“In an era when 75% of American Christians live in cities, minimal attention is given to urban and social justice ministry by denominational leadership or institutions of theological education. Our Center's purpose and passion is to interface the welfare of city congregations with the welfare of the city.”
- The Rev. Dr. Douglass Bailey, Founder/President, Center for Urban Ministry, Inc. 501(c)3
What We Do
Clergy and lay leadership of all denominations are eager for resources that will renew their spirit and help them respond to the unique needs – and opportunities – inherent in urban churches. Those resources are virtually nonexistent.
Founded in 1999, The Center for Urban Ministry, Inc. fills the void through a variety of transformational, collaborative opportunities. We enter into enduring relationships with individual congregations and multi-church coalitions.
In partnership with clergy, staff, boards, committees, and non-profit urban ministries we reinvigorate theological foundations, develop pastoral and prophetic vision, build active and passionate church membership, and jumpstart ministries of social justice and soul justice.
Consultation & Learning Laboratories
We offer strategic planning sessions designed to inform and inspire individual churches, ecumenical church clusters, and non-profit urban ministries.
Our interactive brainstorming sessions help congregations and urban ministries discern God’s call to community activism. We work with you to develop resources for balancing pastoral and prophetic ministry. Together, we define an innovative response to the unique realities facing your church and its community.
We seek to create a national learning laboratory shaped in conferences, workshops, and urban ministry strategic planning as a resource for urban clergy and lay leadership.
Our Founder
The Rev. Dr. Doug Bailey is President of Center for Urban Ministry, Inc. Doug is the former Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, where he spearheaded the establishment of ten separate non-profit urban ministries.
A flagship Jubilee Center parish, Calvary Church built a reputation for its urban mission and ministry with the city of Memphis and throughout the Mid-South.
A community activist with more than 30 years’ experience in urban and social justice ministry, Doug Bailey is one of the leading voices in the “resistance movement ministry.” He has served for nine years as Assistant Professor of Urban Ministry at Wake Forest University School of Divinity, leading courses such as “Radical Jesus, Radical Justice,” “Urban Ministry by Immersion” and independent study courses in urban ministry.
In summer of 2011, Doug stepped down from his teaching position to devote his full-time focus on The Center for Urban Ministry, Inc.