As each of the World Impact regions expand their reach into new cities, neighborhoods and churches, we like to see common threads. One of those threads is the implementation of The Urban Church Association (UCA). The UCA is a strategic way to bring like-minded pastors and leaders from various sizes and types of churches and ministries together to be a to be a part of something bigger. It is a way to link arms with each other for encouragement, prayer, and the sharing of ideas and resources.
Urban Church Associations have three objectives. Through fellowship, we hope to encourage, inspire, and strengthen pastors in vital Christian discipleship. We also hope pastors will pool their gifts, knowledge, and strengths for kingdom-minded work. Lastly, each association is designed to encourage pastors to work together to transform their communities.
Some UCAs do outreaches, retreats, block parties, and unity services together. Not only do they collaborate and encourage each other, they seek to bring unity to the Body of Christ while transforming their communities together.
These pastors are a valuable link to the communities, churches, and pastors who need resourcing the most. Urban Church Associations are a great example of missional partnerships in that trust is transferable. The UCA is a place urban pastors are introduced to the ministry and resources of World Impact, and pastors in the UCA know World Impact staff’s heart for the Lord and urban missions.
In short, any urban missions worker or pastor quickly learns that planting and pastoring churches in areas of urban poverty is a high-risk, high-reward effort. We believe that one of the keys to success is profoundly simple—we need each other. We need to link arms and work together to transform our communities.