VISION:
Unleash the complete vocational and cultural contribution of working Christians worldwide.
PURPOSE:
Bring heaven to earth by saturating every sphere of society, in every nation, with God's abundant and eternal life to the full.
MISSION:
Raise up a global community of connected, collaborative citywide workplace ministries that prioritize God's Kingdom, pursue Ekklesia everywhere, and operate as a network.
Operational DNA
For Ekklesia:
Embracing Jesus' original strategy to mobilize working Christians for spiritual responsibility and authority in their areas bf vocational deployment.
(Matthew 16:18)
For Networks:
Embracing Jesus' practical approach to organize working Christians in a nimble and team-based network.
(Luke 10:1-20; Acts 4:34)
For Kingdom:
Embracing Jesus' consistent priority to advance God's Kingdom now, in preparation for a New Heaven and a New Earth.
(Matthew 6:10 and 6:33, Revelation 21:1-5)
Building A Movement
Many efforts in many cities:
Like all moves of God, Convene for Cities reflects many efforts in many cities with many models, but with one shared premise: there are many congregations in every city, but there is only one Church in each city. The Church of the city seeks the “peace and prosperity” of the city (Jeremiah 29:7), finding its leverage in culture change through the workplace. Just as the 1st Century Church organized around cities in a pre-Christian society, the 21st Century Church is rediscovering city models for a post-Christian society.
A Good Model:
One model in the citywide workplace movement is At Work on Purpose, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio USA. At Work on Purpose was launched in 2003 by a community of working Christians from different church homes, denominations, zip codes and organizations across the city. Starting in a small group format, they providentially landed on basic “operational DNA” for a citywide workplace ministry. First, they recognized a shared identity as a “Church at work” in the city, similar to the Early Church as recorded in the epistles and in Revelation 2 and 3. Second, they organized as a network, a contemporary version of the early Christ followers depicted in Acts 4:34. Third, they sought the good will of the city’s people through their work, in the spirit of the Early Church as recorded in Acts 2:47.
Citywide expressions:
By 2011, the rapid growth of At Work on Purpose caught the attention of Jason Benedict at Regent University, a noted researcher in citywide workplace ministry and the emerging citywide workplace movement. Jason observes that while there are workplace ministries in almost every city, it is rare to see citywide expressions. As modeled by At Work on Purpose, citywide workplace ministries are set apart by four differentiating characteristics:
-
City Vision:
a vision for the whole Church at work in a city pursuing the flourishing of the whole city.
-
Inter-Denominational Posture:
inclusiveness for different denominations represented in the city.
-
Network Infrastructure:
decentralized and organic operating infrastructure across the city.
-
Cross-Sector Participation:
engagement through business, education, government, congregations and non-profits.
Traction
12,000 working Christians
At Work on Purpose has emerged as a global model for the citywide workplace movement, involving over 12,000 working Christians across Greater Cincinnati.
It is now building replicable citywide workplace prototypes, advocating for the citywide workplace movement, and organizing citywide workplace ministry models from other cities into this shared platform.