URBAN MINISTRY RESOURCE CENTER
	Mission Strategy USA/Canada "There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo

With the increasing stock of church buildings vacated by urban plight, Mission Strategy encourages district leaders to transition these edifices into Urban Ministry Resource Centers. 

These buildings would be transformed into centers of comprehensive missional opportunities for the training of urban leaders and the implementation of strategies and programs for urban evangelism.

We understand an urban center as a geographical area characterized by a high population density and a multiplicity of interconnected social systems. Therefore, the UMRC mission includes, but is not limited to, inner-cities, slums, minority ethnic groups, and the poor and oppressed.

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The Urban Ministry Resource Center seeks to empower and train those who help those in need through:
· Connecting people to Christ,
· Connecting people to the community, and
· Connecting people to their calling.

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A UMRC may choose to create its own 501(c) 3, with a board of directors and could be resourced by funding from a partnership of interested congregations, districts, foundations and state entities. This opportunity could be the catalyst for a NewStart congregation as well as the conduit for urban community organization and development.

In order to serve the urban centers most effectively, the UMRC is committed to developing and pursuing five levels of ministry:
1. Worship
The UMRC is a place of worship where people can be connected to a power of transformation beyond themselves. Believing that congregational life and social responsibility are interdependent, the congregation will exemplify that ministering and serving are the normal expression of Christian living.

2. Charity
The UMRC provides on-site assistance with basic life necessities. Initial services include soup kitchen, food pantry, clothing ministry, lunch, restrooms, transitional housing, telephone for outgoing local calls, showers, washer and dryer and a mail drop. Referrals to other agencies and direct assistance will be offered as appropriate. 

3. Service (Family Life Center)
The FLC shall develop a continuum of holistic caring ministries that improves the quality of life for individuals and families. These shall include adult education, family life classes, counseling, healthcare, job training, employment referral, immigration services, and teen activity.

4. Justice
The UMRC is a faith-based entity which serves as a bedrock for renewal and redevelopment in the community based on these principles:
· The Judeo-Christian prophetic call for justice.
· The cooperative self-help economics of the urban culture.
· The liberation of human spirit, mind, and body from oppression.
From this commitment comes a sense of calling to engage in the systematic struggles of Christian community development which includes affordable housing, quality education, economic opportunity, and a safe and secure community.

5. Training
The UMRC is a training center that prepares individuals for urban ministry both clergy and laity:
· By guiding immigrant pastors called to ministry to complete the Church of the Nazarene's Course of Study for Ministers.
· By preparing individuals who are committed to ministering to urban areas for Christian leadership.
· By equipping individuals for urban and cross-cultural ministry with the appropriate skills necessary to effectively impact the urban environment.
· By assisting mid-career ministers already involved in the urban setting in developing new ministry skills while continuing their ministry.
· By assessing and deploying church planters for urban centers.

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1. To identify needs of the community and start ministries or programs to meet those needs.
2. To provide on-site assistance with basic life's necessities.
3. To partner with existing ministries or human-service agencies that are already accomplishing a shared mission in the community.
4. To encourage the movement toward self-sufficiency.
5. To involve volunteers from the community in "hands on" work with those in need.
6. To work with other organizations to sponsor and promote community events, such as forums, on the causes of poverty.
7. To serve as a field site for urban planners, churches, social service providers and others to examine the problems and proposals for making modern urban living viable.
8. To provide support for the poor and homeless through information and referral.
9. To provide education seminars and personal development workshops in the areas of human diversity, racism, reconciliation and relationship issues.
10. To provide congregations with practical information about their community, including demographic and sociological analysis.

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· Clearly defined human needs together with a well-prepared action plan can attract significant funding from surprising sources.
· Creating funding sources beyond congregational giving is necessary for implementing long-term and lasting redevelopment.
· A congregation is more likely to give generously when it can see the results of giving in human needs being met and people being served in the local community.
· The faith of Christians and the strength of all the church probably are at their best when challenged by the pain, struggles, and sufferings of the wider community.
· The redevelopment of a congregation must take seriously the redevelopment of the community in which it is located if there is to be permanent change.
· Being an active participant in the physical and spiritual well-being of the surrounding community is a significant witness to the Incarnation of Christ.

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URBAN MINISTRY RESOURCE CENTER
(Ministry Schematic)

URBAN MINISTRY RESOURCE CENTER
(Biblical Model Comparison)

Church in the inner City.
While there is no uniform way that churches in the inner city can engage community, they can be key actors in the process of holistic change. Congregations can offer institutional structures, practices, and narratives that assist individuals
Church as Healing Community
Church as Healer of Community
Church as Organizer for Just Community

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