Projections by the United Nations show that 68 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. Missional leaders with ministry expertise in cities and the market workplace discussed befitting general evangelistic strategies for the future at the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Incheon, Korea.
The Missiological Engagement Session, under the title “God’s Mission in Cities and the Workplace,” also heard from some panelists about the success of specific work-based witnessing activities for the gospel, such as in medical care, art and commerce, within different countries to date.
A key emphasis standing out from the public discussion before delegates however was a growing awareness noted within evangelical circles, reaching to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus, of heeding the importance of unity within urban-based churches and city ministries across the globe both now, and in the years ahead.
Faith investor Robert Doll, holding a plethora of responsibilities as chairman of the Board of Directors for the Lausanne Movement, also chairman of the board for urban evangelistic catalyst organization movement.org - and a trio-role of president, chief executive officer and chief investment officer for Crossmark Global Investments, said it was “inescapable” for observers to note the importance of cities as mission fields, also considering the historic emphasis on witnessing within metropolitan areas contained in the book of Acts.
More than eight billion people currently inhabit the planet, he said, with half of that number in cities - and that percentage will duly increase. Doll stressed that the significance of cities would therefore become more prevalent for missional strategies.
“God used cities in the early days of Christianity to grow the faith,” Doll said. “It is estimated that at the end of the first century there were about 25,000 Christians and by 312AD, when Constantine the Great [the first Roman emperor to become a Christian] declared he was a Christian, it was 20 million.
“The Christian movement is rooted in the spread of the gospel through the influence of cities.”
Today there are a multitude of evangelistic movements in cities, churches and associated Christian agencies, according to Doll, which are making a difference to the advance of the gospel.
Collaboration thus stood as the pragmatic framework for unity, Doll expressed, alongside a Christ-focused marketplace leadership movement globally enhancing the faith in non-rural business environments.
“Our prayer is that every person in this Congress becomes an ambassador for Christ in their city,” added Doll, and he issued a challenge to delegates: “How well do you know your city? Do you pray for your city and are you engaged in your city?”
Doll appealed to those at the Lausanne event to weigh up the possibilities for supporting evangelical enterprises in cities, such as the work of Movement Days and how to collaborate with such organizations.
The Movement Day initiative, of which Doll is the board director and which is described as a collaborative partnership rather than a formulaic organization, originated in the early 1980s. A concern about cities and prayer needs led fellow Lausanne panelist Mac Pier to found Concerts of Prayer in 1988 after InterVarsity and Here’s Life Inner City sought God earnestly to move in Manhattan. At the time only 9,000 of the 1.5 million residents went to church.
The movement grew into a 2,000-strong network of churches in the city, under the Concerts of Prayer Greater New York umbrella and then, with an emphasis on developing church plant leaders, The Church Multiplication Alliance was started by apologist, pastor and theologian Tim Keller and others, leading to a 300 percent growth of churches in Manhattan, according to movement.org.
The resulting new leaders, not just in church but in the marketplace, led to founding of The New York Leadership Center to train them in 2008. Movement.org is the expanded focus of this work around the world, to “catalyze leaders to spiritually and socially impact their cities.” It complements localized work in New York by partner organization LEAD.NYC.
A success has been Movement Day events, started in 2010 with the intention of encouraging gospel value relationships and ways of working within “Movement Cities” to help local leaders globally to address spiritual and social needs of cities.
Pier told the Lausanne Congress that the last Lausanne Movement get-together in Cape Town, South Africa, was a “transformational gathering.” He connected with Tim Keller and fellow panelist Bob Doll at the time, which then helped formulate tactics for the cities of the Lausanne movement.
“As we've looked at what God has done over the last 14 years, we have seen God mobilize tens of thousands of leaders in cities all over the world,” Pier said. “As I think about the original vision of John Stott and Billy Graham, we see that coming to fruition as leaders are gathering city by city and making remarkable differences.”
However, a key question in the current environment is how to emphasize the importance of unity for city ministries, which is why ideally local churches should serve as exemplars.
“I really believe that division in the church breathes atheism in the world,” said Pier. “And I also believe that the unity of the church in the city breathes the aroma of Jesus to that city.”
Pier and his colleagues envisioned leadership teams across thousands of cities around the world in the next 10 years. He was also sure that the Great Commission of Jesus Christ is “going to be fulfilled.”
An essential part of that achievement will be the unity of churches, again “city by city,” across the world. As a proof of concept, Pier said that in New York, church growth had boosted 500 percent from 1989 to 2014, with 60,000 people attending church in Manhattan, which were not attending church in the 1980s.
“That happened because leaders had a great intention of being united and working together,” he added. “And as we look across our cities, we need to ask the question, what could God do in our city in a decade? And are we willing to pay the price to unite the body of Christ in our city, so that we can declare Christ together?”
Another panelist Sonja Kazanjian, born in Syria but an Armenian national and now living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), recalled how “Serve the City” was the thematic expression for a Movement Day for the city of Dubai.
It had its origins in the work of the late missionary Dr Marian Kennedy, who opened the Oasis Hospital, now known as Kanad Hospital, in Al-Ain in the early 1960s, with her husband Dr. Pat Kennedy.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his brother Sheikh Shakhbut invited them both because infant and maternal mortality rates were too high and the city needed high quality healthcare.
Known for both her love of God and focus on medical mission, Kennedy saved countless lives in Dubai, cutting drastically high infant mortality rates, as she and her husband developed hospital facilities and medical care in the city.
Kazanjian said that Marian was so dedicated to the women in labor that she donated her own blood to keep them alive. This love for the people resulted in rulers of the UAE being born in the hospital, to the extent that it is now called, “the birthplace of rulers for the UAE Nation.”
Marian Kennedy received an inaugural Abu Dhabi Award, given to her by H.H. General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who was born in the same hospital.
“The UAE became a globally known country that connects the east and the west together,” said Kazanjian, and she recalled a Movement Day in Dubai in March 2023, which involved visiting church and ministry leaders from the wider region of the Middle East. “We hosted thousands of leaders globally to come and learn how to love their city and serve their city in the Middle East.”
Kazanjian paid public tribute at the plenary session to the church and ministry leaders from the Middle East who supported the Movement Day in Dubai, some of whom were delegates in Lausanne 4. She said the leaders have kept witnessing for Christ in their locality, despite difficulties such as wars.
“This morning as I was preparing and praying, the Lord reminded me of Joseph of Arimathea,” Kazanjian said. “He said he took the body of Christ and wrapped him.
"Today is a call for you to wrap the body of Christ. Joseph of Arimathea was an important person, like you [who were] invited to Lausanne. He was [also] very strong and did what he did. Let’s wrap the body of Christ with love.”
