I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air and the creeping things of the ground, and I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land... I will take you... forever... I will take you... in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. (Hosea 2:12-13a NRSV) Picture: Rainbow over Wallsend, Tyneside, UK

Urban mission - some working definitions:

Mission is working for God's Kingdom by:

practical service and thoughtful engagement - may be done in partnership with secular bodies and organisations from other faith communities, and should involve communication between all Christians in any locality:

e.g. community regeneration; action and campaigning on peace, justice and environmental issues; parent and toddler groups

talking about God - partly through dialogue with other faiths

i.e putting God into the conversation

evangelism and evangelicalistic activity - proclaiming Christian faith to others and seeking new believers

Any activity may be any combination of these elements: but there is growing recognition that they are parts of the same process. (NB statutory funding cannot be used for the last of these activities.) See also Micah Declaration on 'integral mission'.

'Urban' mission particularly:

concentrates on 'edgy' and fringe ministry serving:

• the inner city/town (often mixed housing and multi-racial)
  
  
• outer estates (often large areas of mainly low rise housing and white majority areas)
  
  
• and city/town centre (including retail chaplaincy; Street Pastors; work with street sleepers, sex workers, night clubs and 'loft living' new city dwellers)

but recognises that the solutions to some of the issues in these areas can only be solved by city-wide action through: prayer, involvement in civil structures, and commitment by the suburban churches to a generous engagement and enabling of these processes.