The document discusses the dynamics between pioneer church-planters and development workers in identifying and engaging vulnerable communities. It emphasizes the need for discernment in ministry, integrating spiritual, economic, and justice initiatives while building faith communities among the marginalized. The text explores theological foundations and practical strategies for supporting and empowering these communities, aiming for sustainable and transformative change.

1. IDENTIFYING
VULNERABLE
COMMUNITIES
IN WHICH A FAITH
COMMUNITY CAN FORM
TWO VIEWS IN TENSION:
PIONEER CHURCH-PLANTERS
VS. DEVELOPMENT WORKERS
Viv Grigg,
Professor of Urban Leadership,
Director, MA in Transformational
Urban Leadership, WCIU
viv.grigg@wciu.edu
https://wciu.zoom.us/j/87251012273

2. NOTHING
MATCHES THE
THRILL…
• Churchplanter: … of entering a
community, preaching the gospel,
casting out demons, discipling groups of
men, gathering the first fellowship,
worshipping as people get set free,
transforming the economics, and the
education and the structures of the
community
• Economic Development Worker: …of
catalyzing a group discussion on
economics, a group process of savings,
group decisions about how to utilize
resources, liberating people from debt.
e.g. $1000

3. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground
and dies it remains alone but if it dies it
bears much fruit" (John 12: 24-26).
"You did not choose me but I chose you that
you should go and bear much fruit and that
your fruit should abide" (John 15:16).
If you go among a people serving them in
Christ’s name, you will bear fruit.
The question is how to structure to conserve
it. For two generations we have focussed on
Church-planting as a definable goal.
The Starting Point: Jesus Commission

4. GEN ??
CULTURE
SHIFTS
• Church-planting – a structuralist paradigm
for disciplined hardworking lifetime soldiers
with goals.
• Justice-making - partly determined by the
marketing of causes by news and the grant-
making industry, impassioned, enthusiastic,
group-oriented, idealistic creatives in a
constantly shifting post-modern patchwork
of ideas, life, and relationships. Big issues!!

5. We are victims
of Wars

6. WHERE
WE ARE
HEADING?
1. The nature of discernment processes
2. Modifying our Theologies
• Vulnerability vs. Overview of root words for the
poor in Bible
• Expanding “Church-Planting”
3. Understanding the Relationship between diaconal
and apostolic styles
4. Breakout Groups
5. Urban Analysis: Ways to Slice a City: Urban
Geography, Urban Ethnicity, Urban Oppression
1. Questions
2. Final Integration

7. 1. The Nature of Discernment
(TUL500 Urban Spirituality)

8. THE QUESTION ON
THE TABLE?
• Jesus came to minister to the
vulnerable in society, sharing with them
the good news of his redemptive
kingdom.
• One challenge for teams is identifying
vulnerable communities that are viable
for discipling movements or churches.

9. The Ancient Spiritual Practice
of Discernment of the City
Listen to God's heart for your city
• Nehemiah prayed, fasted and wept
for his city. From this a vision was
born.
• In Jerusalem, Nehemiah inspected
the walls of the city and developed
the vision into a workable plan - we
need to know where the ruins are.
• Spirituality begins with the healing
of the cross at the discontinuities,
the fractures, the pain.
• Apostolic history of discernment is
a history of collective discernment –
(consensus – 1)
• Principle: Strategic decisions are
best made by the strategists, They
need freedom to lead
• Principle: but ownership requires
input in the process.
You know how to interpret the
appearance of the sky, but you
cannot interpret the signs of the
times.
(Matthew 16:3)
Success is to “hear and obey”
A cursory reading of the prophets
shows how “listening” involves:
• fine application of the mind to
the issues of the day
• along with the direct spiritual
revelation from God. Tatalon Entrance

10. 10
Non-Linear Discernment: How do new ministries
among the vulnerable usually begin?
The Seer, The Prophet, The Strategist, the
Visionary
To See - Beginning: An encounter at an urban
discontinuity, an engagement with pain, an
unshakeable call.
To Envisage and Engage - Quest: A determined
individual leaves all to go engage, and no-one will
shake them loose from this quest.
To Call - Collectivity: They may not be team players,
they may not fit the mold, they may cause a lot of
havoc, but love them, bless them, back them and
watch God’s hand on them.
To Enable - Can a mission provide supportive
structures for such seers? Principle: Consensus – 1!!
Integrating
Theme
3.Theological
Conversation
2.Biblical
Reflection
4. Socio-
Economic
Conversation
e.g. ??4 years to be allowed to live in a slum
You gotta do what you gotta do!!

11. Theological Discernment Process:
Transformational Conversations?
Integrating
Theme
3.Theological
Conversation
2.Biblical
Reflection
4. Socio-
Economic
Conversation
Theology as Collective Action or
Institutionalized Theology
(TUL 67O – Urban Research Methods)
Theology, spirituality and calling
all begin at the discontinuities,
the fractures, the pain of city life
Matt 9:36-38

12. 2. Urban Theology
(TUL500)

13. VULNERABILITY
AS A CODE
WORD
• "The vulnerable are at risk people who are
powerless, voiceless, and excluded.
• Vulnerability is related to the characteristics
and circumstances of a community or system.
These characteristics and circumstances make
a community or system susceptible to hazard
and cause loss.
• Vulnerable groups may experience a higher
risk of poverty and/or social exclusion.
Marginalized
Oppressed
Poor
Deficit or
Asset
Based
View??

14. EXPAND SIX
THEOLOGICAL
CONVERSATIONS
• Poor and poverty in the OT (245x)
• The lame, the blind, the deaf, the
dumb, the leper, the demonized…
• The oppressed, the dispossessed,
the imprisoned
• Biblical foundation of building faith
communities within vulnerable
communities

15. 1. WHO ARE THE POOR
IN THE SCRIPTURES?
• See Companion to the Poor, chapter 3 for five
Hebrew words concerning different types of
poor in the scriptures.
• Ebyon: needy and dependent (61 times)
• Dal: the frail poor, the weak (57 time)
• Rush: the dispossessed (31 times)
• Chaser:lack of bread and water, to hunger (36)
• Ani: poverty caused by oppression (80 times)
• To these we may add the widows, the orphans,
the lame, blind, deaf, dumb, lepers, demon-
possessed, outcast women…

16. EXPAND
THEOLOGICAL
TERMINOLOGY:
2. BUILDING FAITH
COMMUNITIES??
(TUL530)
Matt 28:18-20: Make disciples: Jesus (speaking to a
group) to go preach (and start groups),
= Disciple-making movements (DMM) (not bound by
geography, not bound by style of group multiplication,
relational, action-oriented, diverse)
= Building communities of faith, hope and love (primary
emphasis on relationships not structure).
e.g. Craig, Phnom Phen
e.g. Jackie, H.K.

17. EXPAND
THEOLOGICAL
TERMINOLOGY:
3.THE GOSPEL
4 DISCIPLESHIP
(TUL530)
Manner of discipling: Luke 4:18, 19: Preach good news
of the Kingdom (Jubilee) to the poor
Which gospel do you preach? A gospel of salvation or
a gospel of the Kingdom?
What is the nature of discipleship?
• Spiritual discipleship,
• economic discipleship (5000 microfinance groups, 300
churches),
• justice discipleship (disciple whole nations, means
discipling structures),
• social discipleship

18. EXPAND THEOLOGICAL
TERMINOLOGY:
BUILDING FAITH
COMMUNITIES
AMONG THE
VULNERABLE
• Retraining needed: the above are 4
of the 18 paradigms needed to move
CD workers across to church-
planting among the vulnerable, and
church-planters across to holistic
ministry

19. 5. STRUCTURE
OF NEW FAITH
COMMUNITIES
• Acts:
• Acts 2:42-44 New spirituality, new social dynamic, new
economic relationships in sustained jubilee.
• Acts 2,4 and 6. Timothy - some local form of leadership of
elders, deacons, pastors
• enough energy to be sustainable
Viable
Sustainable
Reproducable
BiFocal. Matt
9

20. 6. MISSIOLOGY
(TUL530)
• Acts: The apostolic team is not the local elders and deacons,
but is mobile, pioneering and networking.
• Matt 10 lays out the seeds of apostolic methodology:
rapidity, finding persons of peace, researching receptivity
through proclamation, remain with the receptive…

21. 7. JESUS’
TARGETTING
WHERE TO
LOCATE A FAITH
COMMUNITY
PROCESS
• Jesus identified his target group – within his own
culture!!!
• 500+ families within a community is needed to have the
likelihood of a significant, sustainable group of 200 come
into a church
• Common identity. Where are the boundaries to identity?
• A potential place for gathering?
• Matt 10: Person of Peace
• Matt 10: Receptivity: if the streets are paved move on
• Responsiveness
• Acts: Divine Leading, Miracles, Dreams, Follow the Spirit…
• (Entering Tatalon)

22. 8.JESUS’ THEOLOGY OF
ENTRANCE PLANNING
1. Stop at a well, dismiss
your team, talk to a
woman, she converts two
villages.
2. Get a visit from a
Politician in the middle
of the night, confuse
him.
3. Have a friend die, wait till he
smells, raise him from the dead,
eat a thanksgiving meal at his
house, allow a former prostitute
to anoint you with expensive
perfume in the middle of the
banquet.
In our time:
4. Stand in front of bulldozers to
stop them bulldozing down the
squatter’s homes. Sit on the
trucks as they take their plywood
shacks, help them rebuild out in
the boondocks. Start worship.
Vs. MANAGERIAL PROPOSAL
Need, Goal, Resources Needed, Project steps, Time Frames, Leadership
Physical location? Current access points,

23. 3. Understanding Diaconal and Apostolic Roles
(TUL500)

24. Question and Answer: Submit your
questions. The webinar coordinator
will cluster them into similarities and
select several for discussion.

25. 6. WHAT IS THE 20TH C
EQUIVALENCY OF A 1ST C
DEACON?
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP OF
DEACONS TO APOSTLES?
INDEPENDENT HIGHLY FUNDED NGO’S
OR SUPPORTIVE ROLE TO FAITH
COMMUNITY BUILDERS?

26. Deacons = Community Development
Workers, Economic Devt Workers, Social
Workers, Robin Hoods
Administration of
Resources
01
Structuring Wealth Transfer
02
Maximizing Impact on
Alleviating Poverty
03
Program centered
04
Primary
Biblical
Theme
Primary
Role
Primary
Activity
Impact
Thinking
Center
Intuitive Movement
Leadership
01
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Building Communities of
Faith, Hope and Love
02
Maximizing Spiritual Birth,
liberation from bondages,
character formation
03
People centered
04
Apostles, Evangelists = Mobile
Catalysts of Communities of Faith
Stewardship &
Redistribution
00 Seeding Movements
00
TUL560 Organizational Leadership TUL620 Movement Leadership
CHECKLIST

27. Pioneers of Faith
Communities
Primacy of Proclamation
05
Apostle, Prophet,
Evangelist
06
Spirit manifesting the
Kingdom reign in people
and a community of faith
07
Urgent response today,
no funding in 3 years
Entrance
Point
Gifts
Mix
Kingdom
Activity
Sustainabiity
Identifying Felt Needs
05
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Administrator, Mercy,
Wisdom
06
Spirit using workers to reflect
Kingdom principles into
society
07
Permanent Community of
Faith generating expanding
resources
08
Deacons = Community
Development Workers
08
TUL535 Community Transformation TUL530 Building Faith Communities

28. ELEMENTS OF RESOLUTION?
SOME OF THE 18 PARADIGM SHIFTS
REL ATIONSHIP
OF DEACONS
AND APOSTLES
Visionar y
Pioneers
Administrators
of Programs
Deacons
Ser ve/Release
the Apostles
ABCD
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
Assets of
People,
Culture,
Identity,
Physical
Location
RESEARCH
Go preaching,
determine
entrance,
receptivity, and
responsiveness
PAR:
Par ticipant-
Action Research
FATHER A
MOVEMENT
Spiritual discipleship
Economic discipleship,
Social discipleship
As the discipling spreads
the need for programs
expands
Af ter character is proven,
appoint deacons (1-3
year progression)
JESUS’
APPROACH
Incarnation
Matt 10: Go
preaching
Deliverance, Healing
Find the Person of
Peace
No bags of Gold

29. • Direct Aid in a program puts a
barrier between donor and people.
Walking with people opens hearts.
e.g. building housing in Sapang
Palay
Appropriate Levels of People
building: BUILD your people first
Wait a year!!
The Community Devt Principle of
“building from within” begins with
releasing people from Spirit bondage
and sin bondage.
Dependable leadership requires
character formation, this phase of
early discipling cannot be ignored.
1. Conversion, Deliverance
2. Character formation,
3. Small Leadership Experiences
4. Community respect
5. Community leadership
• View Cash Flows in an
urban poor church video to
see the impact of financial
flows on the limits of
financial constraints on the
for community capacity.
Evangelism in the Midst of
Community Development
There are models of Comm Devt,
where the gospel works hand in
hand with the developmental
process. One is CHE. Community
Health Evangelism
Appropriate Timing Issues
• The impact of $25,000
project on a church
where a pastor earns
$100 a month can be
devastating
www.vimeo.com/vivgrigg
But there are many complexities
Appropriate Levels of Funding

30. Break out Groups
Team Process:– Choose the area of ministry of
someone with a passion for a particular group in their
city. If no one, then choose the smallest person in the
group. Have her/him describe their team. If she/he
were to submit a 2-page proposal to their team about
reaching a marginalized group in the city.
• What would be essential in it?
• How would the team get ownership of the process,
confidence that it would succeed?
• What financials need to be considered?
• What personnell levels?
• Would Participatory-Action Research or
Anthropological research best inform this process?

31. http://www.free-powerpoint-templates-design.com
4. Ways to Slice a City
(TUL 540 Urban Realities)
Viv Grigg, 2028

32. 4a Urban Geography

33. 33
Space: Urban Geography: Where is the City Moving?
“If the streets are paved move on”. Roger Greenway
Identifying a Community in Bangkok
• In three weeks of visiting Bangkok, I discovered the
research on the 98 churches.
• There were three churches in the slums.
• There were three ministries among sex workers
• There were two ministries to the blind I did not find
• The culture was unresponsive. But there was a revival
movement going on among university
students who were responsive.
• By going from one ministry to the next, I identified other
social service ministries to the slums.
• I went to the national housing authority and met a
researcher, leaving with the most amazing research on
1024 slums of Bangkok (see on the left.

34. 5/6/2024
34
Phase 2. Decision-making by the team
1. Which of these 3 types of community is likely to
enable a sustained community of faith?
2. A faith community: How many homes are sufficient so
you can evangelize to the extent of enough conversion
for a gathered congregation??
500? 5% responsive homes 25 x 6 people. = 150.
3. Location:
• Which can be excluded as too close to a temple?
• Which are older 4th, 5th gen slums - excluded?
• Which are likely a hub for other slums?
• If we do several communities, are they all within an
hours travel?
4. Responsive Ethnicity: Which are from Northern Thai
communities?
• Finding the tuk-tuk parking lots.

35. 4b Peoples of the City: Ethnicity
Size? Responsiveness? Clustering? Existing Ministries

36. Spatial City U.S. Racial Segregation
Detroit
Long Beach
New York
Washington, D.C.
Figure 11.a,b,c,d
• Segregation –
The combined
result of
congregation &
discrimination,
the spatial
separation of
specific
subgroups within
a wider
population.
• Development of
American Cities
reflect historical
trend of racial
segregation

37. 37
Response to Marginality, Oppression,
Liberation - he came to set the Captive Free
4c
Prisoners – African American Students
Deaf – Bangkok
Dispossessed: Land Justice – can a church
survive if the people don’t get the land?
IDP’s
Refugees – Education leading to a DMM
Housing: African American Churches
approach
Facing oppression requires skills in
community organizing
Community organizing does not go well with
initial church-planting. It requires a
developed church with leadership and
capacities
(TUL 655 Advocacy for Land Justice)

38. • Where would you
best plant a church?
• Where would you
best enable
community
development?
• Where would you
best become an
advocate?
• What would the
community look like
impacted by the
Kingdom ?
38
4c Matching
Communities Based on
Team Giftings