Staying Awake for God's Sake

Overview

When Rev. Tyler Sit set out to plant a church in Minneapolis in 2015, he began by listening. He walked every neighborhood in the city to listen for God’s dreams and discern where God wanted him to plant a church. He listened to neighbors over meals to hear what kind of church they would want to be a part of. What emerged was a church led by BIPOC leaders focused on eco-justice, community organizing, and centering marginalized voices in the community. New City Church gets its name from Revelation 21 which describes a heaven where God lives in a new city where all tribes all welcomed, there is no more violence, and the earth is renewed. Tyler’s book is “Staying Awake: The Gospel for Changemakers.” This conversation will open your eyes and re-energize you for the change-making work of the gospel in your context.

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

• Tyler’s innovative approach to ministry, focusing on solidarity and listening to the community. (7:43)

• Starting New City Church with a prayer walk through every neighborhood, paying close attention to each neighborhood’s needs. (8:46)

• Starting a multi-site church with a common mission and vision specific to the neighborhood of each church. (13:12)

• How centering marginalized voices and entrusting them to steer the conversation is central to New City Church. (16:12)

• Being faithful in social movements instead of being in charge of them. (19:05)

• How New City Church responded to the murder of George Floyd and how other churches can be faithful in social movements. (21:11)

• Centering marginalized voices means finding a new center of gravity for a community, not excluding anyone. (26:14)

• His book, Staying Awake: The Gospel for Changemakers was created to be useful to the people Tyler is ministry with. (29:01)

• The origins and mission of Intersect to support intersectional church planting for marginalized communities. (30:59)

• Realistic planning for funding ministry is key because it’s not enough just to have a great entrepreneurial idea. (33:43)

• The importance of institutional support from the Minnesota Annual Conference, Candler School of Theology, and different churches. (38:37)

• Organized religion is a requirement for social change today. (44:30)

• Launching The Grapevine Collective to provide capacity building and development for healing justice nonprofits. (45:31)