waves of urbanization
Urbanization Waves and the Church
1. The Greco-Roman World: City-State: Paul’s missionary journeys to the cities; by 250AD 7 urban bishoprics in Gaul and 100 in Italy; by 313 there were 1200 in N. Africa alone.
The city as a symbol of civilization shifted from being primarily a religious shrine to being a city state with a military and socio-political center. New roads and trade expanded teh influence of military and social controls. Middle of the 3rd Century AD, this wave of urbanization hit its climax with hundreds of urban bishoprics being established throughout Spain, Italy, and North Africa. The decline of the Roman Empire returned the once great cities back to isolated and autonomous hamlets. The church functioned from the 5th to 11th centuries as a preserver of Rome’s urban political past.
2. Medieval World: Marketplace (commerce): The Crusades (1096-1291); Renaissance; Reformation
Cities found identities as permanent market-places. Commerce began to be the center of focus. The Crusades (1096-1291) dramatically expanded trade routes and extended the influence of European cities. In the 14th century the Bubonic Plague decimated urban areas. The Renaissance began to introduce change in the mentality in teh 15th and 16th centuries toward secularism and the church became marginalized. The Reformation challenged this trend. In Germany 200 cities of populations more than 1000 became the seedbeds for Protestant movements.
3. Colonial Empires: Machine (Industrial Revolution): European Colonialism (1790-1810); US Industrial Revolution (1790-1890)
With its epicenter in Europe’s colonial expansion cities grew as empires searched for natural resources and slaves. Industrialization grew following the Napoleonic Wars leading to more global expansion and internal urbanization. [England was the leader in this movement. The US followed and between 1790 and 1890 its total population grew 16x and its urban population grew by 139x. The rest of the world was largely rural and missions strategy focused on reaching rural people.] At home in the West, rising urban poverty and immigration led to a strong anti-urban bias fed by ethnocentrism.
4. Present: Monster (Super-Cities): Shift to the Global South
Following WWII urbanization dramatically accelerated everywhere in the world except the West [in 1895 the number of urban dwellers was double the world's population in 1800. Africa has had the highest rates of urbanization. From 1920 to 1980 it quadruples from 7% to 28%. Asia's urban population was 40% of the total in 2000. 74% of Latin America and the Caribbean live in urban areas]. One feature of the urban wave is the growth of the agglomerates, especially in the Southern hemisphere [in 1900, 18 cities had populations over 1 million; 13 were in the West. In 2000, 354 cities had more than 1 million and 236 were in developing countries. 14 were mega-cities with more than 10 million, most in developing world; by 2015 this will double.]
Two Trends Shaping Urbanization and Implications for the Church
1. The growth of cities in non-Christian or anti-Christian countries combined with the erosion of the church in the northern hemisphere is multiplying the non-Christian urban population. [in 1900 cities added 5200 new non-Christians urban dwellers per day. In 1997 cities added 127,000 non-Christians per day. in 1995 of the world's 10 largest cities, 7 were located in countries with minimal Christian impact]
2. Increasingly, the majority of the lost people are the urban poor. [1/2 of the urban population in the southern hemisphere live in shanty towns and squatter villages. in 2000 1/3 of the world lived in cities in less-developed regions.] The last frontier in missions may be the masses of urban poor with no gospel witness!
Rural Faith in the City
- The new reality is rural to urban migration [20% of the human race migrated from the rural to urban context in teh 80s and 90s and the trend is accelerating.
- Unfortunately rural religion does not prepare Christians for urban life
- Transition is difficult for new immigrants: new language, new land, new jobs, new types of housing, new neighbors.
- They will adapt, but slowly.
Case Study: Appalachian Migrants
- In the 1940s, 50s, and 60s the largest internal migration in the history of the US occurred.
- Moved out of Appalachia (western NC, VA and eastern TN, KY, Ohio all of WV and much of PA) –collapse of traditional coal mining.
- Moved into the Rustbelt cities (Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Akron, Cincinnati, etc) for jobs.
- Easter 100 Campaign: Plant 100 churches on Easter Sunday 1987
- These two churches did the worst of the 100 efforts (those in Lexington).
- WHY??
- External characteristics change rapidly
- But worldview changes slowly
- Appalachian people: distrust denominations, did not believe in ordained clergy, they are clan-based, maintained rural mind-set.
Short-Comings of Rural Faith in the City
- Rural faith is largely traditional: faith is usually inherited and unexamined. Deviation from community standards is discouraged. Face to face society with high social control.
- Rural faith lacks synthesis between doctrinal beliefs and Christian responsibilities that go beyond church. They often find it difficult to relate Christian social responsibility to the urban context. Personal faith often undergoes great trauma and may respond by holding on tightly to fundamentalism.
- Rural faith often presents the gospel in terms that leave large areas of human life untouched and unchallenged. Rural oriented preaching keeps members socially tranquilized. One study that 80% of Protestant youth who enter secular universities are lost from the church.
