The first picture was taken recently on my island in Denver. Almost every building that can be seen in the picture is a residential building housing approximately the same number of people as a 250 house subdivision in the suburbs. Yet the square acreage each building occupies would only hold about 20 single family homes in the average suburb. The second picture is of a suburban house in a typical suburban subdivision. Hundreds of these single family homes are commonly built on land that was previously vacant. This reality creates an optical illusion that confuses church planting strategists. Planters drive through a new suburb and see opportunity with every new and existing house. A large subdivision looks like it houses a lot of people and planters are drawn to a lot of people. When they see someone walking down the street in a subdivision they are most likely a resident of that neighborhood. In the Urban O it is often hard to tell at first glance whether a building is residential or office space. The buildings are all tall and big. When you see someone walking down the street in the Urban O, its hard to know for sure if they are a resident or just someone passing through. The bottom line is that urban neighborhoods (islands) are more densely populated and way more complex than their suburban counterparts. Typical suburban planting strategies dont do well in the Urban O. This is why we must work together to discover the way to bring the gospel into the Urban O. We cant do it one at a time and in isolation from each other. Weve already tried that and the result is the Urban O problem. In general the denser the population of people the less dense the presence of the church. This reality cannot be allowed to be the norm. Urban Islands Project is a collaborative organization dedicated to discovering the right strategies for reseeding the church back into the Urban O.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:17:44 +0000
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