Urban Expression

Jag har varit ett par dagar i Skåne och mött Urban Expression. Urban Expression är en brittisk organisation som planterar nya församlingar i fattiga och utsatta storstadsområden. Vi var en liten grupp svenskar från olika sammanhang som träffade Stuart Murray och Juliet Kilpin från England. Det var mycket inspirerande och gav mersmak. Jag hoppas något likande kan växa fram i Sverige. Vi behöver det!

Det var roligt att få träffa Stuart Murray. Jag har läst många av hans böcker och hört mycket positivt om honom, så det var med en viss förväntan jag åkte till Malmö. Stuart Murray förenar intresset för anabaptism med en skarp analys av församlingens situation och utmaning i vår tid. Dessutom har han en passion för storstadsmission och församlingsplantering. Det tangerar mina intresseområden ganska väl. Han har skrivit flera böcker inom dessa områden. Jag rekommenderar dem varmt!

Juliet Kilpin var också en trevlig bekantskap. Hon och hennes man var med i Urban Expressions första team, som startade i East London för tolv år sedan. Nu jobbar hon med att rekrytera, träna och stötta team som arbetar i olika storstäder. Berättelsen om hur arbetet växte fram finns i häftet Church Planting in the Inner City: The Urban Expression Story.

Men nu handlade samtalet i Malmö alltså mest om församlingsplantering. Urban Expressions Mission Statement är formulerat så här:

Urban Expression is an urban mission agency that recruits, equips, deploys and networks self-financing teams pioneering creative and relevant expressions of the Christian church in under-churched areas of the inner city.

Med "inner city" menas de fattiga multietniska stadskärnorna i de engelska storstäderna. Översatt till svenska förhållanden blir det bland annat de utsatta höghusförorterna som finns runt våra storstäder.

Urban Expression är baserad på 21 värderingar under tre rubriker. Jag tror att det behövs mer av dessa värderingar i Sverige. Jag tror att vi behöver få se mer av Guds rike ibland dem som lever i marginalen i Sverige. Jesus sträcker sig mot dem som är minst nådda med evangeliet och mest marginaliserade i samhället. Därför sänder han oss dit! Därför tror jag att vi behöver mer av Urban Expressions värderingar även i Sverige. Vad tror du?

Urban Expressions värderingar

Relationship

We believe that, in Jesus, God is revealed locally, and that we should be committed to our local community or relational network and active members of it.

We believe that the gospel works through relationships and that serving God consists largely in building life-giving relationships with others.

We recognise that Christian faith is a journey and we are committed to helping people move forward, wherever they are at present.

We focus on under-churched areas and neglected people, trying to find ways of communicating Jesus appropriately to those most frequently marginalised, condemned and abused by society.

We challenge the trend of some Christians moving out of the cities and encourage Christians to relocate to the inner cities.

We believe in doing things with and not just for communities, sharing our lives with others and learning from others who share their lives with us.

We see teamwork, networking and mutual accountability as vital, recognising that individuals and churches need each other.

Creativity

We recognise the importance of taking risks and the demands of mission in the inner city, and we believe that it is acceptable to fail.

We value courage, creativity and diversity as we try to discover relevant ways of being church in different contexts.

We believe that questions and theological reflection are important as we learn together and so discern the way forward.

We aim to be catalysts, encouraging and releasing creativity in both church and community as we seek and share God in the inner city.

We believe in discouraging dependency and developing indigenous leadership within maturing churches that will have the capacity to sustain and reproduce themselves.

We are excited that God can be discovered in the heart of the city and commit ourselves to explore various forms of prayer and worship that are appropriate here.

We realise that God’s Spirit blows freely and so we will not assume our work should continue indefinitely.

Humility

We acknowledge our dependence on God and affirm our continual need of prayer and God’s empowering Spirit.

We believe that all people are loved by God, regardless of age, gender, education, class, ethnicity, sexuality or physical/mental health and that God works through all believers – and others besides.

We respect others working alongside us in the inner city and are grateful for the foundations laid by the many who have gone before us.

We want to learn from others, seeking to shape what we do in light of the experiences, discoveries, successes and mistakes of fellow-workers.

We are careful not to drain other local churches of their often limited resources, but hope to be an encouragement and support to them.

We realise the importance of living uncluttered lives, holding possessions lightly and recognising that all we have is to be at God’s disposal.

We know we are not indispensable and what we attempt to do is part of a much bigger picture, so will try to keep ourselves in perspective.

Här kan du läsa mer om Urban Expression.