Facing the challenge of the urban frontier: Creating effective Christian church congregations in the cities of the United States

The Christian Church has historically remained out of urban areas in the United States, and despite experiencing remarkable growth in the last decade, it has remained true to old patterns of establishing churches that are largely suburban or rural. The purpose of this dissertation is twofold: to explore the historical reasons that the Christian Church has not been more successful in planting or fostering urban congregations and to highlight three contemporary Christian Churches that are proving to be effective and which may serve as positive examples for developing an effective urban strategy or urban initiative in the future.; Chapter 1 introduces the historical, theological, and ecclesiological background of this issue as it particularly pertains to the Christian Churches' response to the growing urban areas in the United States.; Chapter 2 examines the relationship of American cities and the church in order to better understand the context as well as to compare and contrast the Christian Churches with other churches in regards to urban effectiveness.; The author demonstrates in Chapter 3 that many factors such as the prevalent frontier mentality, Scottish Common Sense philosophy, the portrayal of cities in literature, and racial issues influenced the founders of the Restoration Movement negatively in regard to urban church planting. However, a rediscovery of the original intentions of the Restoration Movement and its plea to remain faithful to New Testament principles in the context of the emerging urban reality may also help in developing a new urban church planting initiative.; Chapter 4 focuses on the current presence of the Christian Churches in the urban areas of the United States and discusses several of those efforts.; This study demonstrates, in Chapters 5, 6 and 7, through case studies, that there are urban Christian Churches that, despite the factors mentioned above, have been planted or have remained in urban areas. Chapter 8 concludes the study by noting that the three churches used in the case studies share several important characteristics and can serve as models for the Christian Church and may also contribute to the development of a new urban church planting initiative. Suggestions are also offered for further research.; The following conclusions emerge from this study. (1) The Christian Churches have neither an historical nor current major presence in the urban areas of the United States. (2) Many factors have played a part in this reality. (3) A few Christian Churches are proving to be effective despite this reality. (4) Careful examination of three urban churches reveals several common characteristics which, along with the foundational knowledge of the history and a re-visitation to the original intentions of the Restoration Movement, could lead to the development of a more effective urban initiative.