Welcome Aboard!
Dear WCIU Colleagues,
The biblical record is full of references to cities. In Genesis there is Nimrod, a builder of several cities and the record seems to suggest the view of God was not exactly positive!
One of the cities he build was Nineveh, which of course features in a large way later, including as a model of a city that repents.
In Corinth, Paul is told that the Lord has "many people" in the city, apparently people He knows about and has prepared but who have not yet come into faith.
Ultimately, there is a New City that will descend from heaven.
So, from all of that, and more, what can we say about the plan of God?
At the least, He cares about what happens in cities, is involved in what happens in cities, and wants to see His Kingdom come among cities. I would suggest as well, that He may wish for our cities today to begin to bear some resemblance to the heavenly city, a sort of foretaste of things to come.
I share all of this because WCIU is pleased to welcome to our faculty and team Dr. Viv Grigg. Viv has for many years developed an MA in Transformational Urban Leadership (MATUL). His vision has been, in part, to empower and equip leaders who could lead movements that would transform cities. His focus has been particularly on the slums of our world's major cities.
At present we are weaving his courses and curriculum into our MA, and also learning from him and his experience.
Welcome aboard, Viv!
Kevin Higgins