Discovering Your City : Bringing Light to the Task of Community Transformation

City reachers, pastors, parachurch leaders, and key laymen will find Discovering Your City to be a powerful and valuable tool for aiding in understanding the distinctives and dynamics of the city, its societies, and the Church. Educational institutions will find it valuable and relevant.

The fundamental purpose of this book is to provide guidance and help in discovering your city to the extent you have the accurate, up-to-date picture necessary for effecting Biblical-based transformation of both the city and the Church in the city. It is also to help see every segment of society in the city penetrated with the love, care, joy, and power of Jesus Christ through the presence of culturally relevant gatherings of believers, and culturally relevant ministries.

It highlights the vital and strategic role of information in mobilizing the Body of Christ for reaching the whole city with the whole Gospel. It provides guidance and tools needed for identifying what types and kinds of data should be gathered and then takes you, step by step, through the gathering, analysis, and communication/application processes.

This book is not the cure-all or the once-for-all answer in the area of city research and information. Hopefully however, you will find this book will play a key role in moving from where you are now to a fully operational citywide strategy and community transformation initiative.

An extensive appendix (approx. 150 pages) of reference materials provides: expanded data descriptions, sample maps, tables and graphs, survey forms, detailed analysis process steps, growth rate calculations, spiritual mapping survey lists, and other valuable material.

Bob Waymire is founder and president of LIGHT International. He is involved in nationwide and citywide Church mobilization and research. He has served as the global coordinator of National Research Mobilization with the AD2000 Movement, and currently serves as global co-coordinator for National Strategy Initiatives. He is the founder of Global Mapping International. He and his family reside in Etna, California.

Carl Townsend is founder and president of Strategic Resources Ministry. He lives in Portland, Oregon and has been active in the citywide initiative Mission Portland as research coordinator for the past decade. He has written more than 30 computer text books over the past 20 years, and currently consults on a variety of computer and research-related projects.