20
2010
Loving your city starts with knowing your city…
An article by 
A while back I was having lunch with a group of pastors who served in churches from the local area. Over the course of lunch thetypical small talk happened and I found myself asking different pastors to tell me about the neighborhoods that where they served. I walked away from the lunch surprised and disappointed by the fact that of the six or so pastors that I asked, only one could speak intelligently about the neighborhood that they were in.
This lunch meeting came to mind this morning while reading Jonathan Dodson’s post at The Resurgence site: Four Ways to Know Your City. Jonathan’s list includes:
- Ask questions
- Read local authors
- Study your city’s history
- Enjoy the city!
The list is nothing new, but we all need the refresher from time to time. Being a bit of a history geek, I love number three… and it made a huge difference in how I went about serving the city of Baltimore in the church that I helped plant there.
How have you gotten to know your neighborhood?
What makes your neighborhood unique?
About the Author: Matt Steen
Over the last fifteen years I have been a Church Planter, Youth Pastor, Executive Pastor, and now I serve as a Church Concierge with churchsimple.net. I love Jesus, my wife, the Redskins and Capitals and am currently living on Long Island striving to properly pronounce the word G'island.
