National Urban Ministry Blog

Sweating it Out

Administrator — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 06:23:10 +0000

Recommended Reading

Author Michael Landon.

Michael Lee Landon is Minister of the Groton Church of Christ in Groton, Connecticut. He received his M.A. in Ministry from the Harding Graduate School of Religion, and his Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In addition, he studied at Faculdade de Teologia Nossa Senhora de Assuncao (Our Lady of Assumption Seminary) in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles addressing poverty, community development and outreach, and the responsibility of Christians.

Sweating it Out explores poverty in the United States through the viewpoints and arguments of academic and political “experts,” low-income adults from Louisiana, and the Bible and Christian theologians. Each group presents their theories on poverty, the groups affected by poverty, and how the problem of poverty should be addressed. In detailed chapters, Michael Landon presents each group’s opinion on the causes of poverty, which include stress or mental illness, personal irresponsibility, social injustice, and family upbringing, among others. Sweating it Out is not only an investigation of poverty in America, but a resource for people of faith, academics, politicians, social workers, and low-income Americans on how to combat poverty.

Poverty in Memphis

Administrator — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:41:20 +0000

     A recent article in the Commercial Appeal a Memphis newspaper highlighted the impoverished conditions in Memphis. According to the Commerical Appeal, “With a poverty rate of 26.2 percent, about one of out of every four Memphians was living in poverty. The city’s median household income was $35,143.”
     For urban workers in the field this is nothing new. We are bombarded with poverty everyday in our urban churches, ministries, and nonprofits. Daily we see the poor pouring into our church desperately seeking food, clothes, shelter, and sanctury from abusive relationships.
    In August, at the Raleigh Community Church of Christ, we served 650 children with school supplies at our annual School Store. This year there were more working class families in the numbers we served. As we gear up for the annual Turkey Store on November 19th and Christmas Store on December 17th, we anticipate record numbers.

National Urban Ministry Association Website

Administrator — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:56:12 +0000

The National Urban Ministry Summit was held on November 19-20, 2009 in St. Louis. Ten urban ministries from 9 cities attended the summit. One of the primary results that came out of the National Urban Ministry Summit was the decision that a connection point for urban ministries was needed. A website was needed that would serve as a national hub for urban ministries across the country.

The goal is to provide an interactive hub and a depository of information for members of the National Urban Ministry Association that is being formed. Please post your suggestions for the website here.

General Questions About Urban Ministry

Administrator — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:41:32 +0000

What general questions do you have about urban ministry?