Why We Changed UTM’s Mission
“The mission of UTM is to break the fatherless cycle in urban communities through the transformative gospel of Christ.” (UTM’s New Mission Statement)
In 1995, two weeks after Sherilyn and I exchanged wedding vows, we launched an inner-city youth ministry that eventually became Urban Transformation Ministries (UTM). The idea was to move into inner-city Grand Rapids where we served, form relationships with disadvantaged urban youth, share Jesus with them, disciple them through adulthood (and beyond), help them obtain long-term assets (college degree/skill trade, homeownership, starting a business) that would overcome poverty, and train them as Christian leaders who would come back to the neighborhood to live and lead. In 2003, when UTM became a legal non-profit, UTM’s board crafted a mission statement that reflected what we were trying to accomplish, which stated, “the mission of UTM is to redeem inner-city youth, families, and communities with the transforming gospel of Christ.” Thus, UTM’s mission statement functioned as:
(1) A steady anchor that keeps the organization from drifting from its original purpose
(2) A compass that gives purposeful direction
(3) A template for making decisions
Over the past fifteen years, through the mentoring relationships and programs of UTM, many gang-members and drug dealers turned from the streets and experienced transformation through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Several students from UTM graduated from colleges such as Grand Valley, Western Michigan, Cornerstone, Grace, and Ball State. Others obtained living-wage jobs and reached back to their neighborhoods, helping diffuse the violence while modeling a better alternative to the street life of gangs and dealing drugs. By the grace of God, what we set out to do
The temptation, however, is for UTM to become complacent and revel in its fruitful past, as both the culture and demographics among disadvantaged youth had changed from a generation ago. No longer do the majority of Grand Rapids youth disadvantaged by poverty, racism, and violence live in its inner-city core. Gentrification pushed many of these youth and their families out of the inner-city and into the outlying areas of the city and its older suburbs of Wyoming, Kentwood, and Comstock Park. That is why we changed the “Where” wording in the old mission statement from “inner-city” to a more general term “urban” in the new mission statement.
At the same time, many of the teens that UTM connects with are still wrestling with many of the same issues they did a generation ago, but with the added complexity of technology and social media. This includes: struggling with the effects of poverty, engaging in risky sexual behavior, using drugs and alcohol, struggling with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, engaging in criminal behavior (carrying guns, selling drugs) and are at risk of dropping out of school. What we realized ten years ago when we began experimenting with the concept of the ManUP house is that all of these issues had the same common denominator: the lack of a loving father in the home.
Current research reveals that youth growing up without a father in the home are: four times more likely to live in poverty, seven times more likely to become pregnant as a teen, nine times more likely to be raped or sexually abused, two times more likely to commit suicide, twenty times more likely to become incarcerated, and two times more likely to drop out of high school. (Sources: National Fatherhood Initiative and National Center for Fathering).
More than two decades of urban youth work had taught us that many of UTM’s young fathers were repeating some of the same mistakes as their absent dads had done.
With all of this in mind, UTM felt it necessary to put all of our time, attention, and resources to address the complex enigma of fatherlessness among urban youth and young adults. That is why we changed the “Who” wording in the mission statement from “youth and families” to “fatherless,” while inferring that an actual cycle needed to be broken.
The only wording that remained the same in both the old and new mission statements was the “How.” In an era where so many Christians are swayed to find political answers for serious moral/social problems, UTM still looks to the gospel of Christ as the ultimate answer of fatherlessness. It is the gospel of Christ that penetrates the heart and produces life-change.
In upcoming blog posts, I will explain how UTM applies the gospel of Jesus to break the fatherless cycle.
When ministries and ministers morph, change and mature the focus will almost certainly change with them. Think of the skills and experiences you have now you didn’t have in 2003. thanks for sharing.