The City Ministry InitiativeVision: The City Ministry Initiative (CMI) is a theological and ministerial training program of Covenant Theological Seminary that seeks to build multi-directional bridges between the Covenant community and the diverse, multi-economic cosmopolitan community of St. Louis. CMI seeks to enhance the role of social justice and racial reconciliation as integral components of the witness of the Church through equipping ministers to serve effectively in the increasingly urbanizing world.

Mission: CMI serves the Covenant Seminary community by providing academic programming purposed to develop competencies in community development, asset-mapping, neighborhood organizing, cross-cultural communication and urban church planting. CMI provides regular opportunities for the broader campus to connect to the urban, multiethnic context of St. Louis through interactive campus events and urban immersions in the classroom of the city.

Core Programs:

CMI Degree Track of the Master of Arts in Ministry (MAM): Students at Covenant Seminary can take elective courses in City Ministry or pursue the MAM degree with a City Ministry focus; CMI core courses include Intercultural City Ministry, Transformational Community Development and Christianity & Race. Courses are held in city churches and entail community tours as well as on-site ministry experience.

CMI Spring Conference: Covenant Seminary hosts an annual conference focusing on specific issues in city ministry (housing, education, immigration, mass incarceration, racial reconciliation) featuring national leaders and providing local networking.

Urban Apologetics Study Tour: CMI sponsors bi-annual international study tours introducing students, ministers and lay-leaders to early African Christianity in order to equip the Church in presenting the fullness of Christian history.

MLK Celebration & Teach-In: Living in the epicenter of the current civil rights movement, CMI seeks to partner with local advocacy and organizing groups for an annual event providing theological training and practical experience in biblical protest of injustice.

City Tour: CMI hosts an annual, all-campus tour of the history and culture of Metro St. Louis purposed at introducing new students to the city as well as providing deeper acquaintance for long-time residents.

Campus Events on City Ministry: CMI offers regular on-campus events which introduce the broader Covenant community to issues pertaining to city ministry including movie nights, guest lecturers and ministry lunches.

Minority Scholars of Religion & Theology: CMI has organized the only network for ethnic minority scholars of biblical and theological studies. The MSRT hosts an annual gathering for ethnic minority professors in the St. Louis area as well as an annual student conference purposed for empowering students of color toward theological scholarship.

Inter-Minority Dialogue: CMI co-sponsors a network of St. Louis-area pastors and ministry leaders which organizes an annual conference as well as quarterly gatherings purposed at creating reconciliation and dialogue with a focus on ethnic minority relations.

ScheduleFriday April 13Rayburn Chapel

 4:45pm Welcome reception (Community Center) 5:30pm Chapel doors open6:00pm Welcome and Greetings6:10pm Exegetical Comments (Jay Sklar)6:20pm “Theology of Place: St. Louis and Covenant Seminary” (Jeremy Main)6:50pm “Making St. Louis: Race and Housing in the Gateway City” (Colin Gordon)7:30pm Focus Groups7:45pm “Red Lines and Red Letters: The Church in the Service of Homes” (Patty Prasada-Rao)8:25pm Q&A with Patty and Colin8:45pm Announcements and Dismissal

 Saturday April 14Rayburn Chapel

8:30am Doors open9:00am Welcome and Worship9:20am City Ministry Initiative (Vince Bantu)9:25am “Making Ferguson: Race and Citizenship in St. Louis County” (Colin Gordon)10:05am Focus Groups10:20am “Wholistic Urban Renewal: Moving in Without Pushing Out” (Patty Prasada-Rao)11:00am Break11:15am “Call and Response: The People of God as a Source of Affordable Housing” (Mike Jones)11:55am “So They May Live Among You: Models of Pursuing Fair, Quality Housing (Keaira Anderson, Will Jordan, Mike Jones)12:40pm Thanks and Dismissal (Vince Bantu)

SpeakersDr. Colin GordonColin Gordon is the F. Wendell Professor of History at the University of Iowa. He is the author of Growing Apart: A Political History of American Inequality (Institute for Policy Studies, 2013); Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008); Dead on Arrival: The Politics of Health in Twentieth Century America (Princeton University Press, 2003), and New Deals: Business, Labor and Politics, 1920-

1935 (Cambridge University Press, 1994).

Rev. Michael JonesPastor Jones is Sr. Pastor of Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church. In 1996, Pastor Jones created Robert Fulton Community Development, Inc. to invest in the North St. Louis community and provide services to enrich the lives of area residents. Through his efforts, over $125+ million dollars has

been invested in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Patty Prasada-Rao, MPHPatty Prasada-Rao has worked with non-profits for over 25 years both in the US and overseas, including community development, organizational and professional leadership development, campus ministry, and national association work. She has worked for organizations ranging from the American Public Health Association, The Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine/Public Health, to Sandtown Habitat for Humanity, New Song Urban Ministries, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and the Christian Community Development Association, and has served on boards of local, national, and international community development organizations.

PanelistsKeaira Anderson: Executive Director, Cornerstone Corporation

Will Jordan: Executive Director, Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council

WorshipLed by Tony Myles: Senior Pastor, New City Fellowship St. LouisWorship Team: Natalia Martinez, Paula Nguyen, Bradley Suya, Kayla Berry.