Street Signs: 12 (American Society of Missiology Monograph)

This research explores the cultural and theological complexities within the urban context as some of the most prominent societal realities shaping our cities today. Cities represent the convergence of identities industries and ideologies in a dynamic urban ecosystem of pluralism and globalization. Far more than just the incidental built environment that houses such phenomena the city is a living breathing organism with vital systems and infrastructure that function as a means of sustenance for its inhabitants. Ultimately cities are a cultural reflection of our common humanity in all of its beauty and depravity. More specifically this work critically examines the cultural and theological significance of the urban context as an exercise in missiological contextualization. Through a dialectical exploration of the locality of Seattles Rainier Valley and the universality of the street comer three different lenses are used to examine the intersection of faith and culture in the city. First through developing a rnissional theology of cultural engagement the themes of incarnation confrontation and imagination inform a theological posture that is conversant with urbanism. Second an interdisciplinary method of urban exegesis that synthesizes the symbolic systems of urban semiotics and the missional theology of cultural exegesis is applied to particular settings in Seattles Rainier Valley as a form of observing and interpreting urban communities. Third an urban contextual theology that is situated inan environment of physical density social diversity and economic disparity emphasizes the necessity of engaging the city with theologies of place neighbor and community. In an effort to equip and empower the church and others to engage the city as thoughtful missional people this research seeks to cultivate a combination of critical observational skills in the urban context and a constructive understanding of the holistic Christian mission among the poor and disenfranchised in our urban communities. From the street comer in the ghetto to newly gentrified enclaves of hipsters street signs are all around us; they point us in the right direction toward deeper understanding alert us to the presence of injustice on the horizon and draw our attention to the redemptive beauty of the city that is revealed in the light of the gospel.