Places to remember – places that remember: soil, sanctuary and streets

This paper will explore the importance of place for mission and ministry in the city. It emerges from individual reflection and community practices in particular places including Darlinghurst and Glebe in inner-Sydney, and Los Angeles in California. This updated paper will explore deeper connections between place and memory than I was aware of when I wrote an earlier version in the early 2000s. It is not simply that place and memory are connected, or even that place holds memories. I now believe, profoundly, that places themselves remember. With this understanding, I will explore urban spaces as places of hospitality, conversation, mission, worship and contest.