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Sean Benesh (DMin, Bakke Graduate University) lives in the Pacific Northwest and is the author of View From the Urban Loft: Developing a Theological Framework for Understanding the City (2011) and Metrospiritual: The Geography of Church Planting (2011). He is involved in urban ministry in the capacity of professor, researcher, consultant, Director of the Epoch Center for Urban Renewal, and church planter. He blogs regularly on various urban themes and topics at The Urban Loft.
“The way we move largely determines the way we live.” (Speck, Walkable City, 55) That quote stopped me in my tracks. I circled it, added a bunch of stars around the quote, dog-eared the page … and then double-dog-eared the page. It was a Eureka! moment for me and continued to confirm different ideas and [...]
Portland, Oregon is a city known for its hipsters, coffee shops, swank bohemian urban neighborhoods, craft breweries, burgeoning artisan economy, and bicycles. Call it the Amsterdam of the United States … Portland has been dubbed “America’s Bicycle Capital.” The city certainly lives up to this title and wears it proudly. Every city has some kind [...]
The Bikeable Church: A Bicyclist’s Guide to Church Planting is an off-the-cuff look and exploration into the bicycling world in Portland. More than that, it pokes and prods church planting in the urban petri dish to discover what it’d be like to plant pedal-powered churches. Chalked full of stories, antics, and slightly questionable research, The [...]
As the world hurtles towards urbanization at an ever-increasing pace, there arises the need for further theological reflection on the city. Globalization, international immigration, and densification in cities are having a transformative impact on the urban landscape. Urban mission is at the forefront of many denominations, church planting networks, ministries, and mission organizations yearning for [...]
In church planting circles we are more apt to look backwards rather than forward when talking about models, methods, forms, and expressions. Besides, it is this concept of reverse-engineering which is the topic of many books on church planting as leaders reflect on what worked, and worked wildly well. To propose a theoretical framework is [...]
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