David Lipscomb on the Urban Poor
My article “David Lipscomb on the Urban Poor” was recently published in Missio Dei: A Journal of Missional Theology and Praxis. You may access it here. The article is headed by the following abstract:
David Lipscomb feared that wealth had perverted the mission and work of the church in late nineteenth century America. A ruralist ethos reigned among his contemporaries, resulting in prejudice against the urban poor. Yet, Lipscomb believed the gospel was fundamentally good news to the poor—including the urban poor. He called prophetically for churches to preach the gospel as Jesus did, by identifying with the poor and communicating the message to them in understandable ways.
I commend this journal to all. Several of the editors are former students of mine and many are presently working in urban and internationals situations (Angola, Australia, Peru). Read the previous issues and the present one has articles by Earl Lavender, Jackie Halstead, Nathan Bills, and Richard Goode from the Lipscomb University faculty among other contributors such as Ellen Davis.