Hope for the Cities and the Church

[paul]

A while back there was a discussion about the lack of cogop churches in major cities, such as St. Louis. Various oponions were offered up as to wht this was. Be assured this is not a problem common only to cogop, but rather to most denominational organizations and independant as well.

If any of the pastors on this forum are currently pastoring in a metro area where the population is diverse I want to recommend an extremely insightful book that can be of great help.

Title: The Next Evangelicalism
Author: Soong-Chan Rah (D.Min.,Gordon-Conwell)
Pub: IVP Books
ISBN: 978-0-8308-3360-3

Following is a brief overview:

"The church in America not booming. It is in crisis...As the American population continues to grow, the church falls further ad further behind...Almost all the data indicates that the church is fated to decline in influence every year in the near future,"
As many lament the decline of Christianity in the United States in the early stages of the twenty-first century, very few have recognized that American Christianity may actuall be growing, but in unexpected and suprising ways. The American church needs to face the inevitable and prepare for the next stage of her history-- we are looking at a non-white majority, multiethnic american Christianity in the immediate future. Unfortunatly, despite these drastic demographic changes, American evangelicalism remains enamored with an ecclesiology and a value system that reflect a dates and increasingly irrelevant cultural capitvity and are disconnected from both a global and a local reality."

Some really good reading and insight.