be drawn from this text for downtown churches.

Best Practice
Read the book, Sidewalks of the Kingdom, by Eric O. Jacobsen, published by Brazos Press, 2003. The author writes from his experience as pastor of an urban downtown church. He says in the introduction, “We have been abandoning our strategic locations within city cores and traditional neighborhoods, and we have tried to create for ourselves a new kind of society in the form of suburban megachurches. And as individual Christians, we have marched right along with the rest of our culture and moved our homes outside of the urban core into the sanitized world of the suburbs… But, some Christians and some churches have hung in there and are continuing to be a part of the urban fabric in historic cities and traditional neighborhoods.”

City Core Initiative
Resolution on Texas City Cores

WHEREAS Texas cities are increasingly secular, pluralistic, and multicultural, and

WHEREAS Texas cities are in demographic and economic transition, and

WHEREAS the city core is home to an emerging multicultural mix of the undocumented immigrant, the artistic, and the eclectic postmodern, and

WHEREAS the city core is home to those who are poor, unemployed, and powerless, and

WHEREAS the city core is home to those who are affluent, powerful, successful, and driven, and

WHEREAS many city core communities are identified by problems of poverty, crime, and violence, and

WHEREAS the city core is the hub of government, business, commerce, banking, and communications, and

WHEREAS the city core is a growing mission field, and

WHEREAS the city core is being populated by non-Christian religions, and

WHEREAS many churches of all Christian denominations have left the city core, and

WHEREAS many churches remaining in the city core are statistically plateaued and have limited resources for ministry, and

WHEREAS our Lord Jesus Christ wept over the city of Jerusalem, and scattered His churches to bring the good news of the gospel to the cities of the world, and

WHEREAS we are still called to be salt and light to our culture,

Be it therefore RESOLVED that we make a fresh commitment to the city core for spiritual renewal and community transformation through prayer, evangelism, innovative missional strategies, compassionate ministries, social entrepreneurship, and missions partnerships; and

Be it further RESOLVED that we encourage churches in the city core to seek alliances and networks among other churches with which to share fellowship, resources, and strategic methods to jointly engage their communities for Christ; and

Be it finally RESOLVED that City Core Initiative seeks the cooperation of Christians and their institutions in community transformation processes and strategies through dialogue, collaboration and partnership.

City Core Initiative 1/2004

It is really awesome to sense that you are right in the middle of something that is the result of years of prayer and preparation. And, this is precisely how I feel about City Core Initiative. Working with City Core Initiative is a contemporary experience in living out Matthew 6:10.

9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10 (KJV)

This is truly inspiring for everyone connected to the project. It has a sense about it that we are involved in something bigger than ourselves and beyond our resourcefulness. It seems that I am daily being stretched both personally and professionally by this undertaking. It is not just another project for those involved. It is hugely a team effort potentially of massive proportions. It calls for cooperation, collaboration, participation, stewardship, and visioning that cross individual, cultural, organizational, congregational, and institutional boundaries. In a few words, I believe City Core Initiative is about bringing God’s kingdom purpose and will to the city - right here right now!

We launched CCI from the perspective of inadequacy of the status quo. Dr. E. B. Brooks observes that over his 20 years of ministry in the city of Dallas he has seen churches disband and/or leave the city core resulting in a spiritual vacuum while the city core itself has become more secular, more diverse, more complex, and more spiritually lost. If this is true in Dallas, the city that has been referred to as the “buckle of the Bible belt,” then it is even truer in other North American cities. Dallas, however, holds the distinction of being the incubator city for great churches, preaching, and parachurch organizations. It seems appropriate that the vision for City Core Initiative would emerge from here as well. However, as Dr. Jerry Rankin, President of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, says, “We cannot go into the future God envisions with what we learned in the past. We must have new learnings in order to find pathways to the future.” An even older, more ancient admonition is found in the Old Testament Bible: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV).

To illustrate: Physical and economic changes are easily seen, as are ethnic and racial differences. Cultural differences are often less obvious and more complex. Today’s missional understanding of the city requires defining the many ethno/linguistic cultural segmentations and shaping ministry around them in their heart language.

All of this is to say how incredibly blessed I am to be here doing this. I am clear about this: Through all that has preceded, God has shaped circumstances, people and opportunity to call us toward a fresh understanding and vision for the city core.

These several months later into the project, I feel even stronger that the need exists and that the timing is right for pursuing the vision and objectives of CCI. During these first steps we are learning, gathering research data, forming strategic networks, and contributing to the development of emerging strategies and projects. These steps are moving us in the right direction for more effective ministries and holistic community transformation. There are surely greater challenges ahead for us in 2004. It will be necessary for us to continue building on the progress made. It is crucial that we continue looking to our Heavenly Father, the source of our spiritual strength and guidance. It is essential that we continue looking to one another for support and partnership.

Now I want to turn our heads and hearts toward the next steps for City Core Initiative. These are:
1. expand and complete research (by Spring 2005)
2. monitor existing projects and develop new projects (ongoing)
3. recruit additional organizational and institutional partners (ongoing)
4. increase numbers of prayer partners (ongoing)
5. web publish research and news information (ongoing)
6. incorporate CCI (immediately)
7. launch fundraising campaign (immediately)
8. develop and resource entrepreneurial missions strategies (a.s.a.p.)

Our level of involvement and response will depend on professional role and/or personal relationship, calling, availability, and resources. Any and all our responses should be preceded by time spent in prayer. Like Jesus said of discipleship, “take up your cross daily and follow me,” participation in City Core Initiative involves choices and devotion for both persons and organizations. I am very grateful for the early positive responses and commitments to partnership. And, perhaps it goes without saying that to achieve the objectives of City Core Initiative it will require a concert of effort from us all.

Starting with Abilene, Dallas, San Antonio, and Tyler, we will seek to formulate foundations of thought and mission action that will turn the heart of the church more strategically toward the heart of the city.

Blessings,
Tommy
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done… Mt 6:10

www.citycoreinitiative.com

www.citycoreinitiative.com


http://www.augsburgfortress.org/ website for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ELCA has a ten-year outreach project called, “In the City for Good.” There is an Urban Resource Kit and a video narrated by Rick Steves, NPR travel series host. In the City for Good is the kind of church-based long-view of missions and ministry that is transformational.


35Jesus traveled through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went, he healed people of every sort of disease and illness. 36He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. 37He said to his disciples, “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. 38So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields.” Matt. 9 (NLT)

CCI RESEARCH PROCESS (8-8-03)

City Core Initiative is in its research phase of formation, with the ultimate goal of impacting city cores for total community transformation. We are currently building a knowledge base to:
Understand the major issues of the city core
Discover what programs, resources and “best practices” already exist
Strengthen and build upon the existing resources and networks
Locate areas of need that are neglected
The research of these areas will be compiled into resources for churches and organizations to utilize in forming strategies for their city.

Study of City Cores
Abilene
Dallas
San Antonio

#1 demographic profile
population density
population distribution
population groupings
age
education
economic
lifestyle
tribe/generation
ethnicity
religious identification
#2 churches & ministries present
#3 networks present
#4 identify the systems issues
#5 what needs are being met
#6 what needs are not being met
#7 what are the spiritual warfare issues

Collaborate
#1 Seek input and advice
CCI Team made up of Baptist Building staff, association staff, and church ministers
Involvement and input by participating Baptist associations
City core church pastors
Various affinity and listening groups
Academics and educators
Other denominations
City officials
Community Organization leaders

Enlist Baptist associations in focus cities to partner with us to do the CCI project in their respective cities
The associations are being asked to help in the following ways:
Help collect and analyze research data (this may include community needs assessments and other surveys)
Facilitate contact with other networks, churches across denominational lines, and community leaders
Facilitate listening sessions among selected groups
Developing new City Core Initiative community transformation model(s)
This would be an informal partnership for the duration of the 2 year project;
Does not involve formal covenants and/or funding agreements since the nature of the City Core Initiative is research, not strategy
Church Missions and Evangelism Section is funding City Core Initiative

Customize & Communicate
#1 categorize and define research information
#2 develop guidelines for achieving community transformation
#3 develop new community transformation models
#4 index effective models and best practices
#5 publish results
#6 recommend congregational and denominational strategies

Hoped-for Outcomes
Better understanding of the galaxy of issues relative to the city core from a Christian ministry perspective
Greater awareness of what is already being done across denominations
One or more models of ministry that focus on community transformation
Identified processes for churches and Christian organizations that will help them be more effective and strategic in reaching and transforming their city cores for the gospel
Published results

Join with us in prayer for a movement of God in Texas City Cores
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done

Contact the City Core Initiative Office
Tommy Goode
Baptist General Convention of Texas
333 N. Washington
Dallas, TX 75246
(214) 828-5242
tommy.goode@bgct.org
www.citycoreinitiative.com

2 Corinthians 5 (NLT)
17What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! 18All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him.

Here are some books that are especially relevant to City Core Initiative

City of God, City of Satan by Robert Linthicum
Tranforming Power by Robert Linthicum (to be released in September)
Sidewalks in the Kingdom by Eric Jacobsen
The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball
A Theology as Big as the City by Ray Bakke
Envisioning the New City by Eleanor Scott Meyers editor

Websites
Ray Bakke CityVoices.com
Robert Linthicum p-u-t.org

Video
"In the City for Good" by Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 800-638-3522 ext 2647
"In the City for Good" resource notebook

Exciting things area afoot! I am happy to serve any way that is helpful, particularly as it relates the growing presence of emerging culture in our city cores. So many churches are in decline in the city cores ofourmajor cities and new wineskins and alliances must be developed. I love the community transformation dynamic to all of this as well.

Blessings,
John Berryhill

The DBA is excited about partnering to reach our "city core." It has been a priority for the association, as well as my personal calling for years.

Scott Coleman
Dallas Baptist Association