Catalyzing Urban Poor Movements...
Practical theologies of urban poor churchplanting, land rights, economic discipleship, slum movement leadership...
Publishing about urban poor churchplanting, urban poor apostolic movements, city leadership...
The MATUL Commission - connecting a global cadre of educational practitioner-scholars...
A History of Response
Phase 1: Urban Church-planting ('69-'81). When he entered Manila's squatter settlements in the 1970's, New Zealander Viv Grigg had to forge new patterns in evangelical theology and pioneer new urban missions strategies. The challenge was to find a way that met people's spiritual needs in context of dealing with their poverty. This was one of several urban fellowships that Viv had pioneered among students, professionals, and then the urban poor.
Phase 2: Urban Poor Missions ('81-'91). In the 1980's, he catalyzed four mission societies of people living among the mega-city poor, bringing religious and socio-economic change. These now number over 350 workers. He helped catalyze a Brazilian mission , Kairos, which has workers in the slums of 13 cities in South America, North Africa, and Asia. Ieda and he pioneered a team into Calcutta which sought city leadership unity and initiated slum fellowships in that city.
Phase 3: Catalyzing The Global Church to the Poorest Cities ('91-2000). Urban Leadership has been empowering teams of city leaders, based on models developed in Calcutta and New Zealand. As coordinator of the AD2000 cities network globally, Viv lead consultations for city leaderships around the world, seeking to mobilize partnerships to the least evangelized cities.
Phase 4: Modelling City-State Leadership Development for Transformation (96-2001): Back in his home base of New Zealand, Urban Leadership initiated the N.Z. city leaders' network, and Vision for Auckland, encouraging an ethnic leadership network, prayer networks and networks of secular leaders in society. This has involved bringing ethnic and business leaders together to grapple with critical issues in Auckland city.
Phase 5:Connecting the Leadership of Urban Poor Networks (2002 -20012): As the urban poor missions have matured, it is now a season to interconnect the leadership of these, develop collective strategies, interface divergent theologies and move towards sharing urban poor workers accredited training modules. The synergy of such periodic consultations multiply these works. This phase has included periods working with each of the missions to develop resources and in recruiting of new team leaders and workers. About 40 missions are linked in the Encarnação Network.
Beyond:Training Upper Level Leadership through the MATUL (2008-2020): As the mobilization of incarnational workers multiplies, the next phase kicks in, of multiplying movements among the poor, then the third phase of transformation of slums, and the fourth, of speaking into city cultures.Join the Volunteers Designing Training! Be a Donor Transforming the Slums!
