Current Themes and Challenges in Urban Theology

Abstract

This essay proposes that current urban theology can be categorised by reference to two types, namely arborescent and rhizomatic. These types of urban theology are broadly aligned to secular and post-secular readings of the public sphere respectively. Within the typology of rhizomatic urban theology, the article proceeds to identify three thematic clusters under which current urban reflection and praxis might be grouped. These are: spaces of postsecular rapprochement for the urban excluded – a relational and pragmatic form of mission; the primacy of visual culture and the question of performative ethnographies; defining a faith-based contribution to an emerging urban politics. The article concludes by noting some possible challenges to these shifts within contemporary British urban theology.