CONFERENCE MEDIA · GOSPEL CITY NETWORK
Shaping the Church in the City was an online conference held from January 21-22, 2022.
SHAPING THE CHURCH IN THE CITY
The conference focused on the various aspects of the local church in the context of the city featuring Dr. Linda Bergquist and Dr. Michael Crane, co-authors of City Shaped Churches: Planting Churches in the Global Era.
What was the event about?
The speakers shared how the local church can love the city well.
The sessions will help you learn the importance of:
- Cities
- Urban Contextualisation
- Having a gospel vision for the city
You will also learn:
- How to love the city well
- How to pray for the city
- How churches can partner together to serve the city
Loving the City Well
Michael cited four reasons why churches would want to love and reach cities. To care for the city we need healthy Christ-centred churches throughout the city, offering them Christ.
A City-Centred Church
Andrew shared how his church in the centre of the city does faithful discipleship and ministry to a diverse people from different races, social economical backgrounds and nations using different languages and liturgies.
Why Collaborate in the City
Why the need to collaborate? And what is at stake if churches do not collaborate or if we “truncate” the gospel? Four things that bind people across different ethnicities and social economic backgrounds are highlighted.
Praying for the City
Cities are spiritual battleground in dire need of prayers. Four kinds of prayers are highlighted: 1) Concerted Frontline Prayers 2) Compassionate Prayers 3) Confessional Prayers, and 4) Confident Prayers.
Diversity of the Church
All kinds of models of churches are required for a diverse people in the city. Examples of these models and people coming together because of shared identity, relationships, geography, and ideologies are shared.
Gathering in the City
Christianity is to be experienced in a community that engages the city. To reach new people with the gospel, church planters gather as a core group with shared vision and reconstruct how to do church given the culture and the context.
Authentic Community in the City
How do we build inclusive communities in the church? How does the church bridge social capital and engages the city? The challenges of having only virtual communities post pandemic is also discussed.
Meet the Speakers
Michael Crane
Dr Michael Crane loves cities and the church. Michael has lived in Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and San Francisco.
He serves as faculty of two seminaries and is a co-director of Radius Global Cities Network, an urban research think-tank that assists the church in seeking the welfare of the city.
He serves as a board member for Gospel City Network and is involved in training and equipping church planters through City to City. Michael has contributed to a number of books and articles on topics related to the city.
Linda Bergquist
Linda Bergquist has been involved in church planting for over 40 years among over 20 different ethnolinguistic groups, mostly inn urban areas. She is currently a church planting catalyst with the North American Mission Board and has served as an adjunct professor in several seminaries. She co-authored the books Church Turned Inside Out, The Wholehearted Church Planter, and City Shaped Churches, as well as two e-books and numerous articles.
Guest Speaker
Our guest speaker was raised in a devout Hindu home and later came to Christ. After planting two churches, he worked with Redeemer City to City and helped local leaders plant churches in Urban environments. He was instrumental in initiating a gospel-centered church planting movement in India.
He has also developed a new training paradigm that is being used in Asia and Africa. His passion is for leaders to experience the power of the gospel and apply it to all aspects of their lives. Recently, he started an organization that empowers indigenous leaders multiply disciples and churches in the “10/40 Window”.
Pete Nicholas
Pete Nicholas is an ordained minister and pastor of Inspire which meets at Saint James Clerkenwell. He speaks at churches and universities around the UK and has authored A Place For God: Navigating timeless questions for our modern times, Virtually Human: Flourishing in our digital age and Five things to Pray for our City. He currently helps lead the London Project, a Redeemer City to City church planting network and is a regular blog contributor to Evangelicals Now.
Andrew Cheah
Andrew is the Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral in Kuala Lumpur and has been serving at the church since 2003.
He is also involved with Equip Gospel Ministries and KVBC Trust.
He is married to Judi and they have 2 daughters.