Who are we?
We are a ministry aimed at brokering peace in the body of Christ between leaders, within cities and between cities as a key stepping stone to the discipling of our nation. We seek to bridge the various divides between christian leaders, civic leaders and business leaders that hinder the Kingdom of God advancing in towns and cities. We wish to connect and empower those with a vision and a heart for their city wherever they are.
Tony Hodges is the businessman founder of City Vision. Naz Masih is our Project Coordinator. Charis Dirdova is our Media and Video specialist and Sarah Feroz is our part time junior assistant. Dennis, Annemarie, Carol. Find out more about our team here.
We have several unpaid associates and we partner with many churches, ministry and mission leaders and seek their counsel. We are aware that good governance is a vital part of any ministry. We have close relationships with leaders from Agape (Campus Crusade), The Rooftop, Global Advance, The Pocket Testament League, Redeeming Our Communities, Cinnamon, CAP, Saltbox and many more.
9. What are your principal ideas?
A) That the personal precepts of heaven, whereby we are to operate out of a poverty of spirit, apply equally at a corporate level. We believe that “esteem others better than yourself”, “prefer the other”, “serve one another”, “be kindly affectioned one to another”, “love one another”, “give and it will be given unto you”, “wash the other’s feet”, apply as much to churches serving churches and cities serving cities as they do to individuals serving individuals. We believe this approach, being the way of Christ, will unlock heaven’s blessing on the servers as they give themselves away.
B) That leaders recognise leaders. If we are to influence our cities at a civic level, it will be those leaders called by God to do so who impact the city for Him. They will operate in a sense of God’s timing, call and message.
C) That Christian leaders, whether they be from the church, business or local government, need to be known by their love for one another. This love will release the revelation and blessing of God to reveal His design for releasing heaven into the city. This love and servant leadership will also model a love that releases the Body to be seen as loving itself and therefore Christians as believing the message of Christ’s new commandment.
D) That God has Esthers, Josephs, Nehemiahs and Daniels in cities waiting to be recognised, empowered and supported to speak truth to power in God’s way, with His message in His time.
F) That God is outside time as well as in it, that He knows what the city looks like because He knows the end from the beginning. We can therefore step out in faith towards His vision believing He has one for the city and that as we manage our relationships rightly before Him and with Him, that He will guide us into His destiny of a blessed city.
G) Everyday culture is important to the point that it influences everything when God is left out of the equation. We have to learn to discern the city’s culture, understand how it came into being and how it can be changed by the incoming of the culture of the Kingdom.
H) That technology is important and as God used the Roman road and the printing press, He wills to use the internet and digital technology as a means of communicating His Gospel.
I) That Jesus’ main act was the cross and resurrection, His main mandate the discipling of nations, His main command that we love one another, His main message the Kingdom with the Cross being the only way into the Kingdom.
J) That apart from the living Lord Jesus we can accomplish nothing that will bear spiritual fruit.
10. What’s your core purpose?
To honour God by believing Jesus desires the U.K. be discipled and that although culture, our economic, health, justice and education systems are all important that city transformational ecosystems need to be developed that can facilitate change within the city and between cities.
11. In summary? Collected church as the city’s spiritual irrigation system.
We believe God loves His ecclesia but that a narrowness of thought has come about where the local church is seen only as an oasis for spiritual refreshment and enablement (which it is) but acceptable as functioning in isolation.
Our belief is that as God looks down on each city, His desire is to see one body, united in Spirit, forming a spiritual irrigation system that waters the city in a way that isolated oases can never achieve.
We see marketplace Christians and Christians in local government and public service working together with congregational leaders. We see there is a bridge to be built that enables Christ’s Body be known for its love towards its own, its love towards those outside and its love for its enemies.
We believe God intends His ecclesia to be His saving and transformative enterprise bringing His Shalom to a lost and broken world.
What else do we do?
We believe it is important never to lose our personal witness and supply (free if need be) small crosses and CV designed pocket gospels of John. We have supplied around 25,000 crosses printed in English, Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch, Latvian and Swahili.
We arrange occasional regional and national conferences
We organise regular business breakfasts in major cities
We organise regular online multi-partner live video conferences
Note:
We have a WhatsApp Group of approximately 140 marketplace ministers and some pulpit ministers in 12 countries. It’s an informal fellowship of online encouragement where you can just listen or contribute when you wish.
If you would like to join, please email naz@cityvision.life