The bustle of New York City always catches me off guard. “You’ll find people from every tribe and nation in New York,” my cab driver told me as we left Penn Station. Taxis, tourists, billboards, fast-paced locals—everyone seems to be meeting in this epic center of civilization. “Every language in the world is spoken here,” the cabbie added with a snap of his fingers.
I got dropped off at the park, took a winding path, and emerged at a large clearing on the lawn. Thousands of people—representing a melting pot of age, ethnicity, nationality, and economic background—gathered with eager faces in front of a stage. Kids chased each other on the grass while adults lay on blankets half-engaging in conversation. Behind me, people squeezed together with barely enough room to shift their feet. Their chatter was occasionally interrupted by the crackle of a staff member’s walkie-talkie or reverbs from instrument checks. The heat could have been oppressive, but no one seemed to notice.
CityFest was in full swing. After over a year of preparation, this was the culmination of evangelist Luis Palau’s partnership with pastors and leaders throughout New York. The aim: “uniting churches to serve the city and proclaim the good news.”
Palau has led evangelistic campaigns in scores of cities around the world, but never in New York, until now. Two years ago, Radio Visión Cristiana Internacional, along with several key Christian New York leaders, extended an invitation and Palau accepted.
But this would be more than a one-time evangelistic event. Palau wanted to understand what God was already doing in this city and what the needs were there. He also wanted to set up sustainable methods for continuing ministry once he left. Over the span of a year, his organization put together focus groups with city leaders. Together they devised a plan.
Here are some pivotal aspects of Palau’s approach—and what we can learn to help people engage with Scripture in our communities.
- Listen. Palau didn’t come to New York City with his own ministry model to super-impose. Instead, he put together focus groups and listened to the needs of this specific community. These groups gave birth to CityServe, an ongoing initiative designed to celebrate and accelerate God’s work in the city.
What are the unique needs of your community? What are people saying—not only in your church, but around town? What would help people engage more with Scripture? What is God already doing in your community? Put together focus groups and simply listen. -
Collaborate. We are stronger together. While churches in New York have typically been divided by neighborhoods and denominations, CityServe empowers churches to collaborate around the common vision of “serving the least, the last, and the lost.”
How can you create partnerships to advance Scripture engagement in your church? Consider collaborating with other churches or parachurch ministries, utilizing outside resources and leveraging the strengths of your congregation. -
Set a Focus. Defining a clear focus can help you achieve specific goals. CityServe focuses on justice, mercy, and education—including specific needs like homelessness, juvenile justice, school partnerships, and mentoring.
Identify specific areas of focus for Scripture Engagement. Do you want to get people in your community reading the Bible regularly, to help them grow in biblical literacy, or to engage a specific group of people with Scripture? What programs will accomplish this—a teaching series, a community celebration, perhaps a Bible distribution effort? What specific goals can you set? -
Sustainability. In order to make these initiatives last, Palau’s organization provided seed money to fund ministry programs in the specific areas of focus and established a leadership team to stay in New York after CityFest was over.
How can listening, collaboration, and setting a focus lead to sustainable ministry? Can you set up a leadership team to carry forward your vision? What funding will you need for the long term? -
Build momentum. By the time CityFest arrived, momentum had built. In just a few months, more than 100 outreach events took place throughout the Metro New York area. These events were advertised in newspapers, subways, buses, billboards, radio shows, and taxis. During the weekend before the festival, images of pastors and church leaders were even projected on screens in Times Square—sharing the Good News of the gospel in New York’s busiest intersection and inviting them to the main festival.
Get the news out! Create excitement! Gather people around your ideas. Your thoughtful initiatives can lead to transformational encounters with God’s Word.
The day of CityFest, I stood among thousands of people waving their arms and jumping up and down to the sounds of popular Christian musicians. Various city church leaders exhorted the crowd, and even the mayor showed up, allowing a group of key leaders to pray for him and the restoration of the city. Palau’s message was sweet and direct—
God offers healing to the brokenhearted. God has not forgotten you.
…Pointing to the words in the small black Bible he held in the palm of his hands, Palau emphasized, “There is hope for your life through Christ.”
People raised their hands to acknowledge they wanted to learn more or make a commitment to follow God. Trained counselors prayed with them, handed out Scripture resources, and helped them get connected with local churches.
I left New York with a renewed awareness of the Church’s presence—and its potential to restore, revive, and rejuvenate the city. I jumped into another cab, this time with a low-hanging red sun dominating the skyline. People stopped to admire it and take pictures. “Look at that,” my cabdriver said in a thick African accent. “God’s glory.” With Palau’s words spoken from the heart of Scripture still ringing in my ears, I couldn’t agree more.
