Cultivating the “good city”: The theological engagement of the Institute for Urban Ministry within the City of Tshwane

Abstract

The vision of the “good city” is worth striving for. Enacting the pastoral circle can be theologically generative towards cultivating the “good city”. The urban transition of 1993 in Pretoria/Tshwane, South Africa held unknowns and possibilities. During this time a small community with lived faith committed to journeying with the urban poor using the pastoral circle. Such contextual theological engagement birthed the Institute for Urban Ministry (IUM), and the pastoral circle remained at the heart of IUM. This article explores the possibilities of animating the “good city” in Tshwane and the Gauteng City-Region as IUM applies the pastoral circle within the Tshwane Ecumenical Leaders Forum.