MIAMI — For almost a year, members of the Florida Conference’s Inner City Task Force have been developing a model for ministry to unchurched people in Florida’s 10 urban centers. Last month, the conference received a $665,000 grant from the denomination’s General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) to fund that model for three years in the Miami District.

"We hope that while they (GBGM) are funding Miami for the first year, they will fund other sites in the second and third years," said Clarke Campbell-Evans, Miami District superintendent and a task force member.

The money came from GBGM’s Millennium Fund, which was established in 1997 to help inner-city churches in the United States that are trying to revitalize, emerging churches in Eastern Europe and churches being rebuilt in war-torn parts of Africa.

The Florida Conference New Church Development and Church Redevelopment committee and Miami District Board of Church Extension and Missions have also agreed to give $250,000 to the project, called "The Florida Conference City Ministries Plan."

The project is a combination of old and new strategies, said the Rev. Charles Courtoy, executive director of the conference’s Committee on New Church Development and Church Redevelopment.

The old strategy is to reach people through Wesleyan small group or house church ministries. "People in most urban areas don’t easily approach large assemblies," he said. "People feel more comfortable with the support of the house church."

Each house church will be led by a trained lay missioner. Though lay leadership is not new to Methodism, organizing lay missioners under the leadership of a district-wide Coordinator of City Ministries is a new strategy, according to Courtoy.

"The lay missioners will be accountable to the Coordinator of City Ministries, who will be responsible for training, advocacy and accountability," he said. "He or she will be the person who keeps the vision and sees the whole of the ministry."

The Miami District Board of Church Extension and Missions is working on the coordinator’s job description. "We’re looking for someone who has a passion for small groups and…to make disciples in the inner city, someone who has the gift to lead and support others in this process," Campbell-Evans said.

Campbell-Evans hopes to find a coordinator who speaks English and either Spanish or Creole. That person could be laity or clergy.

The goal over the next three years is to plant five new churches and revitalize five existing churches, although Campbell-Evans said that may change if leaders decide one of the strategies is bringing more success. "We are aware of the importance of flexibility to do the best job possible," he said.

Although the conference had requested funding for four locations in Florida, GBGM funded Miami first to test the effectiveness of the program.

"If this works, the general board has said they will fund additional locations," Courtoy said, adding the task force recommended funding for Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa and studied the St. Petersburg, Jacksonville, Gainesville and Tallahassee areas.

"This whole thing is driven by the belief that people matter to God," Courtoy said. "If we can prove this strategy reaches unchurched people and brings them into the love of Jesus Christ…we can establish additional faith communities. Faith communities are the primary means of letting people know of God’s love for them."