URBAN LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION

Global Cities Leadership Networks,
Catalysing City Leadership Teams,
Birthing Urban Poor Churchplanting Movements,
and Training in Transformation of Postmodern Cities.

Through Thinktanks & Leadership Networks,
Creating Urban Theology,
and Prophetic and Apostolic Leadership.

• MISSION
• BRIEF HISTORY
• THE NEED: POST-MODERN CITIES
• URBAN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES
• STRATEGY
• THE ORGANIZATION

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MISSION

The mission of Urban Leadership Foundation is to facilitate the emergence of leadership infrastructures with strategies for evangelism and for the transformation of the soul of cities and nations.

GOALS

Our aim is to catalyze missions partnerships and indigenous leadership teams in 300 mega-cities and 1000 least evangelized cities.

We seek to build teams, of Christian leaders in both the church and secular society by inspiring them with a vision, and enabling them to develop strategies for the evangelisation and transformation of their cities.

We build networks of these leaders globally, across continents and within countries to enable cross-fertilization of ideas, multiplication of models and peer group development.

BRIEF HISTORY

Urban Leadership is an organisation and base team for the prophetic ministry of Viv Grigg, and expository Bible teaching ministry of Ieda Grigg. It is a series of think-tanks, and catalysing of networks for urban missions, city leadership teams, and Christian leaders in secular public roles. It has been uniquely positioned to call the global church into partnerships to the least evangelized and poorest cities of the world.

Phase 1: Urban Church-planting ('69-'81). When he entered Manila's squatter settlements in the 1970's, New Zealander Viv Grigg had to forge new patterns in evangelical theology and pioneer new urban missions strategies. The challenge was to find a way that met people's spiritual needs in context of dealing with their poverty. This was one of several urban fellowships that Viv had pioneered among students, professionals, and then the urban poor.

Phase 2: Urban Poor Missions ('81-'91). In the 1980's, he catalyzed four mission societies of people living among the mega-city poor, bringing religious and socio-economic change. These now number over 300 workers. He helped catalyze a Brazilian mission which has workers in the slums of 11 cities in South America, North Africa, and Asia. Ieda and he personally pioneered a team of workers into Calcutta which initiated slum fellowships in that city.

Urban Leadership was structured around Viv as a small prophetic nucleus of workers, a "virtual reality corporation" (now you see it, now you don't) that generates vision and networks to serve these missions and other partnerships into the mega-cities. It does not seek to integrate these into a mega-structure under its control. As churches and missions have been pioneered, vision imparted and leadership established, they have been spun off from Urban Leadership Foundation to develop their own indigenous patterns.

Phase 3a: Catalyzing the Global Church ('91-2000). Since 1991, Urban Leadership has been catalyzing and empowering teams of city leaders, based on models developed in Calcutta, North India and New Zealand. As coordinator of the AD2000 cities network globally he has lead consultations for numbers of city leaderships around the world, seeking to mobilize partnerships into the 1700 least evangelized cities.

Phase 3b: Modelling City-State Leadership Development for Transformation (96-2000): With Viv back in his home base of New Zealand, Urban Leadership has been facilitating the N.Z. city leaders' network, Vision for Auckland, encouraging an ethnic leadership network, and a national network of evangelicals involved in transformation of society.

THE NEED: POST-MODERN CITIES

In the last thirty years the greatest migration in human history has occurred.

One billion people have moved from rural poverty to the mega-city slums, squatter areas, favelas and bustees. These migrant poor now make up 40% of the world's cities and their numbers will double in the next ten years. Existing missions strategies have largely ignored both these burgeoning cities and the urban poor.

In the year 2000 A.D. there were:

• 40 mega-cities of over five million
• 460 mega-cities over a million.
• 6600 cities that have populations in excess of 100,000.

Of these, we have classified 1734 as "least evangelized" (without movements of churches sufficient to reach them). Most fall within the "10/40 Window" a geographical region between Morocco and Japan, covering North Africa, the Middle East, Northern India and China. History shows that the key to reaching a city is to begin with the poor. Beyond the poor of these cities, one finds the political and social elite who determine the nature and structure of the cities. For real and long lasting transformation to occur, we must challenge the leadership structures of these cities. Inspiring and resourcing indigenous leadership is a central element in evangelizing and transforming these cities. Enlightened leadership brought together from different cities or within cities, encouraged to define a vision, and equipped with knowledge, networks and resources can rapidly accelerate the process of bringing the Kingdom of God. "

If we reach the cities ,we reach the nation. But if we fail in the cities , they become a cesspool that will infect the entire country." D.L. Moody

URBAN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES

1. Raising Vision

* Urban Research
* Writings and Publications
* Think-tanks and Strategy Consultations
Working Groups
Best Way to Develop Leaders

2. City Leadership Team Formation

of Pastors and Leaders in Society
for Evangelisation and Transformation
Leadership Networks and Partnerships

3. Urban Poor Strategies and Mobilization

STRATEGY

1. Rebuild a New Zealand Resource Base

• Develop a manpower and financial resource base in Auckland, with appropriate partnership links to existing New Zealand teaching and vision-setting institutions.
• Build the Auckland city leadership team (1997-2001), facilitate its coordinating office
• Teach Urban Missions in two main Bible Schools (1996-2001).
• Bring together thinktanks and strategy working groups of ethnic, business and leadership groups in societal sectors (1998)
• Work with others in the development of a national leadership infrastructure for the transformation of the soul of the nation, linking core teams of leaders in 12 societal sectors (as opportunity permits).

2. International: Urban Leadership / Cities Network Partnership

• Strategy Consultations: Generate in-city leadership processes through in-city and inter-city strategy consultations for city leadership teams.
• Adopt-a-City Program and Global Urban Research Consortium: Expand the research consortium on the web, connecting two page profiles cities. Mobilize churches to adopt, pray and send workers to serve national leaders.

3. International: Expand Existing Urban Poor Missions Models

• Urban Poor Ministry Training: Expand Urban Poor Awareness Seminars for churches, and seminary courses on Church-planting Among the Urban Poor, Theology of Urban Poor Ministry and Citywide Leadership Strategies
• Sustain Linkage to Existing Movements: Continue to advise and influence Servants to Asia's Urban Poor, the U.S. Servant-Partners, facilitate Brazilian missionaries into Asia from Kairos, and work with the leadership team of the AD2000 Urban Poor Network.
• New Zealand - Calcutta Linkage: Sustain the momentum in the intercessory battle for Calcutta

THE ORGANIZATION

Virtual Reality: The organizational structure of the mission is deliberately limited. The international office has traditionally been lean, in keeping with the ethos of a mission committed to the poor. It expands and contracts as it builds and spins off each movement.

Internal Structure: The International Board oversees the ministry, setting policies. The NZ admin. committee on the board is responsible for legal and financial issues. There is an advisory board consisting of key national leaders and specialist advisors. The operational side of the mission is the responsibility of the international director. The Cities Network is a separate ministry that has been catalyzed, administered and funded by Urban Leadership Foundation.

Networks: In this chart the various parts of the organization are designated as being either an essential part of the Urban Leadership Organization or as being a network link, even if in some cases ongoing organizational support is sustained.

OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE

Volunteer support staff are needed for managing the website, computer development, secretarial support, bookkeeping. City leaders are invited to join in developing the city leaders networks.

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