Excerpted from Allen Thompson’s Coaching Urban Church Planters, coming available soon at redeemer.com

It is important to address concerns that are particular to church planters in urban areas. The intent is to awaken awareness of urban realities affecting ministry and to provide ideas for both the church planting coach and the planter to succeed.

Cities—those large, socially-complex concentrations of people living in close proximity—offer innumerable opportunities for evangelism and church planting. With these opportunities, however, also come challenges. Here I identify specific challenges relating to religious climate, ethnic diversity, enculturation and methodology that otherwise may escape the consciousness of the church planter.   The intent is to awaken awareness of urban realities affecting ministry and to provide grist for the mill of church planter conversations.

Religious Climate: Postmodern Non-Christians Need To Be Integrated
Paul Hiebert, a keen observer of the mission of the church worldwide, pinpoints the unique opportunities for witness in the urban sphere. In contrast to other periods in history, he notes that in the age of globalism we face both secularism and postmodernism. Secularism, a view that denies the existence of God, marginalizes those who continue to hold religious convictions because it relegates religion to the private sphere of personal opinions and feelings. Postmodernity, in contrast, affirms spiritual experience but views it as pragmatic and relative. 

Therefore, the basic religious debate in city culture centers around the uniqueness of Christ and his claim to be the only way to salvation. In dialogue with non-Christians to help them discover and appropriate truth, church planters need to examine their approach carefully. For them the form of gospel communication may be totally uncharted territory, like learning a foreign language. Also, postmodern people may require a different approach to making personal decisions.

Tim Keller has done extensive study on ways to address postmodern non-Christians in both one-on-one and worship contexts; he believes the best context is a mix of Christians and non-Christians together. In a mixed group, when the preacher speaks somewhat more to non-Christians, the Christians present learn how to share the faith. On the other hand, when the preacher speaks more to Christians, the non-Christians present come to see how Christianity “works.” Keller adds that more deeply secular postmodern non-Christians tend to decide on the faith on more pragmatic grounds; they do not examine in a detached intellectual way. Also, they are more likely to make their commitment through a long process of mini-decisions. They will want to try Christianity on, see how it “fits” their problems and how it fleshes out in real life. The process may follow a pattern such as this:

• Awareness. “This is it.” Clearing the ground of stereotypes. Distinguishing the gospel from legalism or liberalism, distinguishing core from peripheral.
• Relevance. “I need it.” Showing the slavery of both religion and irreligion. Showing the transforming power, how the gospel “works”.
• Credibility. “I need it because it’s true.” Reversing the modern view which says “It is true if I need it.” Must see the reasonableness or there will be no endurance to their faith decision.
• Trial. “I see what it would be like.” In group life, in service ministries, they try Christianity on, often talking like Christians or defending it.
• Commitment. “I take it”. Sometimes this is the point of real conversion. This may have happened in the past; or it may happen later on.
• Reinforcement. “Now I get it.” Typically, a period of follow up is the place where the penny drops and the gospel becomes clear.

Social Climate: Ethnic Diversity Requires People Sensitivity
New York City is the only northern industrial city with a sustained net population gain in the last one hundred years. This is primarily the result of attracting new immigrants. While the population grows, it also experiences a large turnover in population which creates change in the social and demographic makeup. Tony Carnes, sociologist at the international research institute on values changes, indicates the following concerns:

• Migration is a catastrophe for newcomers to the city. It disrupts marriages, children and families. Newcomers either accept new customs and habits or reject, synthesize, fall apart or go another path. During the first two years as they are seeking assimilation, immigrants are open to the gospel.
• Newcomers struggle with income and education: 35 percent have incomes below $22,000; 52 percent are ages 18 to 34 but only 17 percent have college degrees; 46 percent are single and 33 percent are single mothers; and 39 percent attend religious services regularly.
• New immigrants include 30 percent Caribbean, 26 percent Asian, 25 percent European, 5 percent African, 4 percent South American, 2 percent Central American and 1 percent Canadian. These new immigrants represent dozens of languages and cultures.
• The Hispanic population is 27 percent of NYC’s residents, which is larger than the African-American population. Most (38 percent) are from Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic (27 percent).

To plant churches in New York City, we must develop great sensitivity to the ethnic groupings mentioned above as well as their social networks. Communities in the city are a patchwork quilt of neighborhoods representing a large mix of people from various nations. Odd as it may seem, since identities are unknown there is a great deal of intimacy among strangers. However, they relate differently depending on their education, occupation, wealth (or lack thereof) and language preference. For example, Hispanics and Asians possess the commonality of entering into a white world. Yet their individual social standing will make them comfortable in some groupings and uncomfortable in others.

Therefore, to be effective in designing the model of church which will reach these communities, church planters need to do extensive demographic and ethnographic studies. Assumptions cannot be made too quickly until people profiles of particular neighborhoods are completed.

Cultural Learning: A Prerequisite for Church Planters in New York City
It is common for missionaries entering a new culture to accept the reality and necessity of learning the language, customs and lifestyles of the people with whom they expect to live. Due to the fact that New York City is in North America and the major language is English, church planters sometimes fail to realize the importance of putting on the “missionary hat” and learning new ways of thinking, acting and relating. This can be a significant mistake.

Paul Hiebert describes the “bicultural bridge” as the quality of interpersonal relationships between human beings—between missionaries [church planters] and the people they serve.

The biculture is a new culture that arises in the interaction of people from two different cultural backgrounds. Church planters coming to New York City from other parts of North America bring with them their own cultural maps; they have ideas of how to dress, what to eat, how and who should raise their children, how to worship properly and many other things. No matter how hard they try, they cannot “go native” in NYC. And though they cannot fully erase their childhood culture, even if they try, they are influenced by the new culture they enter—the culture of New York City.

New Yorkers who interact with the church planter also become part of the biculture, adding their own ideas about child-rearing, family values, worship preferences, etc. In relationship with the church planter, however, they are now exposed to new ideas and beliefs. So to relate to one another productively, the church planter and the New Yorkers must create new patterns of working, playing and worshiping—a new culture, or biculture.

So the first months of the church planter’s life on the new project must be spent in learning the ways of those he seeks to serve and in developing a bicultural community. Questions he m ay be seeking to answer will range from personal habits to ministry values, such as:

• What type of apartment should I live in?
• What types of clothes should be worn?
• Where should the children go to school?
• What values should the new church demonstrate?
• What should be the philosophy of ministry for the new church?

This process of learning culture and the incarnation that results is called “identification,” in cross-cultural lingo. But this process does not deny who we are originally. It is a bi-personal state we choose in order to become one with the people we seek to serve. The months of learning the local culture will be rewarding and will reap benefits for the future church-planting project. Don’t skip this process or attempt to downgrade it; it is not minority-people engagement but urban-culture engagement.

Financial Cost of Ministry in the City.
Based on our understanding of Christ’s incarnation (his “dwelling among us,” John 1:14), we require church planters to live in their ministry’s target area. In all global cities, living in the city is expensive. For example, a small (800 square foot) two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan rents for more than $3,000 a month. Purchasing facilities for worship is unthinkable; renting adequate places for worship (schools, churches, synagogues, theaters, community centers, etc.) is always challenging and costly. Therefore, a church planter and his family may need upwards of $100,000 to $250,000 a year for living and ministry expenses.

Churches and individuals helping to support a church plant in the city need to understand and accept these budgetary challenges. As they begin the support-raising process, church planters should develop a well-prepared Church Plant Proposal document, which includes an executive summary of the vision, a brief demographic profile of the target area, a biographical sketch of the church planter and a summary of proposed budget. Donors will respond to a compelling vision of a ministry that meets the needs of people versus a bland financial presentation.

Limitations of Worship Venues in the City.  The church planter’s action plan may envision a start-up congregation of 75 to 100 with ample room for growth. Finding a corresponding meeting place in the city at the right hour on Sunday becomes a difficult chore. Often, goals and projections need modifications because of venue constraints.  Flexibility and creativity on the part of the church planter (CP) to enhance a poorly designed meeting place is often required. For example, renting a theater on Sunday morning may be feasible but also tricky, in that a dark and windowless site will require additional lighting. Clever use of the large screen, however, could result in a well-lit space.

Use of Inappropriate Models. Church planters are often impressed by what they have seen other planters do in a new situation. The self-talk goes like this: “That’s impressive; it would not be too difficult to duplicate; I can do that.” The rush to borrow methodologies and neglect the learning stage may result in tragic contextual misjudgments.

To develop the appropriate model, the CP should move to the target area as soon as possible, do a walking tour of the area, begin networking in the community, ascertain information in the context of relationships, and then summarize and analyze the data providing implications for the right type of model.

Premature Timing of Public Launch. By “going public,” we mean moving from the informal meetings of small-group Bible studies to the full-blown meetings of a Sunday worship service. The timing of the public launch is critical for any church plant, but for church planters in the city, the importance of right timing is heightened by greater financial constraints and sponsor expectations. This pressure can be intense and disastrous at a critical juncture for the church plant. In addition to gathering the right number of people that creates momentum, the CP must also prepare for the many activities and logistics necessary for setting up a site and welcoming people. This takes time and careful planning with the added pressure of only getting one shot to get it right. People visiting for the first time will make up their minds quickly whether or not to return. Thus, the CP needs to make sure he is ready both physically and spiritually for the public launch.

During this time, the CP will lean heavily on you as coach. Help the CP develop a well-crafted plan for the first 12 months of the project, which identifies how people will be reached, how often they will meet as a emerging core group, etc. Before the public launch takes place, the CP must have a solid core of leaders to assimilate and disciple new believers, as well as several small groups operating with their own leaders. Whatever is planned for the life of the church must be in place from the beginning. With the first 50 or 75 people, attention is focused on gathering, infrastructure and building a sense of momentum. With emerging momentum and a clear vision for the project, the CP is ready to strike with the public launch!

Difficulty of Developing Leaders In High-Turnover Urban Context. Church planters in the urban context face the added challenge of working in a highly fluid environment. The rapid turnover and high attrition rate of city dwellers poses a major challenge to the CP seeking to develop committed leaders in his nascent congregation. Often the core leaders assume the burden of the many tasks required in a new church, and some burn out. New people are not helping out yet, but the work needs to be delegated to others. Following are some ways to involve others:

• Take more risks. When you need something done, give it to somebody new instead of relying on old standbys.
• Learn to recruit. Start compiling a list of workers—bookkeepers, greeters, ushers, social organizers, a setup crew. From these types of jobs you will find those who want to go deeper in their responsibilities.
• Establish apprenticeships. In all areas of leadership training, instill in followers the concept of every leader having an apprentice. In this way, leadership is multiplying and replacements are being trained.
• Develop a leadership training plan for the long term.