Living clean in a polluted world...
At the weekend I was involved in a great project called "Urban Mission" (I discovered there are loads of projects called that!), subtitled as "living clean in a polluted world".
It was a joint thing with 3 youth workers from Baptist churches in SW London, Ascension Trust and the London Baptist Association.
On Saturday we gathered for food and worship (led by young people who were fab) and teaching. We then did social action - visiting an old folks home and a homeless project. I went with a group to a dementia wing, which was eye opening for the group I think. We then did a bar-b-q and de-briefed. We gathered on Sunday to think about how we carry this forward - both as a project but also in our lives. The young people then led the service at the host church on Sunday.
Not a terribly original model or concept, but great to see urban young people passionate about Jesus, willing to get involved, and break the stereotypes.
And some great grass roots youth work being done by the youth leaders who were part of it.
Fun!

Mission in the Suburbs
I think it's for all the right reasons, but somehow "urban mission" sounds better (sexier?) than "suburban mission"! Clearly we have an historic problem of Christians leaving the urban inner-cities. In part here in London and in many cities that is being counteracted by some great deliberate church planting movements (e.g. Urban Expression) and the growth of the Black majority Churches and other ethnically distinct congregations. But it's still an issue of under-investment.
There is however, a challenge of mission in the suburbs. Reaching people who are doing well without God with the Christian gospel is tough! So I was pleased to read some stuff from Vineyard USA on the suburbs, from their "Cutting Edge" church planting magazine (Summer 2007 here). (thanks to Tony for the link!). It's an interview with David Goetz who's written an interesting looking book on the suburbs (which I've added to my wish list!).
Couple of quick quotes from the article:
"I think missionary training needs to be as rigorous for the suburbs as it is for the foreign mission field"
"Don't assume the large suburban churches have all the answers"

The second quote reminds me of something I read, although not sure where, about suburban churches which have the "smell" of success, without the missional depth. A warning that resonated with me.