Volume 4 - Issue 1

Ferguson Square

Racism Alone? – Reflections on the Current National Divide

Some claim that Ferguson and Staten Island demonstrate the existence of racist structures that permeate our society. Others claim that these killings resulted from criminal behavior or “a lack of personal responsibility.” While both positions point to contributing factors, they both continue to ignore culture – a factor that dwarfs the previous two.

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“Step Out The Boat”: Following the Urban Disciple Maker

The national conversation in the wake of Ferguson cannot ignore the voice of a crucial subject matter expert, the urban disciple maker. What does the urban disciple maker see that simplistic analyses from outsider pundits can’t? How does she lead the way forward through the treacherous gauntlet of nihilistic culture, organized crime, pulpit pimps, sexual and familial confusion, prison industrial complex, race hustlers, destructive public policy, government-funded dependency, etc.?

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Restoring Shalom in the Citadels of Dead Capital: The Church and Vacant Land

In Jeremiah 32, the prophet Jeremiah enters into a land deal with his cousin Hanamel in one of the worst real estate markets imaginable. Does his prophetic economic activity open up new horizons of possibilities for Christian disciples today in the face of urban blight and seemingly dead economic potential in many urban neighborhoods?

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Praxis Education for Ministry in Urban Contexts: A Pedagogical & Programmatic Review of Wesley Theological Seminary’s Urban Fellows Program

Traditional seminary education has often been plagued with critiques concerning its impractical and irrelevant nature in the context of complex ministry in urban setting. Can we re-imagine urban ministry training? Wesley Theological Seminary’s experiment in theological education for urban ministry–the Urban Fellows program–facilitates community based asset research with urban ministry projects done in partnership with local congregations to strengthen learning and ministry between seminary, churches, and communities to address shared concerns. This article explores how pedagogical perspectives of experiential and praxis education are incarnated in the practice of the Urban Fellows program.

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