Jesus on Main Street: Good News through Community Economic Development

God loves just economies, but sadly the invisible hand of the market has chiseled huge cracks in our communities. Fortunately,  Jesus announced freedom for the poor and oppressed, and by taking on his mantle we have a role to play in helping establish just economies here and now! Jesus on Main Street provides church leaders and church planters with a broad overview of Community Economic Development (CED), with practical steps to lead your church in following Jesus into those cracks. You’ll be equipped with the CED “toolkit” including microbusinesses, makerspaces, business incubators, worker cooperatives, workforce development, commercial district revitalization, locality development, anchor institutions, and accountable development. A robust assessment and planning guide specifically for churches will help you create a collaborative CED strategy rooted in God’s love for people and justice.
For churches looking to bring healing to their local economies, CED builds capacity for long-term equitable economic growth, catalyzing a movement of business creation, employment, and job creation that does not leave anybody behind. This is the promise and challenge of CED as we follow Jesus down Main Street and explore what good news for local economies looks like!

David E. Kresta, PhD, MBA, is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Urban Studies at Portland State University where he teaches graduate level courses in community and economic development. He is also a Fellow at the Ormond Center, Duke Divinity School.

Dr. Paul Louis Metzger (Ph.D., King's College London) is Professor of Christian Theology & Theology of Culture at Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Jessup University. He is also the Founder and Director of The Institute for Cultural Engagement: New Wine, New Wineskins and Editor of New Wine's journal Cultural Encounters: A Journal for the Theology of Culture. Integrating theology and spirituality with cultural sensitivity stands at the center of Dr. Metzger's ministry vision. He and his wife, Mariko, have been active in intercultural ministry in churches in the States, Japan, and England. Dr. Metzger is the author of More Than Things: A Personalist Ethics for a Throwaway Culture (IVP Academic, 2023); Setting the Spiritual Clock: Sacred Time Breaking Through the Secular Eclipse (Worship & Witness series, Cascade, 2020); Beatitudes, Not Platitudes: Jesus' Invitation to the Good Life (Cascade, 2018); Evangelical Zen: A Christian's Spiritual Travels With a Buddhist Friend (Patheos, 2015); Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths (Thomas Nelson, May 2012); New Wine Tastings: Theological Essays of Cultural Engagement (Cascade, 2011); The Gospel of John: When Love Comes to Town (InterVarsity Press, 2010); Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction (co-authored with Brad Harper; Brazos/Baker, 2009); Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church (Eerdmans, 2007); and The Word of Christ and the World of Culture: Sacred and Secular through the Theology of Karl Barth (Eerdmans, 2003). He is co-editor of A World for All? Global Civil Society in Political Theory and Trinitarian Theology (co-edited with William F. Storrar and Peter J. Casarella; Eerdmans, 2011); and editor of Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology (T&T Clark International, 2005). Dr. Metzger is a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, New Jersey, and served as Senior Mission Scholar in Residence, Spring 2018 at the Overseas Ministries Study Center, when it was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Metzgers have two children and one grandchild. He has a keen interest in the art of Katsushika Hokusai and Georges Rouault, the writings of John Steinbeck, and the music of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Doors, and Nirvana. Dr. Metzger blogs frequently at Uncommon God, Common Good (Patheos). His forthcoming works include the second edition of Evangelical Zen (Cascade, 2024), a volume on trauma and resilience (Worship & Witness series, Cascade, date TBD), and one on complexifying the category of "world religions" (IVP Academic, date TBD).