Whole-life discipleship. Faith & work integration.
A nine-month discipleship program focused on gospel renewal of hearts, communities & our world
“Churches have traditionally done a good job of taking people who want to go into church ministry and raising them up and training them for that. But almost never do churches deliberately groom people for Christian leadership in the society, marketplace or culture. Gotham Fellows is finding a way to encode that gospel DNA and really instill it in people in a deliberate and systematic way and I’m grateful for that.”
—TIM KELLER
An Introduction to Gotham
Day-to-day work. Sunday morning church.
Too often, the combination of the two creates tension for workers—practically, ethically, emotionally, and relationally. So they either build a wall between the two or ascribe to a truncated, terse version of faith in the workplace. But God wants more for all of us in our vocations.
Are you a pastor whose congregants have difficulty appreciating how their work is part of God’s unfolding story? Do you struggle to know how to advise those who are unhappy with their work? Is it hard to help them see the impact their jobs can have on city change? Do you understand how various industries matter to God despite the brokenness in them? Do you long to disciple your congregation to be faithful witnesses of God’s love and truth in their daily work?
Are you a marketplace leader who struggles to understand how your work or industry matters to God? Or how your work can impact other people and your city? Would you like to be part of building a faith and work ministry in your city or church? Or provide better resources for how to think about what God is doing with your work in the world? Would you like to see your church better equip and mobilize its people to be God’s ambassadors through their work?
The Gotham Fellowship has effectively transformed the lives of workers to integrate their faith and their work.
What is Gotham Fellowship?
Gotham is a nine-month whole life discipleship intensive that equips participants to live out the gospel in the work to which God has called them. Through deep spiritual formation, theological study, community development and city engagement, Gotham answers the question, “How does my work matter to God?”
Gotham is designed to equip people to apply the gospel more directly to all areas of their life. Instead of engaging their faith only on Sunday mornings, fellows develop a framework for applying Christ to their heart, community, vocation and world every day of the week.
City to City trains churches and ministries to run the Gotham Fellowship in their context and provides the materials and support for these programs.
To learn more about starting a Gotham program in your city, contact Lauren Gill at Redeemer City to City.
Theological Training
At the core of our program is the commitment to consider how the Gospel impacts every area of life. We develop a worldview that draws from the deep resources of classical theologians and the Reformed tradition, and is sufficiently robust to engage our diverse and complex culture. The Gotham program is grounded in the Biblical narrative that points to God’s redemptive purpose in all of history.
Spiritual Development
Gotham fosters personal, spiritual and professional development through daily devotions and spiritual formation exercises.
Community Formation
Gotham forms a community of learners, from diverse backgrounds, churches, and vocations, who are committed to each others’ spiritual growth and calling to serve the common good of the city.
Cultural Renewal
Through city excursions and the Cultural Renewal Project, fellows are encouraged to put their faith into action within the context of their city and work environment. Alumni may go on to be part of our Renewal Accelerator, following the program.
Components of the Program
Weekly Readings
Over the course of nine months, fellows read from a wide range of classic theological books, as well as daily devotionals that encourage prayerful reflection and growth in the gospel. We begin with summer pre-reading, including Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller & Katherine Leary Alsdorf. Throughout the program we move through the themes of Heart Renewal, Community Renewal, and Cultural Renewal, with readings, sermons and videos from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, Vincent Bacote, Augustine, Leslie Newbigin, Albert Wolters, Christina Edmondson, Andy Crouch, Christine Pohl, and Abraham Kuyper, among others.
Weekly Discussions
Each week Fellows meet to discuss the week’s reading, share personal and professional updates, questions and struggles, and pray together. These weekly discussions last for two hours each, with about half of the time set aside for reading discussion. The teachings are further applied to daily work lives through special projects including: The Self-Counseling Project, The Redemptive Feedback Project, and The Cultural Renewal Project.
Monthly Saturday Sessions
To better connect the teachings with actual work in the world, 4-6 times a year fellows meet on a Saturday to focus on one aspect of vocation or local culture. These may include history and food tours, guest speakers from your city’s leadership, a special career and goal-setting workshop, visits to local art and history museums, and field trips to notable businesses and non-profits.
Three Retreats
Three retreats at the beginning, midpoint and end of the year anchor build deeper community and spiritual renewal. Suggested lesson plans are available for these three experiences.
Key Themes of Gotham
Gospel-Centered Life • Alternative Worldviews • Biblical Storyline • Public Truth • Doctrine of Scripture • Centrality of Christ • Creation Mandate • Common Grace • Spiritual Disciplines • Personal & Systemic Brokenness • Heart Renewal • Community • Redemptive Feedback • Mercy & Justice • Structure & Direction • Cultural Renewal
The Unique Gotham Experience
Gotham has five components that we believe make it an effective program. Although you can find one or two of these components in other areas, Gotham is unique in its ability to bring together these four elements in a robust learning cohort.
Intensity
Gotham creates an intense learning experience through the depth of the readings and application to everyday work lives. Fellows are bonded by the experience of doing something difficult together and being encouraged to vulnerability with one another.
Community
Deep community is formed through prayer partnerships, heart renewal exercises and spiritual formation tools that encourage a vulnerable and open community that desires to become more like Jesus.
Spiritual Disciplines
Gotham encourages rigorous attention to hearing God’s voice by prioritizing prayer and devotional materials daily over the course of an academic year. Cultivating an ability to prioritize time with God is a key component of the program.
Holistic Nature
Gotham challenges the mind, heart, and everyday behavior of each fellow, resulting in spiritual renewal and growth. The individual study, group discussions and practical application exercises culminate in a project to foster workplace renewal.
City Based
Gotham is designed to deepen the Fellows love for the city in which they live and work. The program helps Fellows develop eyes to see the work that God is doing in their community and workplace.
Launch Gotham Fellowship in your city.
Contact Lauren Gill at Redeemer City to City to get access to launch resources.
Gotham Network Programs
New York, NY • London, UK • Nashville, TN • Chicago, IL • Houston, TX • Dallas, TX • Orlando, FL • Chattanooga, TN • Raleigh, NC • Durham, NC • Charlotte, NC • Greenville, SC
Three Faith & Work Expressions from Gotham Alumni
These three stories feature Gotham alumni who have pushed against brokenness in the criminal justice system, fashion industry and travel industry. Nashville Gotham Alumni Thomas Hunter and Sheriff Daron Hall saw the criminalization of mental illness in their jail system in Davidson County as an area of brokenness. They created a new system where those detained and presenting with mental illness were given the opportunity for treatment at their Behavioral Care Center instead of being jailed.
Three NYC Gotham Fellows formed Poemia, a wedding dress company that creates their product in a redemptive way. These women want to ensure that the dress a woman wears on one of the most special days of their life has been made thoughtfully, responsibly, and ethically by using fibers that have been specially selected based on their social and environmental impact and supporting women and families across our global supply chain by ensuring safe working conditions with a living wage.
Nashville Gotham Alumni Christie Holmes founded Global Community Travel to answer a need in the travel field to help families engage the cultures they are visiting by leaving a positive footprint in their travels and grow greater respect for that culture. Seeing every human in every country as being made in the image of God is key to the work of her organization.
Gotham lays the foundation for a heart that is renewed by the gospel and a vision for an industry or field that brings renewal to a workplace and city.
What Alumni Are Saying
-
“I went in expecting theological training, which I received, but I was surprised by the deep impact of my brothers and sisters.”
-
“Gotham has helped me understand that the work I am doing is a part of bringing God’s kingdom to earth as it is in Heaven.”
-
“I’ve learned that brokenness is to be expected, and it’s okay to grieve it.”
-
“I now see work as an expression of loving God and God’s love and grace working in me to bring renewal.”
Questions? We would love to talk with you.
“A New Vision for Culture Making”
SERMON BY TIM KELLER
For an overview of the kind of themes and material that is covered in Gotham, listen to a talk from Dr. Timothy Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church and Redeemer City to City.
Download this talk & subscribe to the Gospel in Life podcast here.
BENEFITS TO THE FELLOWS
Increased gospel worldview depth and sustainability
Developing a defined sense of mission for early career and beyond
Career advice and counseling from successful leaders in their field
Developing a strategy for cultural renewal
Opportunity to learn from experienced Christian leaders
Exposure to the arts, cultural events, mercy / justice outreach
Relationships with instructors, mentors, and speakers
Community-based learning
Renewal Accelerator
A Cohort for Implementing Cultural Renewal Projects
Gotham will have over 1700 alumni by May 2022. All Gotham alumni have been trained and encouraged to think deeply and act meaningfully to bring about “cultural renewal” - positively impacting their work, industries, and cities through a process of pushing against brokenness and implementing God’s desire for a flourishing world. All Gotham participants write a description of a Cultural Renewal Project (CRP) that they long to see happen.
