Christian spirituality in the city. What is it about? What are the parameters? A videod presentation may be found at https://vimeo.com/vivgrigg/urban-spirituality-intro .

1. Urban Spirituality
Viv Grigg, April 2008

2. 6 Dimensions
of Christian Spirituality
1. The Framework of the Word (Truth)
2. Experiencing the Holy Spirit
3. Knowing our own spirits
4. Process: The interrelationship of our Spirit
and the Holy Spirit in progress towards
goals over time and space and gift
5. Means: the disciplines of spirituality
6. Context: Embedded in/complicated by our
spirit-body-sin-community-world context

3. 2. Who is the Holy Spirit?
 Who is he/she (Biblical, experiential?)
 How to we enter into relationship with
the Holy Spirit?
 How does the Holy Spirit relate to us?

4. 3. Being in Touch with our Own
Spirits(1)
 Aim of all kinds of zen, yoga,
spiritism, monastic spirituality….
 Psychotherapy and counseling (these
tend to deal with damaged spirit)

5. Being in touch with our spirits(2)
 But we are looking at a Biblical and
Christian spirituality
 God as truth, as light, as integrator
 The nature of humanness as reflecting
him
 Relationship of spirit, soul and body
 Context of world, flesh, devil

6. 4. Process of Christian Spirituality (summary)
a. The Aim of the Spiritual Life
b. Entrance to the Spiritual Life
 God's Part: Impartation of the Holy Spirit
 Our Part: Repentance and Belief
a. The Process (Journey) of the Spiritual Life
 Never removed from the seasons, turns and
crises of life
 The Conditions of Growth
 God's Part
 Our Human Part
 The Struggle Within

7. 4a. Aim of Christian Spirituality
 The Aim of the Spiritual Life (Goals of
Sanctification)
 Sanctification = Holiness = Separated or
Wholeness
 What are the goals of spiritual growth?
 II Cor 3:18
 Eph 2:8-10
 John 15:16
 Col 1:28,29
 Luke 1:30
What is Holistic Spirituality?

8. 4b. Precondition of Christian Spirituality
 Entrance to the Spiritual Life
 God's Part: Impartation of the Holy Spirit
 John 3:5,6;
 Our Part: Repentance and Belief
 John 1:12,13
 John 3:16
 Spiritual Growth follows the same pattern
(Col 2:6).

9. 4c. Preconditions of the Spiritual Life
Preexisting Context
 Family inheritance/genetics
 Covenants from previous generations
 With God
 With spirits
 Family environment
 Cultural Environment

10. Preconditions of the Spiritual Life
3b. Response
 Heb 11:6 Must believe that God
exists and that he rewards seekers
 If anyone’s will is to do his will, he
shall know that the teaching comes
from God.
 A passionate search for and hunger
for God. (Psalms)

11. 3c Preconditions of Christian Spirituality
 The Process (Journey) of Spiritual Growth
 The Conditions of Growth
 God's Part: Filling us with the Spirit
 Our Human Part: Put off, put on
 The Struggle Within

12. Its all God
Its all me: discipline, more discipline,
more discipline, more…..
God’s Part? Our Part?
I labour, struggling with all his
energy, which so powerfully
works within me (Col 1:29)
Concepts of Christian Spirituality

13. 4d Journey into Christian Spirituality
 The Process (Journey) of the Spiritual Life
 How do you envisage the journey?
 Time? Seasonal? Cyclic?
 Chance? Sovereignty?
 Direction?
Time: Ecclesiastes
Soveriegnty:Job, Psalms
Direction:Revelations

14. 4e Concepts of Christian Spirituality
 The Struggle Within
 The Shadow Side (Romans 1:18-32; 3:23)
 Walking in The Light (1 John 1:5-9)
 The Flesh Wars Against the Spirit (Gal
5:16-26)
 We began with repentance, we continue with
daily confession
 We began with trust, we continue with
dependence

15. Warfare with the World, Flesh, Devil
 The Struggle Within
 Always in Conflict
 Spiritual warfare
is primarily warfare
with our own desires
 But the context of the
cosmos
 And the prowling of the
devil
 Confuse and
cause conflict
Holy Spirit
Flesh =
Sinful nature
Our Spirits

16. 5. Concepts of Christian Spirituality
 The Means of Growth
And the
Difference is?
Water and Manure
•The washing of the water of the word (John 15:3)
•Spiritual milk (1 Peter 2:23)
•Faith community

17. 5. The Means of Grace (The Disciplines)
 Symbolic
 Baptism
 Communion
 Transformation of the
Mind
 Word
 Prayer
 Communal
 Fellowship
 Worship
 Activism
 Proclamation
 Doing Justice
 Showing Mercy
 Summarized in the
Wheel Diagram
 Each stream of
spirituality defines
different means of
grace

18. 6. Contextual Diversity in Christian Spiritualities
 Contextual
 Slum spiritualities, migrant spiritualities
 Indigenous spiritualities
 Classic (Western, individual) spiritualities
 Process-based spiritualities (Wesleyan, pietistic)
 Spirit-focussed spiritualities (e.g. Pentecostal,
charismatic)
 Inner spirit-focussed spiritualities (e.g. exchanged
life, meditative, monastic)
 Communal spiritualities
 Externally focussed (justice, love, action, preaching
friar, Franciscan)
BUT EACH HAS THE 6 CORE DIMENSIONS

19. Spirituality in the Midst of
Movement Leadership

20. Outcomes of this course
(see course outline for details)
In this course we will
 Understand the work of the Holy Spirit in
sanctification
 Examine the impact of our culture on our
spirituality
 Examine the contextual impact of urbanism and
migrant poverty on our spirituality
 Understand styles of urban and migrant
spirituality
 Understand indigenous spirituality issues
 Understand elements of classical spirituality
that assist us in the city, among the poor,
coping with the pains of the migrant
(cont….)

21. Outcomes of this course
(see course outline for details)
In this course we will (cont…)
 Understand our own spirits better
 Seek cleansing of our spirit, find healing of our
souls, identify better who we are
 Discern what we are to do in our life (as much
as is wise): our call, our giftings, our capacities
 Design our own Lifestyle and Values statement
 During the practicum of this course
 Lead a small group through steps towards
spirituality
 Map out a plan of spiritual development for the
duration of this training with a spiritual mentor

22. A Life that
Glorifies God
Maturity
Isa 43:7
Growing Know-
ledge of Him
The Character
of Christ
Growing Love
of Him
Growing in
Christlikeness
Walking in the Spirit (Gal 5:25)
Discerning his Will (Eph 5:17)
Abiding in Christ (John 15:5)
Fellowship with God (Heb 11:6)
Conditions of
Spiritual Birth
God’s Part
God’s Spirit
enters our life
Man’s Part
Acknowledge his Reign
Repentance
Belief
God’s Part
God’s Spirit
fills our life
Man’s Part
Dying to Self
Living By Faith
Conditions of
Spiritual Growth
Col 2:6 As therefore you
Received Christ Jesus
as Lord, so live in him
Summary of Core Concepts
Word
Means of Grace
Prayer etc
CONTEXT

23. Bibliography
 The most comprehensive reference text for
this course is:
Ken Boa, Conformed to His Image
 But there is no single text for urban or slum
spiritualities or migrant spiritualities, these
are yet to be written
 Other texts in the Bibliography
 Readings in the reader on the CD for each
lecture.