By Ava Swearingen, student writer
Every community has needs, stories and people searching for something more. Change can happen anywhere, even close to home.
The Center for Church and City Engagement, a Harding initiative led by Director Dr. Steve Cloer, began two years ago at the Holmes Road Church of Christ in Memphis, Tennessee. The center prepares students for an urbanized world in tandem with local churches. Cloer, an associate professor atHarding School of Theology, desired to create what he called an “urban HUT.”
Harding University at Tahkodah is a 100-acre outdoor missions training center that uses immersive simulations to introduce students to the everyday realities of people around the world. Ideally, HUT better equips students to minister to others worldwide. Cloer knew that there was a similar opportunity in Memphis.
There has always been a significant missions emphasis at Harding, largely focused on traveling abroad. However, the reality is many students will move to a big city after they graduate. That’s where the majority of the jobs are. Cloer wanted to challenge students to really plug in to the work happening in these cities. “What if you thought about that move not just in terms of getting a job, but actually serving that city,” he said. “What would that look like, and what would that require?”
And so, the Ministry in the City course was created. During Intersession this summer, 11 students traveled to Memphis, where they spent 10 days taking classes and experiencing the city up close. They went to the National Civil Rights Museum, toured disenfranchised neighborhoods, visited local churches and met with multiple ministry organizations. Everywhere they saw needs they also saw generous people meeting them. Whether they were aiding the unhoused, helping men recently out of prison get back on their feet, or just providing care in small moments, Christians in Memphis are rising to the challenge.
Students found their summer in Memphis transformative. When asked about the course’s impact, sophomore McKenzie Mann said, “I used to view missions as doing a good thing for other people, but the biggest lesson I learned is that relationships are the most important part. Supporting and being in the struggle with people not only strengthens them, but also blesses me . I'm not ‘being Jesus’ for another person. I'm encountering Jesus through my relationship with them.”
Sophomore Sam Bills also said, “The reality is that a lot of our neighbors just need a friend … I just need to be present and welcoming.”
Senior Trinity Singer reflected on the people she met and served, saying that contrary to the way society sometimes vilifies those in need, these people are “... moved by love and hope and fear and remorse just like I am.” Their burdens need bearing, too.
As Cloer looks to the future of this course, he hopes to create a movement. One of the next steps is the Discipleship in the City track at this year’s Inspire Lectureship. Touchpoints like this throughout the year keep momentum going for the continual good work at the Center for Church and City Engagement and will hopefully inform more students of the opportunity they have to be part of something bigger than themselves in Memphis.
The next two iterations of the Ministry in the City class even get a little bit of a boost. Thanks to a grant from NetVUE, the next two sets of students will have their course fee covered. This includes lodging, food and transportation for the trip.
Urban ministry doesn’t treat the city as a problem to solve but as a chance to love as God loves. Students who take the chance to experience Ministry in the City will see that firsthand, being changed for the better in the process.
To learn more, visit harding.edu/ccce.
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