1. Defining the need for urban spirituality.

2. Why has the church majored on rural approaches to spirituality?

3. What are the unique aspects of urban life and how do they impact our spirituality?

1. The joy of densely populated cities.

2. God’s delight in the multiplication of humanity over the earth…a God ordained vision.

3. The vision of God for mankind without sin?

4. The intimacy of God with mankind in the original creation.

5. God’s desire for intimate human and God related community.

Lecture

1. The extravagance of God in creation.

2. Multiple expressions of the same species.

3. An eschatological vision from Revelation 22.

4. Love expressed in communication across cultures.

5. The down approach to language learning expresses humility.

1. Adam and Eve – the two shall become one flesh. Genesis 2 v 20-25.

2. Moses, justice, community leadership and his pastoral care responsibilities in Exodus 18 – 20.

3. The Church as a joy-filled, loving caring community of spiritually nurturing families. 1 Tim 3.

4. Deacons and elders prove their spiritual development in the context of family leadership. 1Timothy 3.

5. Evangelists, teachers, pastors, prophets, and apostles as community-formation roles.

1. Moralism, Rationalism, Quietism, Pietism.

2. The mind to know God, the heart to sense God; the transcendence and immanence of God.

3. The Apophatic – the mystery of God; the Kataphatic – the revealed God.

4. Modern Movements and their forms of spirituality.

a) Holiness - compassion

b) Charismatic – Holy Spirit and the gifts

c) Contemplative – devotion to God

d) Evangelical – virtue, and rational

e) Pentecostal – Spirit empowered

f) Social justice – activist

1. New Testament Spirituality, Early Church fathers, Early Christian Worship, The Didache, The Montanists, The Martyrs, Gnosticism, Asceticism, Hellenistic Influences, Mysticism, Desert Spirituality, Monastic Spirituality, Augustine, Dionysius and Patrick of Ireland, Orthodox spirituality.

1. A temperament analysis

2. An analysis of your orientation; action, reflection, service, awareness, knowledge, devotion, discipline, spontaneity.

a) What are my core values? A model of personal relationships questionnaire plotting propensities in 12 selected core values.

b) My motives – are they driven by fear or love? What beliefs motivate my ministry test.

c) Emotional and mental stability? A test to analyse my emotional and mental

health.

d) What type of personality am I? A personality profile scoring sheet.

e) Identifying personal bondages.

1. What were the core values of Jesus?

2. How did ministry motives affect selected disciples and their actions?

a) Why do we do what we do?

b) Love gratitude, and rewards.

c) Identity, purpose and hope, and longing for God.

3. What are the ideal values of urban church planters and urban poor pastors?

4. Change and how it affects different personalities?

An integrated life based around the image of God imprinted in our being;

a) Dichotomy and holism.

b) Husband/wife; parent/child; Companion relationships.

c) Work, possessions, finances.

d) Society, clubs organisations and Government and politics.

e) Sport, recreation and leisure.

f) Health, education and artistic development.

1. Goals for the transformation of our heart, soul, mind, body, social life, feelings, work life, recreational activity.

2. Goals for the transformation of our relationships at home in the family, church and the community.

3. A ministry development action plan. A planning chart to analyse my present position, my goals, and the obstacles to achieving those goals.

1. The importance of households in the Book of Acts.

2. The power of households to shape;

a) Spirituality

b) Psychological imagery

c) Social relationships

d) Sexuality

e) Political power

f) Leadership

g) Male/female relationships

1. The disciple and the self – Paul and the Book of Romans.

2. Facets of the inner core of our nature developing selflessness from the beatitudes.

2. The exchanged life – the self lost in our true identity in Christ.

a) Grasping our true identity in Christ,

b) God’s plan to meet our needs.

1. Why build teams

2. A shared spirituality

3. Reaching for God’s best in a community of believers – principles of "Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor" team relationships and lifestyles.

4. The role of service and spiritual gifts in maturing the members of a team/community.

1. Why is there such a thing as pain?

2. What is God trying to say to us through pain?

3. How people respond to suffering?

4. How do we cope with pain?

5. Does our pain mature us?

6. What is the role of faith in pain and suffering?

1. Shaping positive attitudes to the challenges of slum life.

2. Loving and serving the opposition to our presence in the slum.

3. Dealing with the guilt of affluence when confronted with those who are destitute.

1. Identifying the stress of culture shock.

2. A Biblical response to culture shock.

3. The time relationship to degrees of culture shock.

Countering culture shock.

4. Valuing the attributes of another culture

5. Symptoms of relationship withdrawal and anger

6. Coping with grief and loss

7. Issues surrounding privacy and communal sharing

1. Primary causes of abusive relationships.

a) Lack of accountability

b) Fear of rejection

c) Addictive substances

d) Conditioning from historical parental behaviour

e) Sickness or mental health

f) Unjust punishment

g) Sexual abuse and lust

h) Greed and injustice

2. Manipulation and power and control mechanisms in slum communities

3. Gang communities and spirituality

4. Gender conflict and spirituality

5. Feminist spirituality

6. Minority spirituality

1. The pressure of the success driven society; what is success from God’s perspective.

2. Why and what causes failure/loss or collapse of a person. Organisation or society/City.

3. War, flood, earthquake, famine, religious conflict, tsunami, economic collapse.

4. Vulnerability – what’s wrong and what’s right about being vulnerable?

5. Healing reconciliation and restoration applied to the above (3) causes of loss.

1. The Bible says "let the oppressed go free". What does that mean in you spiritual worldview?

2. Why does injustice occur and why does God let it happen. What is your response to injustice. How has injustice affected you spirituality.

3. What is self-cursing, why do we do it when faced with injustice, and how can we avoid it?

4. What is a Biblical answer to hurt, how can it be healed?

5. When are we called to suffer hurt?

6. Fear – the Bible says "perfect love casts out fear".

Why is fear a damaging personal inner motivation?

1. Identifying entrenched evil in City systems

2. Reshaping City thinkers and their apathy to injustice

3. Maintaining positive relationships even with your enemies.

4. Identifying the powers behind conflict and resisting personalising it.

1. Understanding the a variety of views of how the powers over a city may be viewed and appreciating lessons from each viewpoint

a) The Reformed View

b) The Sociologists View

c) The Evangelical View

d) The Pentecostal View

2. Expressing and developing your view, its strengths and weaknesses?

3. Undoing the powers

4. Breaching their fortresses

1. Directing your spiritual life so it blossoms in the midst of turmoil

2. Drawing daily on God who is the source of your strength

3. Prayer, devotion, reading, worship, intimacy, meditation, and fellowship each day in the slum.

4. Reflection, journaling and strategic thinking.

1. Loving God completely

a) We want to know God more intimately.

b) We want to love God more dearly

c) We want to follow God more closely.

2. Trusting God with everything

3. Sensitivity to the movement of the Holy Spirit in and around us in everyday living.

1. The practice of the presence of God in holiness and sanctification.

2. The cleansing power of the blood of Christ; daily confession of sin and an imparted and imputed righteousness from Christ Himself.

3. Renewal and refreshment of spirit, renewal of the mind, and strength for our mortal bodies.

1. Fasting;

a) Personal renewal

b) Breakthrough in a spiritual community

c) Overcoming powers

d) An expression of longing for more of God’s presence.

2. Prayer;

a) Personal disciplines

b) Corporate prayer

c) Citywide and National prayer.

d) Advocacy in prayer

e) Supplication

f) Intercession

g) Warfare prayer

1. Everybody has lifecycles and needs sabbatical rest, & refreshment.

a) Plan your refreshment cycle

b) Plan your practice of refreshment

c) Plan a revitalisation program for your life and ministry.

2. Re-envisioning

a) Your family life

b) Your small group life

c) Your church life

d) Your community involvement

e) Your ministry activities and goals.

3. Who are your mentors? Who are you accountable too? How often do you review your work, family, leisure and educational development goals?

1. Building a team

2. Team selection

3. Delegation and responsibility

4. Show, teach, empower, evaluate, encourage, release.

1. Understanding the four seasons of growth in our personal lives, and in the groups we relate too.

1. Self assessment of the stage of our development

2. Mapping progress for the future.

3. Helping others assess their stage and set direction for future growth

1. The theory of small group dynamics

2. Why small groups work in nurture and leadership development

3. How to teach in a small group without putting people to sleep.

1. Why are small groups important for church planting in slums

2. What are the key dynamics of small groups in contrast to regular church meetings

3. How do people learn small groups and what is apprentice type learning

1. How does discipleship develop in a small group.

2. How do the 4 seasons of growth relate to discipleship in a small group

3. Why are character qualities so important in Christian leadership.

4. Paul’s emphasis on quality family relationships impacting the Church.

5. Leadership in the home is the training ground for leadership in the Church.

6. How do small groups help family leadership develop.

1. Developing artistic responses to God and our relationship with God

2. Singing, poetry, song writing, prophecy, writing as worship to God.

1. The importance of indigenous music to urban poor movements

2. Why use the whole body in worship in the slum context?

3. The joy of bodily expression.

1. Sound and worship

2. Setting the mood in the context

1. The art of preaching

2. Testimony

3. Dramatic presentations

• Present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto the Lord.

• Discretion in body adornment and movement

• Acting and the art of pretense.

• The power of the visual media

• Capturing the moment.

4. Reflective worship

Christ Like attitude; Give specific examples of godly attitudes that were demonstrated during the Small Group ministry practical service activity;

Punctuality and reliability and faithfulness in the small details and tasks:

Friendliness, servant qualities, cultural, gender and impaired persons sensitivity, contribution to the Small Group unity and reconciliation:

Pastoral qualities; such as caring, empathy, compassion, prayerfulness, assisting weaker members or persons, practical helps etc:

Respect, honour and shame issues, eagerness to learn new languages if appropriate, humility, incarnational considerations, advocacy:

Personal deportment, presentation, cleanliness and dress code:

Competency in the task and accountability for all equipment, finances etc:

Other general observations:

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