This is an old book review for To Live in Peace: Biblical Faith and the Changing Inner City, by Mark Gornik.
The point of the book is to provide a rationale and theology for ministry in an inner city/urban setting. Inspired by John Perkins, Gornik tells us how he worked out his mission and ministry in Sandtown, a rough and run-down area of Baltimore in the late 90s. Like many community-based missions, they first spent time in the community until the community welcomed them in and then proceeded to build the ministry. Gornik started with relocation, but then moved forward building the ministry with those that had already been a part of the community. Often times the core remains with those that have relocated specifically to do ministry, but like Perkins, Gornik stresses the importance of the core being those that have been in the community through thick and thin, good times and bad.
