Editors’ note:
TGC Africa believes in the power of “coalition.” To that end we delight in finding like-minded, Christ-centred ministries and movements across the continent, so that we might platform them and also promote greater synergy in service of God. One of Paul’s favourite analogies for the church was that of a body, which contains various parts that fulfil a host of important functions. Christianity across Africa is no different. No organisation can do everything, so it’s a joy to highlight others.
City to City Africa fosters the growth of urban gospel networks and assists church planters and ministry leaders plant contextualised churches in the major cities of Africa.
In 2021 and 2022, I was privileged to join Timothy Keller’s mentorship meetings that involved discussions around his writings with a few other city leaders. Most of us were from the global South and involved in urban ministry. Keller loved cities and the people that lived in them. Based on Jeremiah 29:7, “seek the welfare of the city” he taught that in reaching the city, we are reaching the culture. Because of this, Christians should not run away from cities but move and influence life in cities. Christians should demonstrate an alternative way of life in the city, shaped by the gospel. They should be radically committed to the good of the city, through mercy ministry and integration of faith into work. God calls his people to engage the city through the power of his gospel.
Christians should demonstrate an alternative way of life in the city, shaped by the gospel.
I was captivated by how he approached each meeting with curiosity and a willingness to learn. He was a highly educated, knowledgeable, well-published, and respected global pastor. Yet he did not let that reputation blind him. Amazingly, with all his accomplishments, he was happy to just be called Tim. So Tim became to me a living example of the grace and kindness he preached. He profoundly enriched my understanding of the gospel and urban ministry.
City to City Africa
I was introduced to his literature and teaching through City to City Africa, a subsidiary of Redeemer City to City, that Tim Keller founded. As a ministry that works with local African leaders to plant contextual churches and develop citywide gospel networks, City to City Africa supports urban gospel movements. Keller’s posture and theological content inspired City to City Africa to mobilise African pastors in working together for the cities.
Because of Keller’s posture and teaching, many African pastors are networking today.
I got involved in City to City Africa when our local church was considering planting in another part of Kampala, when I was serving as a pastor. At that time, I was wrestling with how best to proclaim the gospel in Kampala. I had observed that like many other major African cities, Kampala was becoming increasingly multiethnic. Its population was growing exponentially and its youth were particularly vulnerable to high crime rates, unemployment, and poverty. So, I wondered about the means necessary to engage the city effectively with the gospel.
Today many churches have a “one size fits all” approach to evangelism and ministry, in both rural and urban settings. This approach avoids carefully thinking through the gospel and its implications for life, ministry, and mission in the culture at this moment of history. Thus many pastors struggle to communicate the gospel faithfully and relevantly; or to answer the questions people in cities ask. Like rabbits in fear of wild dogs, the Christians have been taught to step out to evangelise the city and immediately retreat to the safety of their church, so as not to be consumed. It is unfortunate that many urban ministries operate the same way as churches in the rural areas.
A Theological Vision for the City
Tim Keller, through City to City Africa, taught me how to develop a theological vision for your city, grounded in the need for contextualisation. Center Church was the book that informed me the most in this regard. Shaping my ecclesiology and philosophy of urban church planting and ministry.
Through Keller’s work I learned four critical strategies for spreading the gospel to urban areas, which is applicable in Africa.
- Complete gospel renewal and revival as agents and objects of the gospel; we are transformed personally by the power of the gospel.
- Contextual churches in the city. This is planting and revitalising churches that engage the local culture yet are distinct.
- Comprehensive incorporation of faith into every aspect of life, including work.
- Collaboration, working with a citywide gospel movement, focused on the gospel in urban settings outside of a single denomination or congregation.
Because of Keller’s posture and teaching, many African pastors are networking today. Pastors are holding meetings in many African cities to discuss how to better serve and reach their cities.
Partner for Effective Urban Ministry
City to City Africa continues to engage leaders from Abidjan, Accra, Bujumbura, Cape Town, Douala, Harare, Lilongwe, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kinshasa, Lagos, Luanda, Nairobi, and Yaoundé. These are African cities where pastors and church planters have citywide gospel visions and have been trained to engage the city. These pastors have been able to talk to one another and ask questions regarding gospel renewal strategies for their cities. Baptist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Pentecostal, and other Reformed pastors are all represented here.
The city is too large for any single congregation or denomination to engage alone.
To reach a city for Christ, Keller emphasised and demonstrated the importance of such gospel partnerships or movements. We must work together, in service of Christ and our cities. And what he taught in his book, Center Church, he lived out as a pastor in New York. I learned from Tim the urgency for us as pastors in African cities to work together across denominational lines for the gospel in the city.
The African pastor must think beyond his denomination and seek to work together with like-minded believers in their cities. The city is too large for any single congregation or denomination to engage alone. It would be best if you worked with others. Collaboration is the way forward. We need a citywide vision for effective urban ministry. With Keller, this is my appeal to you. Let’s work together.
An Admirable, Imitable Legacy
Timothy Keller died on the 19th of May, 2023. He joined his Maker and now rejoices with the angels in heaven, in the presence of his God and Saviour. He left a legacy of faithful ministry, outstanding biblical teaching, and effective gospel witness towards those that many Christians had given up on. May we walk in his steps?
African churches must move beyond working in silos and embrace citywide networks for the gospel.
African churches must move beyond working in silos and embrace citywide networks for the gospel. This way is distinct yet engaging the city as a movement. This is in a gospel movement established by local leaders, planting and revitalising churches, and developing gospel networks across all African cities.
