Jon Tyson, an Aussie church planter in Manhattan, has just posted on the beautiful Redeemer Church Planting Centre website:
1. The intense, challenging nature of the city causes people to revaluate ultimate things, and a clear, compelling message of the gospel is appealing to the newly spiritually open.
2. Cities can be a lonely place, even though people are surrounded by literally millions of others. When the church shows hospitality, love of neighbor, outreach and concrete acts of hospitality, the lonely can find they have a place in a new kind of family. This new kind of urban family often acts as a real relational force that functions as a family tribe, that gives meaning and coherence to the urban life.
3. People are living more fragmented lives than ever. The beauty of the Christian story is that God is making all things new. Individual hearts, communities, art, business, commerce, entertainment, families, neighborhoods, and even the world. Being able to integrate a career with gospel mission, community with acts of justice, and personal transformation with a balanced view, people get swept into the story that is larger than themselves.
Ultimately we would love to hear, "I simply cannot leave New York, I could never give up the spirituality the city offers me, the deep relationships I have formed in this community, and the holistic vision for city renewal that pulls me into a larger story."
