Update: Stefan Paas has produced a transcript of his lecture in PDF form, which is available for download here. The paper also clarifies some points and addresses some of the questions that were raised by his talk.

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Stefan Paas is a professor at the Free University of Amsterdam, holding the J.H. Bavinck Chair for Church Planting and Church Renewal. He was at the recent Redeemer City to City Europe conference in Berlin where he gave a talk entitled "A European Perspective on Church Planting." If you're involved in ministry in the UK or Europe, I think you'll find this to be very interesting. He raises a lot of important questions to consider about the nature of ministry here and the vision and aims of the church on this continent.

Below is the audio of his session as well as the slides he used during the presentation, which he has now made available.

If you are interested in the rest of the audio sessions of the conference, including some by Tim Keller, they can be found here. Do note that you need to register in order to be able to get access to all of them.

Church planting groups like Redeemer City to City have for some time now been stressing the need for churches to be planted in major cities, and for this reason have targeted some of the biggest and most important cities in the world in their work. Tim Keller, in a recent post on Redeemer CTC's blog, wrote that the church's focus on cities is so critical "because of the sheer masses of people who live there and because of how influential cities are on their respective societies and cultures."

It would be hard to deny the importance of the cities and their powerful influence on culture. There is a reason so many people around the world leave rural towns and villages in droves and flock to the cities, even if it means they need to live in conditions of squalor in the slums and shanty-towns bordering those cities. There is an anticipation, a hope of something better, an expectation that the city will provide something they do not have. The city, in some sense, becomes synonymous with life.

Why has the city come be what it is? Graham Ward, professor of contextual theology and ethics at the University of Manchester, offers some rather intriguing insights into this question in his book, The Politics of Discipleship: Becoming Postmaterial Citizens, one of the books in The Church and Postmodern Culture series that Jamie Smith is editing. Ward writes,

Cities are the greatest and most complex of human arts forms. They are aesthetic installations of juggernaut proportions, and they are shot through with transcendental aspirations. Lewis Mumford raises an important questions. What, he asks, drew people from the comfortable security of villages into the towers, walls and precincts of early cities? Cities were not created simply out of large numbers of people coming together; something attracted them into an orbit that fed not their bodies but their desires and imaginations. Mumford pinpoints the catalyst: the figure of the local chieftain merged with the priest and created the king. With the institution of sacral kingship, a new symbolic world order emerged—the city. Only for the gods would human beings exert themselves in the building of citadels and the construction of walls too thick simply to keep out other human and animal invaders. The king become a symbol, a metonymic figure of dazzling ambiguity, incarnating the corporate personality of the community. It is not that the sacred was invented with kingship, for the shrine had always been a focal point for congregating and, before city dwelling for the living, there were always necropoli, cities of the dead. But with the institution of sacral kingship came an urban explosion, for around him grew the scribes, the lawyers, the military, who fostered an intellectual and cultural life. The city thus came to represent 'the cosmos, a means of bringing heaven down to earth, the city [as] a symbol of the possible. Utopia was an integral part of its original constitution, and precisely because it took form as an ideal projection, it brought into existence realities that might have remained latent for an indefinite time in more soberly governed small communities.' The city, then, has always been shot through with references to the transcendent, while simultaneously being the site for the massive extension of what it is to be human, for in cities human capabilities are extended by the aggregate of human beings dwelling there; there is an accumulation of wealth, power, and intellectual ingenuity. Besides being the sites for the sacred, they are the sites for Promethean aspirations, sites for self-assertion. Here lie the origins over the struggle for the soul of the city (207-208).

And it is precisely because of this ongoing struggle for the soul of the city that we need the church in the city.

I love these folks. They are doing great things.

...it is too inspiring.

If you are monolingual, as I unfortunately am, it can sometimes be difficult to find the information you want. In my case that means it can be difficult to find gospel-centered churches in different parts of the world. Occasionally I spend some time online looking for what kind of work is being doing around the world, especially in Europe.

In the past it has been quite a challenge, but I now have some help thanks to the Redeemer Church Planting Center. They have compiled a directory of churches around the world affiliated with the Redeemer network in one way or another. Most of them are located in major urban centers and are founded with the same mission as Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, to be gospel-centered churches committed to the renewal of the city. Check it out to see if there is a church in your area.

Gallup released a new poll recently with a map showing the degree to which each state in the United States values religion. The results are not at all surprising to me.

Church planters, you now know where your work is needed most.

(HT: Feeding on Christ)

There are a number of great cities in Canada, and the city of Montréal is perhaps one of the most unique. I have not spent a great deal of time there, but the few times I have been I have really enjoyed it. If you are ever planning to visit Canada, be sure that one of the places you visit is Montréal. The video to your left here is a short two-minute clip, uniquely made, giving you a short taste of the city.

Montréal is quite possibly the most culturally-unique city in Canada. Its location and history have created a culture with multiple influences. There is an old joke in Québec that says, "We could have had French culture, British government and American know-how... but what we've really got is American culture, French government and British know-how!" Some have gone so far as to call Montréal "Amerope," as it is shaped by a very distinct blend of American and European culture.

Aside from making this an interesting city to visit, it creates a distinct challenge for church planting efforts in one of the least-churched cities in North America. The Redeemer Urban Church Planting Center has been putting out an e-newsletter for a few years now, and back in 2004 they featured one of the church planting efforts in Montréal. Here's what they had to say about the unique challenges in that city:

So, what makes Montréal unique? Well, first of all, Montréal is bilingual, boasting the second largest French-speaking population in the world. Culturally, it reflects the American life and attitudes. In addition to being geographically located in North America, Montréalers and Americans share an increasing consumer mentality where choice is imperative. Montréalers also value the ease and spontaneity commonly associated with Americans.

But Montréal is more influenced by European intellectual and social values than other Canadian cities. Like Europeans, Montréalers are less forthcoming than Americans and see a difference between 'friends' and 'acquaintances.' They are a bit more clannish and more cautious about allowing people into their lives. Typically, for church planters, this means that it takes longer for people to really open up and become a 'friend.'

In addition to these differences is Montréal's particular spiritual history. In the past, it has been heavily influenced by Roman Catholicism, which today is widely rejected and viewed as being authoritarian, intellectually confining and too ritualistic. French existentialism has also influenced the thinking of those leading the social values of Montréal. But today, this philosophy too is increasingly questioned. The gate-keepers are beginning to understand that they need consensus and community in order to build a society. Similar to the trend in Europe, Montréal is moving toward a softer humanism where unity, cooperation and community are paramount. All these things make Montréal a uniquely diverse challenge for those living the Gospel in Montréal.

On the Square, the online blog of First Things, featured a very interesting article on this changing cultural climate in Québec a few weeks ago written by Paul Allen, professor of theology at Concordia University in Montréal. Allen noted that upcoming generations are disillusioned by the cultural values and expressions of earlier generations and are looking for something more. He concluded by saying, "what we hear is a lament for culture, a dissent, a reflection on Québec’s roots, a felt desire for something solid, permanent, and life-giving."

That blows the door wide open for the Church to enter through. Church planting efforts will most certainly be a great challenge here, but when a culture is in flux as it seems to be in Montréal and in Québec, it creates a unique opportunity for the Church to renew its presence in the city to play a major role in transforming that culture. Would it be a challenge you would consider taking up?

1) Reading about gospel-centered, relevant, orthodox (in the truest sense of the word) churches in Europe that are reaching the massive, post-Christian generation there, and are being blessed by God in extraordinary ways. Example: Berlinprojekt (who I've mentioned before on this blog). Whenever I read their newsletter I am overcome with excitement for what God is doing in Germany and Berlin. Check out their website, and their prayer blog.

2) Thinking about what would happen if more churches like that were planted in major centers of Europe. Why are there not more? Go to this website, watch the video on the bottom right, and pray that God will raise up more people to serve Him there. The possibilities are, in all reality, nearly endless. If you want to see me get passionate about something, talk to me about the church in Europe. If you want to see me get really excited, tell me about more churches like Berlinprojekt.