Urbanism for the Local Church: Walkable Cities, Gospel-Centered Urbanism and Pedestrian-Oriented Church Planting

Author: Sean Benesh

Walkability has been a mainstay in cities since the founding of the very first one in antiquity. Before the advent of cars people moved around in cities on foot. Over time we added new transportation technologies such as horse drawn carriages, electric streetcars, light rail, buses, and more. In our car-oriented cities the church has a more difficult time connecting, serving, and loving their neighbors due to the reality that most congregations are comprised of regional commuters. Walkable Cities, Gospel-Centered Urbanism and Pedestrian-Oriented Church Planting is tool to assist local churches to think through not only topics like walkability and ministry on the neighborhood scale, but also ways they can be involved in placemaking through grassroots design interventions.