Linking Arms, Linking Lives: How Urban-Suburban Partnerships Can...

Product Description
Among the various lines drawn between people in the church--male and female, young and old, black and white, rich and poor, Republican and Democrat--there is the line between the urban and the suburban. The stereotypes of the edgy, socially active, multicultural urban Christian and the middle-class, comfortable, upwardly mobile suburban Christian mix fact and fiction. Linking Arms, Linking Lives looks beyond stereotypes and makes a compelling case for partnership that crosses urban and suburban for effective ministry among the poor. Drawing from a growing network of development practitioners, pastors, and theologians, this book focuses on the experiences of partnership between urban and suburban entities to provide both theological foundations and practical guidelines for those who desire to partner effectively. All who want to find viable ways to help the poor will welcome this thoughtful and hope-filled book. Includes a Foreword by Noel Castellanos.

Back Cover Copy
Step across the urban-suburban divide and make a difference today In Linking Arms, Linking Lives, four respected ministry leaders offer solutions that have already transformed communities and have potential to allow many more people to fulfill the biblical call to compassion and justice. Here they make a compelling case for how partnerships that cross the urban-suburban divide can minister to the poor. "This work, with sensitivity and insight, exposes what nearly always lies beneath the surface of urban-suburban partnership attempts. The authors not only show us why we need biblical community, but how. This is a field guide like none other, a book for Christians everywhere to read and carry with them."--Michael O. Emerson, Allyn & Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology; founding director, Center on Race, Religion, and Urban Life, Rice University; author, Divided by Faith, United by Faith, and Against All Odds "A gorgeous invitation to bust out of the ghettos of wealth and poverty and reimagine the world together. The harmony of voices that created this book are contemporary heroes of the faith whose experiences bring their words to life. May it move us closer to God's dream for our neighborhoods and world."--Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and recovering sinner, www.thesimpleway.org "Linking Arms, Linking Lives informs the Christian church on why and how we should speak to each other. It is a biblically based, practical approach to how we can unite urban and suburban Christians under Christ's lordship to do ministry."--Luis Cortés Jr., president, Esperanza "This book provides the biblical insights and practical wisdom any congregation can use to become living witnesses to the whole gospel of Jesus Christ."--Bryant L. Myers, professor of international development, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary Ronald J. Sider is president of Evangelicals for Social Action and professor of theology, holistic ministry, and public policy at Palmer Theological Seminary. John M. Perkins is cofounder of the Christian Community Development Association and director of the John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Development. Wayne L. Gordon is cofounder of the Christian Community Development Association and lead pastor of Lawndale Community Church in inner-city Chicago. F. Albert Tizon is assistant professor of evangelism and holistic ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary and director of Word & Deed Network of Evangelicals for Social Action.