We can all think of some pastors to the suburbs who have been successful in founding and sustaining large churches.  If you are like me, you probably have not heard of Rev. Timothy J. Keller who pastors Redeemer Presbyterian in the heart of New York City. For an excellent profile, see here:

Over the last 16 years, Dr. Keller's church, Redeemer Presbyterian, has swelled to 4,400 attendees, mostly young professionals and artists who do not fit the prototypical evangelical mold, spread out across four different services on Sundays. Although Dr. Keller, 55, is hardly a household name among believers outside New York — in part because he has avoided the Christian speaking circuit — his renown is growing in pastoral circles and in the movement to establish or "plant" new churches, a trend among evangelicals these days.

Pastors from around the world are beginning to come in a steady stream to New York City to glean what they can from Dr. Keller and Redeemer. Their goal is to learn how to create similarly effective churches in cosmopolitan cities like New York, which exert outsize influence on the prevailing culture but have traditionally been neglected by evangelicals in favor of the suburbs. . . .

As with all successful pastors, there are those who try to figure out the elements of this success.  The Christian Mind is one.

Hat tip to Stand to Reason.