The wry, witty W.C Fields, once said of Philadelphia, “Last week, I went to Philadelphia, but it was closed.” Not true at least not now!

Four hundred of us converged in this “City of Brotherly Love” as delegates to the Urban Renaissance Conference, three days in early April, to hammer out what it means to be urban Christians in a part of the country where once the Church of the Nazarene secured a foothold, that constantly seems to be slipping in the dense and diverse realities of Eastern Seaboard America.

This was a conference like no other in the denomination. First, it experimented with a joint sponsorship arrangement between church headquarters and regional partnerships including all eight districts on the Eastern zone. Second, its theme was urban, even though there is no specific denominational financing and department solely dedicated to the new demographic realities of urbanization. Third, it brought together probably the most balanced mix of local and national Christian leaders; non-whites and Caucasians; women and men (with the active presence of our only North American woman college president (Dr Corliss McGee), district superintendent (Dr Jossie Owens), keynote speaker (Dr Cheryl Sanders) and premier Compassionate Ministry Director, (Dr JoeAnn Ballard); compassionate ministry participants and church planting types; Nazarenes and non-Nazarenes. Fourth, it merged inspiration, information and practical service.

Inspiration was provided by eclectic worship experiences punctuated by addresses by three extraordinary speakers. Dr Sanders, senior pastor of Third Street Church of God, Washington, DC, and professor of Christia ethics at Howard University, rallied the troops around the theme of “Urban Ministry---The Holiness Message,” outlining Jesus’ ministry of teaching, preaching and healing as the program for doing city ministries. She challenged the delegates to be good stewards of the message, mandate, and manifestation of holiness by ensuring that we continue to live the holiness lifestyle both in and outside the church as salt and light.

Dr Tom Nees, director of USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism department, reminisced over “Urban Ministry---The Nazarene Heritage,” describing how compassionate/urban ministry was a defining characteristic of the church’s early evangelism. Nees lamented that by 1925 the denomination backtracked from aggressive urban evangelism, only to re-engage it 50 years later. Nees wove his own story while in Washington, DC, into that history, concluding with these wise insights for urban servants: love the city; find a niche; learn the culture; develop a plan; attract a group; and prepare for change.

For the closing service, Gustavo Crocker, director for the Eurasia Region, was tasked to address the topic of “Urban Ministry---The Nazarene Hope.” He challenged the assembly to imagine what a city would look like if Jesus served as mayor, comparing it to Isaiah’s vision in chapter 65. Crocker stated that the Christian hope for the city depends on the church’s ability to be passionate, present, and committed to long-term societal need. “When we neglect the city, the church suffers. In other world areas, the church has lost numbers and influence because of its inability to help those in need in urban areas.” Crocker called the church to prayer as a way to sustain enduring and prophetic commitment to urban ministry. He also challenged the Church to open itself to issues of social justice.

“State of the art” information on urban ministry was offered through 18 seminars. It was noted repeatedly that urban ministry is not targeted exclusively to inner cities or ethnic populations, but necessarily must engage all forms of culture and economic realities that are dispersed throughout the city. Partnerships between suburbs and inner city churches are key. Seminars offered ranged from “Decoding the Matrix: Church in the Postmodern City” to “The Future of Urban Evangelism: From Fragmentation to Wholeness” and included a panel discussion, “Emerging Urban Ministries”, composed of the most experienced leaders in the field. A Nazarene Theological Seminary class of seven students opted to spend seven days in Camden, New Jersey at the Romero Center, studying ministries in the area, prior to and while attending the conference.

Practical service was expressed by about 200 participants in the One Heart, Many Hands initiative that preceded the conference, working on tasks at 12 locations throughout Philadelphia, including major clean-up of the new Urban Ministry Center, located about 4 miles from the conference location. Volunteers also donated 30 liters of blood to Children’s Hospital as a practical and symbolic gesture of solidarity with the people of Philadelphia. Special recognition awards were presented to Monroe and JoeAnn Ballard, Neighborhood Christian Centers, of Memphis, Mel and Nora Santiesteban, Home of the Nazarene, of Hialeah, FL, and Max and Kim Rodas, Proyecto Luz, of Cleveland. In presenting the awards Oliver Phillips, director of Mission Strategy USA/Canada reviewed gratefully the decades of service that these individuals had given to their various urban communities.

Perhaps, the group sentiment is best expressed in the words of a young delegate, Karianne Reed.

“I am excited about ‘church’ for the first time in my life. I believe that God had me go to that conference to show me where He wants me to be, and I have never felt so sure of something in my Christian walk as I do, this. The things that were presented at that conference and the spirit that was there are the things for which I am passionate, and it is such a wonderful feeling to have been searching for something you couldn’t name and finally find it - and so unexpectedly! “I don’t understand how something as exciting as what is being done with those involved in the conference is so unknown within the church. How could I have been in the Nazarene Church for over twenty years and never heard anything of it? Isn’t this the stuff of Christ’s ministry? Shouldn’t reaching out to people (and more) be what church as an organization is about? “I will never be content to sit in a pew and just participate in church again, and I thank God that there are people who are willing to dedicate themselves to things like Urban Conferences. I know that the Conference, combined with the One Heart Many Hands projects accomplished innumerable things. But even if it hadn’t, I feel like God is allowing me to see a church that I never knew existed.

W C Fields might have gotten Philadelphia wrong. Elsewhere there is another quotation about another Philadelphia: “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it” (Rev 3:8). The spirit of the Renaissance Conference perhaps shows to all of us not only the open doors of the world’s cities, but the Christ who wishes to escort us in.

by Fletcher L. Tink