Here is a sampler of two chapters of a new book I'm working on entitled: Vespas, Cafes, Single-Speed Bikes, and Urban Hipsters: A Biblical View on Gentrification.

One-Sentence Summary: Gentrification as a city-shaping process straddles the line between being helpful and hurtful. Is there such thing as a biblical or theological response to gentrification?

The movement toward parish is reaching a tipping point. Thousands of people across Cascadia are moving toward a more local and embodied way of being the church in everyday life. But the journey is complex, the transition is difficult, and the experienced guides are few.

Join this gathering of practitioners from Portland, as well as seasoned representatives from Edmonton, Springfield, Seattle, Vancouver BC, and Tacoma as stories are told, best practices shared, and the charism of particular places are explored.

Starting January 30th ... "Introduction to Church Planting" at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (PNWC). Sign up and join us!!

http://www.ggbts.edu/campus/pnwc/

To learn more about the class send an email to sean@epochcenter.org.

The endorsements are in for View From the Urban Loft: Developing a Theological Framework for Understanding the City. Here they are ...

Here is the official promo class poster from the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary with all of the pertinent information on it.

To download the full size click on Course Poster.

The upcoming class on Cultural Engagement in Urban Contexts class has been bumped up to a 2-credit/hour course. We've also reduced the costs for auditing the course as well. Here is a breakdown for the costs of the class:

For Credit: $550

Audit: $149

To download the registration form as well as the syllabus click on Class Schedule.
 

Starting in September we'll be rolling out a new class called Cultural Engagement in Urban Contexts. Here is the course description: Cultural Engagement in Urban Contexts explores the question of how to go about engaging Canadian city dwellers with the Gospel, and since 80% of Canada's population lives in cities, it is a question of vital importance to the church.

If you're interested in the flavour of Metrospiritual I'm including a downloadable pdf sample of the book. In the sample is the Introduction.

To download click on Metrospiritual Introduction Sample.

Epoch's first public lecture / discussion was a success. The crew that showed was a great cross-section of metro Vancouver, the discussion and conversations were rich, the networking proved to be pivotal, and we felt like we were able to push forward the conversation on The Walkable Church. The two topics explored were a theology of place and pedestrian-oriented church planting.

Dr. Stephen Harper, who will be teaching a course this fall called Cultural Engagement in Urban Contexts, will soon be releasing a new book called They're Just Not That Into You: A Church's Struggle for Relevancy in the 21st Century. Built off the research and data collected from Dr. Harper's doctoral dissertation, this book will wrestle through issues of the church's struggle to connect with an increasingly secularized and postmodern society.