Viv Grigg, a New Zealander, has been a servant-prophetic voice, whom the Lord has used to call Christians to unity across cities and to the slum and squatter areas of the two-thirds world. The Holy Spirit has lead him as an urban missiologist, community organizer, writer and theologian-philosopher.

Introducing Viv Grigg 

Pioneering Movements (69-81)

Viv spent some years following the Holy Spirit as a pioneer of student movements in New Zealand and Manila, and as a pioneer of innovative theology and process for religious and socio-cultural change, while living among the squatters of Manila. (This story is told in Companion to the Poor (MARC: 1991)). Because of the new patterns of holistic theology developed in training students among the poor, some have become social change agents in the structures of Filipino church and society.

Founding Apostolic Orders (82-96)

Then as a the Holy Spirit moved in revival in various countries, Viv catalyzed SERVANTS missions from New Zealand, the U.S. and Brazil, embodying a blend of principles from the apostolic orders with renewal principles, enabling workers to live among the poor bringing religious and socio-economic change. Teams of over 300 workers are now involved in 40 global cities. Cry of the Urban Poor (MARC: 1994) tells of some of the issues involved. The most recent has been encouraging the U.S. Servant-Partners from five communities of graduates who have chosen to relocate into the slums of Los Angeles, and around the world. During these years he and Ieda pioneered with a team into Calcutta in intercession and seeking unity of city leadership.

Operational Base (85-present)

These works have been organisationally birthed from a small virtual reality non-profit corporation (now you see it, now you don't), Urban Leadership Foundation, from which the Lord spawns these new movements. He and his Brazilian wife, Iêda, and their three children have recently relocated from Auckland, New Zealand to Los Angeles. This includes a prophetic voice to that city.

Global Networks and Prophetic Roles (91-present)

As part of an understanding of the unity of the global church around evangelism, Viv catalyzed the global cities network of the AD2000 movement, a movement that has worked with the Holy Spirit to link together the leadership of the emergent third world missions. In this role he has developed strategic planning consultations in cities, where the Lord has been pleased to encourage revival for city leadership teams and development of vision and strategy for change in their cities. Within the consultations, is a focus on the poor and the transformation of the persons in power who generate the structures that cause their poverty. 8 regional or global networks were developed. The framework for this is found in Transforming Cities: An Urban Leadership Guide (Urban Leadership: 1997).   Since 2000, Viv has brought together the Encarnação Network of Urban Poor Missions Leaders.

National NZ City Networks and Prophetic Roles

Apart from the urban poor mobilization during the renewal of the early 80's, and the call to the Pakeha churches for processes of reconciliation with Maori as a basis for the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in New Zealand. Viv, working with VisionNZ ( linking church leadership nationally) has encouraged the Vision for Auckland process, linking the leadership of the city in evangelism, transformation, and ethnic reconciliation.

Research as the Basis of Prophetic Envisioning

Early years were spent researching issues of urban poverty across 12 cities in 3 continents, from which publications significantly shifted global missions strategic thinking from rural to urban poor issues. Over the last five years, one of the global networks is a research network, linking 400 researchers by email, from which research profiles and a global database on the web have been developed with info on religious dynamics in cities around the world. Research on the church in Auckland has resulted in over 150 publications and a city churches database.

Teaching

Viv is an associate professor at Azusa Pacific in Urban Leadership, and has been an adjunct faculty at a number of seminaries and Bible Schools as he travels, teaching on Theology and Practice of Urban Poor Mission and City-wide Evangelisation and Transformation. Other graduate courses include Urban Leadership Strategies, Biblical Critiques of Economic & Development Theories, Strategies for Urban Ministry, Mission in an Urban Context and Theologies of the City. Shorter seminars available include: Development of Protestant Apostolic Orders, Linking Rich and Poor Churches, Urban Poor Awareness Seminars, Transforming Your City.

He has a degree in electrical engineering, a teachers college diploma in teaching, studied courses in community development at the University of the Philippines and has an M.A. in missiology from Fuller School of World Mission. His doctoral work at Auckland University focused on Transformational Revival in a Postmodern City: Progressions from Revival to Societal Transformation among Auckland's Evangelicals and Pentecostals.

© Viv Grigg & Urban Leadership Foundation and other materials © by various contributors & Urban Leadership Foundation,  for The Encarnacao Training Commission.  Last modified: July 2010