Strength in fragility: Celebrating 10 years
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Urban Expression recruits, equips, deploys and supports self-financing teams to pioneer innovative and relevant expressions of the Christian church in under-churched areas of the inner city.
They are currently looking to recruit more church planters. For more information, see the website.
Visit the Urban Expression site at
www.urbanexpression.org.uk
by Sarah Warburton
This is a year of celebration for Urban Expression, as we have recently celebrated our 10th birthday. It was a lovely day, held in London, with representatives from the three UE regions as well as those who have supported us.
An anniversary is always a chance to reflect. UE has always seemed so fragile that those who started UE wondered if it would still be in existence now. However, interest in our values and our stories seems to be continuing and growing, and there is now much discussion with church planters in the Netherlands.
One of our values is:
"We believe that, in Jesus, God is revealed locally, and that we should be committed to our local community or relational network and active members of it."
Urban Expression isn't about big stories and big headlines. It's about people living in a community, being a part of it and sharing the highs and lows of that community. We come, knowing that God is already at work there and will continue His work after we are gone. This choice of service can be difficult, we have to celebrate each small victory, but there is nothing better than seeing God at work in each individual's life. Many people think we are foolish, especially if we have children, but to be part of God's work in the city is a privilege.
We are excited by the developments in Manchester and Glasgow, and long to see new UE teams in East London; but as John Hayes (InnerCHANGE) writes in his book, 'sub-merge',
"Those who choose to live and work among the poor should expect to serve Christ as a remnant. You can hope for more to join in, certainly. Celebrate those who come. But do not wait for a critical mass from the mainstream to act. Be content to work far from the limelight. And don't expect the mainstream to validate or embrace your efforts among the poor with your same intensity or passion"
As we look back over the ten years we have mixed feelings - longing that God could have done more, yet amazed at how much He has done. We celebrate the last ten years, and pray for the next.