Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

74 • P LANTING C HURCHES AMONG THE C ITY ’ S P OOR : V OLUME 1

grow into strong, effective churches. When available, storefronts make effective and useful sites to temporarily house mission congregations. 145 The possibility of joining with another congregation to share their building is also an option to consider, especially if the new congregation is composed of an ethnic group not being reached by the potential host church. The process of community cultivation will alert church planters to these possibilities. Long-Term Options for Urban Churches Roger Greenway, who has extensive experience with urban church planting in the U.S. and Mexico, asserts, “Building acquisition should never be made a fixed – that is, assumed and unquestioned – item in the overall mission strategy.” 146 He further states, “The Holy Spirit can be relied upon to give urban congregations creativity to find solutions to the building problem.” 147 If the new congregation has the resources and the vision to engage in property acquisition and building construction, and if such a program would meet a need in the community and is in accordance with the Lord’s leading, then such a course should be encouraged. However, the assumption is that, given the high cost of property in the inner city and the poverty of urban Christians, the new church should pursue other alternatives. Many small congregations in the inner city never purchase property. They remain in rented facilities throughout their church life and this is entirely acceptable for their situation. 148 Because the inner city is constantly changing demographically, it may be wise to remain in “temporary” facilities to insure adaptability to changing conditions in the neighborhood. Generally a neighborhood proceeds through the cycle of growth, stabilization, transition, and renewal every fifty years. Many urban communities, however, experience the entire cycle in ten years. 149 The urban church must be adaptable to its rapidly changing

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145 Redford, p. 90

146 Greenway and Monsma, p. 242

147 Greenway and Monsma, p. 243

148 Jones, p. 131

149 Redford, p. 94