Urban and Suburban
My suburban Chicago street was a field a decade ago. Deer and coyote sightings remain common.
Still, my suburban existence has urban elements. My community, which bills itself as “the city in the suburbs,” has a casino and its own listing on the Urban Dictionary website. Nearly 44 percent of my city’s 108,000 residents identified themselves as Hispanic in the 2010 census, and English is a second language at some of the businesses I frequent.
The line between urban and suburban is not always as clear as it looks on a map. Big cities and their suburbs (and rural areas) need Free Methodists who heed B.T. Roberts’ 1860 call to “maintain the Bible standard of Christianity, and to preach the Gospel to the poor.”
At General Conference 2011, delegates confirmed “our responsibilities and opportunities to those in the urban United States” while acknowledging “most of the urban areas of the U.S. present significant challenges to the Free Methodist Church.”
This issue of Light & Life Magazine [LLM] explores these challenges and celebrates our urban members and leaders. We salute the Free Methodist Urban Fellowship, the African Heritage Network, the Latin Network (Red Latina), the Olive Branch Mission and other Free Methodists living out their faith among urban and suburban residents.
Downloadable PDF: LLM July 2012
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Features
Table of Contents
[Feature]: Seeing God’s City View
[Bishops]: Why Urban?
[Foundation]: Reaching the City
[History]: Kernels of Wheat in the Cities
[Action]: Serving the City
[News]: Urban Fellowship President Shares Vision
[World]: FM Urban Ministry Goes Global
[Discipleship]: Race and Church
