Gotham X: Putting Theology to Work

by brian watkins, Gotham alum & playwright

Being a Gotham Fellow is demanding, helpful, comforting, and challenging, all at once. Over nine months, we experience the rigor of a formal academic program alongside intense personal growth and community formation. Once it ends, our lives have changed. We’re ready to take on the task of cultural renewal, applying theology practically and creatively in our work. The next question: “But how?”

Gotham Extension (or “Gotham X”) is a group of 12-20 Gotham alumni who are working through that question in a committed community. Gotham X participants seek to examine and serve our beloved city through the scope of the Gospel. How do we become actionable thinkers? How do we transform from cultural critics into cultural architects? What, if anything, can Christians bring to the cultural table that is unique?

This year, we are applying such questions to four spheres of society: family, economics, politics, and the arts. Each sphere has 3-5 leaders working in the industries related to that specific sphere. The group focuses on each section for six weeks. Those six weeks are divided into praying for the sphere, learning the theology specific to that sphere, related article and journal discussions, guest speakers, and finally a group project that helps to better understand or serve the sphere of focus.

The format is largely based on 20th century Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper's concept of sphere sovereignty. Kuyper posited that human flourishing best occurs within a horizontal power structure, in which each sphere has its own purpose in society and is held accountable by other spheres, under the created order and sovereignty of God. As a starting point, Gotham X first examines the purpose of each sphere, and then examines the sphere’s current structure and future direction. For example, if the primary purpose of the political sphere is to uphold an open public square, then we examine where the political sphere is broken and virtuous in its efforts. Likewise, if the family sphere’s purpose is to nurture, then we examine the broken and virtuous nurturing elements specific to our city, and so on.

But the efforts of Gotham Extension are not just to form well-thought-out Christian opinions. From compiling resources and writing case studies to considering what local political participation looks like, the group has developed unique ways to transform how we approach the brokenness and virtues of New York City:

• The leaders of the political sphere brought in Manhattan Director of Community Affairs for Mayor Bloomberg, Lolita Jackson, to speak to Gotham Extension on neighborhood involvement and political engagement.
• The economics sphere hosted an evening with two entrepreneurs for a discussion on the overcoming the logistical hurdles of starting a business.
• Leaders of the family sphere developed and composed a case study on “laying roots” in New York City, examining the covenantal theology behind family and a way forward for enhancing multi-generational commitment in the city.

Whether in personal decisions at work, through concerted group and community efforts, or in everyday neighborhood involvement, God’s grace transforms everything. Gotham Extension is an attempt to catalyze that transformation, to find grace in the least likely of places, and to make cultural renewal a daily occurrence in all our lives.

“God has used Gotham Extension to continue to develop my heart for New York City and is a great reminder of the rich community in which we have the privilege of taking part. It has been instrumental in reminding me that God's great love and mercy in my life here in NYC was not more true in a 9-month period, but continues and is universally true of my life in NYC.” – Erin G., Gotham 2009