Outreach Resources of the Year
Church
“This veteran minister and budding academic weaves together stories from the inner city with biblical narratives to demonstrate what every church—suburban or rural, small or mega—can do to missionally heal the divisions in society. He covers it all: church planting, gentrification, prosperity gospel, racism, slavery, radicalism and reconciliation. For each problem he suggests practical and biblical steps almost any church can undertake to rethink urban partnerships and begin to repair Americans’ divisions. To understand a culture, you need a guide. And Williams is one of the best I have encountered. If you are not from an urban culture and want to launch a ministry to it, absorb the stories in this book.”
Evaluated by Bob Whitesel, a church coach, consultant, practical theologian, John Wesley scholar, founding professor of a seminary and author of 13 books.
Taking It to the Streets: Lessons From a Life of Urban Ministry
(IVP, 2019)
WHO: Harry Louis Williams II, an ordained minister and author.
HE SAYS: “To walk in the world curious, aware and open to the fact that God, who is alive in our lives and ablaze in the world, has not only commanded us to be salt and light but also seeks to lead us to places where we can be just that.”
THE BIG IDEA: There is an urgent need for Christian ministry in our cities, but we need a clear understanding of the political, social and spiritual realities of urban life to resist apathy and spread the gospel.
THE PROGRESSION:
The author presents the realities of racism, gentrification, violence and more from the perspective of someone who understands these phenomena from the inside.