Human Ecology, Cities, and Church Planting
Thank God I get to hang out with people like Nick Warnes, Jay Pathak, Corey Garris, and John Alwood. These three white guys and one exceptionally tall Indian lookin’ dude have spared me from having to adopt a one-size fits all church plant approach.
This is basic, but the phrase “church planting” has the word “planting” in it. Planting is a word usually associated with planting flowers, bushes, trees, or an idea in your wife’s mind about the need for a new TV before the next NFL season. Green thumb people will tell you that in order to successfully plant something, you will need to pay attention to the soil, water, and sunlight—all factors which contribute to the health and well being of a plant, flower, tree, or the mounting of a new 55 inch TV on a Saturday afternoon. In the same way, there are massive changing contextual forces (soil) that will affect your church.
The modern city is shaped by human ecology—an intricate web of connections and relationships that shape how we live, what we value, and how we interact with others. The basic human ecology impacts the symbiotic connections between neighborhoods, cities/suburbs, metro regions, states, and countries.
Your little neighborhood is not an island. It is in an interdependent relationship with other neighborhoods and cities. What your neighborhood contributes and produces affects other neighborhoods and vice versa.
The cities’ symbiotic interdependence cries out to the church planter. It is a easy win and an obvious opportunity to take our call to seek the common good of the city and the renewal of all things to an ever higher practical level.
I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a need for commitment to at least three contextual ecclesiological categories: metropolitan, cosmopolitan and urban.
The Urban. I live in Santa Monica. It is dense, busy, and weaved into the reality of Los Angeles. It is way different than Orange County or Columbus, Ohio. In the urban, I need to be both aware of the particular kind of realities in the highly affluent yet highly populated city in which I live while still learning about the regional realities affecting the LA metro area as well as the Southern California megapolitan. My approach to inviting people into a growing relationship with Jesus will look different than other approach by John in Long Beach or Corey in Arvada, Colorado.
The Cosmopolitan. Cosmopolitan Cities contain high numbers of educated and affluent residents. Such cities usually have a reputation for having a disproportional impact on the rest of the country. Churches in a cosmopolitan city will have to understand the local and regional realities of the city in order to more effectively engage its citizens.
The Metropolitan. Suburbs in the United States are still growing at an exponential rate. The sprawl isn’t dying off, and we should expect regions to continue to grow wide before the grow up. These types of geographical regions are car dependent with highways and large roads with medians that have unique bush or two growing. There’s an abundance of affordable single-family homes with driveways and grassy curbs with a place to put out your recyclables. These areas need great churches too, and an appropriate ecclesiology is necessary.
If you want to be a good church planter, learn just a little bit more about the soup you swim in and by all means, reach out to Jay, Corey, Nick, or John. For now, it seems like they know what they’re talking about.
