This course is designed to compliment, supplement and extend your existing training – tuning it up with the best theological thinking on cross-cultural engagement, evangelism and church ministry.
UMP Lite ideally runs as a cohort – watching a high quality 30 minute video ahead of interacting live in a webinar with Duncan Forbes. However, for the time being we are pausing the cohort and live sessions but the content is available here for self-study.
For the course curriculum and course leader profile, please see the Materials tab above.
UMP Lite costs £100, giving access to all the content online
To enrol, please click the blue button to Take This Course.
Find out about other content from Urban Ministries:
Other projects:
- For Survivors – a website for abuse survivors
- Council Estate Christianity – Duncan’s Substack
— UMP LITE: Multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-class ministry training —
Dates for 2022-23
22/9/22 - Session 1 - Multi-ethnic & Multi-class church
20/10/22 - Session 2 - How the gospel spreads across cultures
24/11/22 - Session 3 - Ethnocentrism and how different cultures think
26/1/23 - Session 4 - Self-theologising
23/2/23 - Session 5 - Contextualizing the church
23/3/23 - Session 6 - Preaching to multiple cultures
27/4/23 - Session 7 - Urban discipleship
Course leader
Duncan was born and raised on the Alton Estate, Roehampton, South West London. Keen to move away from the area, his heart was set on joining the Parachute Regiment until he felt God call him to serve in God’s army instead. Since then Duncan has been involved in missionary work in Albania, prison ministry in England and youth outreach in various council estates.
On his home estate in Roehampton, Duncan started a music studio for the local youth, which eventually became the ‘Wandsworth Youth Inclusion Project’. During this time Duncan married Shay from the USA and together they started a project called ‘HigherVibe’ which used Christian urban music & Bible studies to outreach to the youth of London.
In 2004 Duncan & Shay started a Bible study in their flat on the estate which eventually outgrew their living room, and New Life Church was born in December 2005. Duncan tells his story here. Whilst planting the church, Duncan worked as a music technology lecturer at South Thames College (where Duncan earned his DTLLS teaching qualification), and Shay worked as an interventions coordinator for the Wandsworth YIP.
Duncan then went on to do a DipHE in ‘Biblical Hermeneutics’ at Kings Evangelical Divinity School, a BA(Hons) degree in Theology and Pastoral studies at Oak Hill College, and a Doctorate in Theology and Urban Mission at Westminster Theological Seminary. Shay now home-educates their 4 children.
Having done youth and church work on an estate for over 20 years, Duncan is passionate about seeing others equipped to serve God and urban communities. Therefore, he founded Urban Ministries to equip Christians working on estates. The Urban Ministry Program has been set up to train up others to make disciples who make disciples in the urban context.
We’re very grateful that Neil Powell, senior pastor of City Church Birmingham, co-founder and convener of 2020 Birmingham and London director for City to City UK, will be coming to unpack Tim Keller’s Center Church for the London Church Planting Academy on 4 Wednesday afternoons:
