MINISTRY OJECTIVES
We want to see violent crime neighborhoods transformed through the building up of the local church body. We do this by:
RAISING UP INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP
Urban Story has a firm conviction to clearly and accurately disciple new believers according to sound Biblical doctrine. We believe that every person who comes to the knowledge of Christ needs to understand what it means to be a Christ follower. At the heart of our mission is to raise up indigenous leaders in the communities we serve. We do this through our discipleship/mentorship program called Kingdom Builders, which is a 4 and a half month long program with 3 phases; biblical doctrine, spiritual gifts, and evangelism. We believe that true change and transformation will take place over the course of time when we disciple. We believe that God has called every one of us to disciple new believers. We hope to impart this emphasis of discipleship to all of our church partners.
EXPOSING HIDDEN REALITIES
We endeavor to provide opportunities for Christians to be exposed to what God sees in our community. We believe that in order for people to engage in ministry to the least of these they have to come in contact with the reality of those living in their own city. We do this through videography on our YouTube channel where we share people’s stories who have lived in urban communities and by documenting key issues plaguing our community. We believe that God desires His body to see what he sees. Our slogan is “The God Who Sees” which is a reference to Genesis 16:13 where Hagar built an altar to the God who saw her. We believe that when we as the Body of Christ recognize the needs of our neighbors that they will in turn build altars for the Lord in their community.
PARTNERING WITH THE LOCAL CHURCH
We believe that the answer for communities experiencing violent crime is the local church. We want to strategically partner with Executive Pastors to engage the local church body in outreach and discipleship to the least of these. We believe that in order for our partnerships to be successful we need the full backing of Executive Pastors in the community. We believe that an impartation of grace will take place during the course of Urban Story’s partnership with local church bodies. This will impact their involvement in outreach to underserved communities.
COMMISSIONING SPIRITUAL FATHERS AND MOTHERS
The biggest issue that is plaguing urban communities across America is a breakdown of the family. We believe that a majority of issues we see in neighborhoods of violent crime can be sourced back to dysfunction in the family. Urban America is not in need of another program, but in need of relational impartation. We believe that the body of Christ is positioned by God to impart healing, opportunity, and reconciliation to communities experiencing hardship.
TRAINING UP LEADERS IN THE BODY OF CHRIST
We want to see every leader in our partner churches and beyond equipped to do ministry to violent crime/urban communities. We do this by hosting training classes that equip members of our partner churches in spiritual gifts and urban ministry. We believe that people will engage in the mission of reaching violent crime neighborhoods if they are correctly trained and equipped. We believe the responsibility of the 5 fold ministry is to equip the saints for works of ministry (Ephesians 4:12-16).