Every city carries a theology — a worldview shaped by power, trauma, memory, Scripture, and the forces that govern daily life. This OLE takes seriously Noah W. Reid III’s declaration that “A storm is not on the horizon — it’s here!” and that the moment demands radical, unequivocal action. Like Abram, who moved without hesitation when God said Go, urban ministry leaders are called to a psycho-social and spiritual revolution grounded in Romans 12:1–2.
 
Transformational Urban Ministry explores how oppressive interpretive frameworks — what Reid calls “the White Eye which has ruled the world” — distort biblical vision, identity, and community. Drawing from Cain Hope Felder’s Troubling Biblical Waters, Ray Bakke’s A Theology as Big as the City, and Robert C. Linthicum’s City of God, City of Satan, students examine the city as a contested spiritual, political, and economic arena requiring a renewed biblical worldview.
Using the Center for MetaUrban Ministry’s principles of layered systems, hybrid spaces, oscillation, contextual discernment, and Beloved Community, students develop ministry practices that heal internalized oppression, confront structural injustice, and cultivate a global community where people no longer see one another through the lens of the oppressor.
 
This OLE is not about incremental change. It is about radical transformation — of mind, worldview, community, and city.