Urban Ministry Development Plan for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
January 30, 2007

The Context

“Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you …, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”  ~  Jeremiah 29:6-7

What is “Urban Ministry”?

When we speak of urban ministry, we mean ministry shaped by proximity to metropolitan areas.  “Urban” no longer serves as code for ministry with people of color, immigrants or poor people when increasing numbers of these groups have been pushed further from city centers, while wealthier residents rediscover and reclaim the color and vitality of urban life.

Twenty-first century urban centers feature a wide spectrum of communities and special interests in a geographically concentrated area: government, the arts, technology, business, education, science, medicine and social services. They continue to be marked by high-density living, transitional neighborhoods and greater diversity along lines of class, sexual orientation, race, culture, language, religion and age.  And, a significant proportion of urban residents continue to experience societal pain and systemic oppression.

Urban ministry challenges us to bear witness to the healing, reconciling and loving power of Christ as an answer to both the social and economic disparities and the teeming promise of urban life. The tools and initiatives we develop for urban ministry will help us meet similar, though perhaps less visible, challenges throughout our Diocese, and they will draw brothers and sisters from urban, suburban and rural contexts into common mission.

What is the dream for Urban Ministry in the Diocese of Massachusetts?

Already, the Diocesan Mission Strategy has charted a course for living God’s dream throughout Eastern Massachusetts, with special attention to our region’s urban centers. These questions remain:

How do we most effectively implement Mission Strategy goals, placing initiatives and programs in a wider strategic frame so that we know where we are headed, understand the dynamic relationship among the goals, and identify specific challenges demanding particular attention?

How do we acknowledge privilege and work intentionally to become a thriving church that looks, sounds, and worships like our communities? How do we learn to speak the “languages” of all the people, engaging in partnership and mutually transforming ministry in our neighborhoods?

How do we create and nurture a culture of accountability and mutuality, in which the “diocese” is understood to be all of us in mission, diocesan structures are shaped by and responsive to local voices, and congregations feel supported and able to access the resources available to them, and communities hold each other accountable for how we use our collective resources for the life of God’s mission?

Drawing on the insights of scores of church leaders – including three years of work by the Urban, Ethnic, and Immigrant Strategy Team and the input of more than 125 gifted and engaged leaders who participated in the Urban Ministry Strategy Summit held at St. Paul’s Cathedral on January 13 – we have concluded that a comprehensive strategy that considers these key questions must address three inter-related areas:

1) Urban Clergy and Lay Leadership,

2) Urban Ministry Formation and

3) Partnerships for Ministry.

The Plan

1.         Urban Clergy and Lay Leadership

We must identify, nurture, train and retain priests, deacons and lay leaders who have the skills and calling to serve in culturally, linguistically, socio-economically and racially diverse congregations and ministries.

How can we identify and recruit potential urban clergy and lay ministers?
Continue to support and develop the Urban Residents Program for the newly/recently ordained
Develop a program to recruit and prepare a corps of Urban Missioners: deacons and leaders who will serve part-time as “circuit riders” equipping congregations in specialized, urban ministry contexts
Assist the Commission on Ministry and Officer for Ordained Vocations in developing recruitment and discernment processes that attract and support aspiring priests and deacons for urban ministry
Identify courses of study and language-proficiency programs – and set aside sufficient resources – to prepare postulants, candidates and other leaders with the tools for urban ministry
Aggressively recruit urban-savvy, multilingual clergy throughout the wider church
           
How can we effectively promote and support leaders for urban ministry?
Deploy priests and place deacons with the linguistic and cultural competence for urban leadership
Encourage search committees and vestries to participate in anti-racism/anti-oppression programs so they are better able to select and support leaders from diverse backgrounds
Help to fund sabbaticals, skill-building intensives and language immersion for urban leaders to gain the skill to serve in their ever-evolving contexts
Strategize to appoint and elect diocesan leaders who reflect the diversity of our urban areas
Develop and train a corps of Urban Congregational Consultants – lay leaders and clergy who possess the skills and knowledge required for effective urban ministry, who can be further trained to share best practices and urban congregational development tools
           
How do we care for and retain our urban clergy?
Provide resource and financial support to help urban churches to offer competitive compensation packages
Provide and encourage continued mentoring, peer group gatherings and retreats for urban clergy
Secure long-term commitments by guaranteeing clergy full-time employment for a specific period

2.         Urban Ministry Formation

We must provide resources to equip lay people, clergy and congregations with the knowledge and skills necessary to become effective ambassadors of welcome and transformation in our urban communities.

To do this, we will establish Urban Ministry Formation Centers to gather and share best practices, educational resources and experience-based training with leaders who serve in multicultural, multilingual, socio-economically and generationally diverse settings. These regional, strategically-located, multi-purpose centers would utilize churches, rectories and educational facilities as “urban ministry laboratories.”
What needs would the centers address?
-- Communications, resource- and information-sharing among congregations, diocesan and community leaders, educators and the wider church
-- Urban ministry education, training, mentoring, consulting and capacity- and competence-building
-- Self-care, spiritual renewal and continuing education for lay and ordained urban ministers
-- Laboratories for developing, studying and teaching about innovative models for urban ministry
In what specific ministry areas might the centers offer training, coursework and programming?
-- Community and economic development
-- Leadership development
-- Grant-writing and fund-raising
-- Church finance and business practices
-- Anglican/Episcopal history and polity
-- Interfaith and ecumenical relations
-- Peace and justice advocacy
--Grassroots relational organizing
-- Liturgy and music
-- Language and cultural competency
-- Congregational development strategy
-- Urban pastoral care and counseling
-- Anti-racism and anti-oppression training
-- Urban Clinical Pastoral Education and internships
-- Contextual ministries: Hispanic, Caribbean, Asian, Brazilian, African, youth and young adults, the elderly, poor and working class communities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people

3.         Partnerships for Ministry

We must combine resources and build partnerships for ministry to advance God’s mission in urban areas.

To do this, we will organize Regional Urban Summits to determine how, in each of our urban centers, we might best engage God’s mission, given our collective human, financial and physical resources.

How would these summits be organized?
In a series of facilitated gatherings, congregational, deanery, diocesan and community stakeholders would gather to explore what resources they possess, what challenges face them, and what dream and specific mission they envision in the urban area they serve
These gatherings would incorporate the expertise of community development and congregational development consultants who understand local processes and are committed to working cooperatively with local leaders on ministry and mission in a specific urban area

What would the summits do?
Gather and focus the resources of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts in urban centers to address God’s mission in that place and time
Harness the shared energy and vision of local leaders to create regional redevelopment plans grounded in God’s mission and a sense of abundance of resources and possibilities
Facilitate relationships across lines that historically have divided us, creating ministry opportunities between neighboring congregations, neighborhoods, suburban ministry partners, ecumenical and interfaith partners, and community and civic groups

What would emerge from the regional urban summits?
Plans for Mission-Driven Redevelopment of Church Properties
Collaborative programming, worship and staffing
Identification and creation of strategies around new ministry opportunities, such as
Church Plants in response to demographic realities and local resources
Faith-based community organizations (to be created, joined or reinvigorated)
Community centers, urban pastoral care centers and immigrant resource centers
Affordable housing

The Next Steps

How might we begin to implement this Urban Ministry Development Plan?

Form Urban Ministry Task Groups
Invite the formation of task groups to develop comprehensive and feasible diocesan strategies that address issues in the following areas of urban ministry:
Urban Clergy and Lay Leadership
Urban Ministry Formation
Partnerships for Ministry
The results of the task groups’ work would be presented at Diocesan Convention in 2007 and ultimately reflected in urban ministry initiatives.

Convene an Urban Clergy Caucus
Offer opportunities for clergy who minister in our urban congregations to gather on a regular basis to share their expertise and experiences, address issues of common concern, provide mutual support and plan activities that will promote self care and enhancement of ministry skills.

Establish an Urban Ministry Council
Create a group of clergy and lay leaders that would work with the Staff Officer for Urban Ministry Development and Congregational Development & Support to implement and oversee diocesan urban ministry initiatives 

Encourage Regional and Inter-Congregational Urban Ministry Summits
Convene and facilitate conversations among congregations, diocesan, and community stakeholders leading to increased awareness, cooperative mission-planning and resource sharing

Regardless of your ministry context – urban, suburban or rural – there is a place for your energy, wisdom and vision as the Urban Ministry Development Plan comes to life.
If you would like to join our mission and help to shape the plan’s continuing formation and implementation, please contact The Rev. Gregory Jacobs, Staff Officer for Urban Ministry Development, at 617.482.4826, x404, or gjacobs@diomass.org.