'Jesus in the City' - Through the Glasgow Looking glass

The 4th UK Urban Mission Congress "Through the Glasgow Looking glass" will be held in Glasgow from Thursday 17th to Monday 21st June. The congress will be based in the International Christian College (ICC).

"Jesus in the City" is a special event which brings together urban Christians from throughout the UK who live and work in the inner City. This year, instead of a conference in which just the usual round of speakers and workshops take place; it aims to be a congress which gives insight and experience of Christians involved in urban mission and will identify important themes and witness from their lives. The Congress will encourage everyone to take part.

The distinctive feature of this Congress is that most of that work will be in track groups. Through the different stories of all the urban projects and church groups taking part, the participants will be able to understand each track in depth. There are four tracks and each will hear presentations from a number of groups from around the UK who will reflect on what they have learned over the years in a way that will stimulate discovery and debate about what God is calling each of us to do in our own cities.

Track 1: Change - celebrating and respecting different cultures in a time of intense change.

Track 2: Faith - a presence in different contexts such as the business community and street culture.

Track 3: Hope - using places and buildings that enable people to celebrate their gifts.

Track 4: Love - allowing the voices of people on the margin of society to be heard.

Other activities include worship, family groups and church visits.

The original vision of 'Jesus in the City' came from a group of people mainly from the evangelical tradition in England. Contact was made with groups already in existence in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Though the roots are largely evangelical, from the beginning there was a determination to work from as wide as base as possible. The Roman Catholic tradition as well as various major Protestant traditions have joined the Congress. The first Congress was held in Liverpool in 1995 and the second Congress was based in Belfast in 1998. Both events were attended by a wide-ranging group of delegates from all the major denominations and from each of the nations of the UK. Not just clergy or other professionals joined, but there has always been a focus on involving the "grass roots" members of urban churches.