Towards a theology of Inner city transformation : a contextual perspective on the church, housing and community in the Inner city

Abstract

God loves urban people and urban places. God's body on earth - the church - is called to be an expression of this love, fleshing it out in big and small ways, serving humbly, loving tenderly and acting justly. Humility does not exclude boldness, tenderness does not exclude toughness, and justice does not exclude love. It is in the strange paradoxes of tenderness and toughness, of love and justice, of humility and boldness, of death and life, that we might discover the wisdom of God and the power of the cross. It is in dying into the city that we will become signs of life and hope. It is in touching the wounds of the city that we will become healers in brokenness. It is in becoming as vulnerable as the city (as individuals and as churches) that we can proclaim healing to the vulnerable. This study wants to suggest that God's heart for cities and for the poor is big enough to match the challenge. It is in the decay of the inner city that creative alternatives emerge. It is with the inner city poor that bold partnerships unfold. It is at the bottom of society that we are surprised by signs of transformation. " ... but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." God has a plan big enough to match the challenge - a plan that can indeed transform the current reality. And God's Spirit wants to create within us a new imagination of the city in God's image. This study is exploring such an alternative imagination, the spirituality necessary to sustain it, and the theology and actions required to realise it. Its focus is the changing inner cities of South Africa in general, and housing in the inner city communities of Pretoria in particular.