Background: Dr Viv Grigg, Professor of Urban Leadership
Following the Holy Spirit, and in simple faith in the Lord for provision, Viv Grigg has been a prophetic voice, living among the poor, churchplanting in Manila, Calcutta, Sao Paulo, Los Angeles, Auckland... The Lord has been pleased to use him to catalyze several new apostolic orders (networks of communities) who live incarnationally in the slums of over 40 emerging mega-cities, planting churches and creating a plethora of ministries to transform poverty and creating new patterns of evangelical urban theology.
Lead in the 90's, to initiate strategies for citywide transformative revival, he coordinated the global AD2000 Cities network, networking city leadership teams with strategies for evangelism, reconciliation and transformation and developed Vision for Auckland. He currently coordinates the Encarnação Alliance of Urban Poor Movement Leaders, that networks over 45 slum movements.
Some speaking engagements have included the Global Conference on World Evangelism (Korea, 1995), Mission Korea (1996), VisionNZ Congress (1997), Asbury Seminary Kingdom Conference (1998), Australian National Leadership Conference (1996, 1997, 1998), Biola Missions (2001), Moody, Wheaton, RENAS conference (Brazil, 2007), MoveIn ....
Academics: As an urban missiologist (MA, missiology, Fuller SWM) and theologian (PhD, Theology) , he teaches on Citywide Leadership, Transformation and Revival Movements, Churchplanting, Ministry Among the Urban Poor, Postmodern Urban Transformation in seminaries as he travels, having catalyzed the MA in Transformational Urban Leadershipand BA training for slum movement leaders in 5 seminaries and been involved grassroots training for several thousand pastors. Author of Companion to the Poor, Cry of the Urban Poor, Spirit of Christ and the Postmodern City, Kiwinomics, Transforming Cities and others.
He is Director of Urban Leadership Foundation,which funds training and project needs among the poor. Married to Ieda, a gifted Brazilian motivational teacher, chaplain and mother. They have three grown children.
All of these things have been by simple faith, seeing God provide, and his Spirit speak, create, raise up leaders, multiply them like grains of wheat and build structures.
Some photos for use for conferences
Short Bio for Conferences: Viv Grigg
Through dependence on the Holy Spirit, Viv has been wandering poet in the global slums, a pioneer churchplanter in the slums, among migrants and students, urban missions founder, creator of new missions paradigms, author, visionary, prophet, global networker, social entrepreneur, simple family man, bumbling sinner with a singleminded focus over 45 years to see slumdwellers transformed by Jesus' Good News of Jubilee, and the transformation of oppressive city structures.
Or more formal, (boring?)...
Viv Grigg is a prophet and serial social entrepreneur bringing justice in dark places. He has pioneered ministries among students, migrants and in the slums of Manila, Kolkata, Los Angeles, Auckland; created and mobilized missions of workers to the slums from New Zealand, Brazil, the US; catalyzed global urban networks; as an academic he established the MA in Transformational Urban Leadership in multiple universities globally; author of 8 books and many articles on urban ministry, revival and transformation of cities. These have developed new paradigms in incarnational apostolic orders in the slums, transformative revival, slum-dwellers' theology, economic discipleship and others. Husband, father, mentor, creator of communities of love. All because of the Holy Spirit. He is a Kiwi (From New Zealander) with a deep call to develop national transformaiton in his own country.