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CURRENTLY IN BOOKS
The church for and in the city

John Schmidt

Revolution and Renewal: How Churches are Saving Our Cities Tony Campolo, with stories by Bruce Main. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000. 286 pp.

Popular speaker and author Tony Campolo is no stranger to the hopelessness and devastation that pervades many US cities like Philadelphia and neigbouring Camden, where unemployment is 25% and among teens and older youth reaches 65%. He argues forcefully that the “white flight” to the suburbs takes with it many businesses and related agencies, leaving employment possibilities at a low ebb.

He points out that leaders in government, business and social services have been unable to bring about renewal in the city, so the challenge is for the church to be the “lead institution in bringing something of the city of God to urban America”. The church must address the systemic evils or it does not live up to its calling, since its task is to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The church must “address institutional evils and simultaneously challenge its people to bring the lost souls of the city into transforming relationships with Christ”.

Campolo speaks from years of experience living and working in the inner city, having founded Urban Promise, a ministry geared to children, youth and families, helping people find employment, housing and a chance for a better lifestyle. He suggests that the church must learn to “partner with government” and get the church back into the “world” of the city – something suburban Christians are loath to consider. Campolo suggests the church can help the poor find jobs, plant new churches, provide novel ways of employing the poor to help them out of the “culture of poverty”, provide education opportunities in public schools, help combat crime, help in business development, and network with other community agencies. His many stories illustrate what is being done and how God is using ordinary people to accomplish His purposes.

This book is a “must-read” for denominational leaders, church planters, suburban and city pastors, as well as those whom God is stirring with a vision for the city. Boards of Church Extension could profit greatly from this material, since our record as MBs in inner city church planting is less than compelling.

My primary disappointment came in the final chapter on “A brief theology of the city”, in which I looked in vain for biblical and theological insights to aid in understanding the city. It was more a closing commentary on what is happening in various cities spoken from a concerned sociologist. Apart from that, this book will stir and stimulate the thinking of many of us regarding our response to the needs in the cities near or where we live.

John Schmidt is director of internship and campus pastor at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C. He is a member of North Langley Community Church in Langley, B.C.

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Last modified November 5, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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