Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2002

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Nancy Jean Vyhmeister

Second Advisor

Werner K. Vyhmeister

Third Advisor

Ricardo Norton

Abstract

The Scriptures are clear about the order to evangelize every nation, tribe, language, and people. However, although the cities are part of these nations, the gospel has not been preached there as it has been in rural areas. This reality led to the study of urban evangelism and the preparation of a workshop for lay leaders in urban churches. The Bible presents several cases of urban evangelism, in both Testaments. In the Old Testament God showed his interest in the inhabitants of Niniveh, a pagan nation. In the New Testament, Paul evangelizes the important cities of the first century. Ellen White frequently wrote of the need to evangelize the cities. She did not present it as an option but as an imperative. For her, the evangelization of the cities should take place with the joint participation of pastors and lay workers.

Evangelical literature on urban evangelism indicates that to do this task pastors and church members must be especially prepared. It also emphasizes that cities, because of their enormous growth, must be considered mission fields par excellence. Thus, mission frontiers have come close to the church. No longer do missionaries have far to go to find people to bring to Christ. Cities present multiple opportunities for evangelism. They are made up of different groups of people, each with its own needs. This means that different methods of evangelism must be used: some old, others new. Because of the increased use of technology in cities, technology must be considered in the selection of ways to preach to the multitudes that live in the cities. Sociological literature on the cities shows that cities do have problems: isolation, crime, loneliness. However, the city lifestyle, with its independence and openness to change, can facilitate evangelism.

On the basis of the research, a weekend seminar was prepared to prepare lay leaders of urban churches to do city evangelism. The seminar consists of five sessions that show the foundations of urban evangelism, the challenges and opportunities of urban evangelism, the message that must be given to the city, how to reach the city in an effective manner, and how to evangelize different groups in the city.

Subject Area

Seventh-day Adventists--Mexico; Laity--Seventh-day Adventists--Mexico

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/585

Download

Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS