Our use of the phrase "Sacred Roots" refers to our efforts to retrieve and appropriate in broad outline the Great Tradition, i.e., that distinct and determinative Christian faith and practice which developed from the Scriptures from the time of the Lord Jesus Christ to the middle of the fifth century. With hearts determined to be both historically credible and freshly contemporary, we strive to understand this rich body of tradition, recognizing it to the "sacred roots" of our Christian identity. Together we explore ways that these Christ-centered, biblical roots can renew evangelical faith and mission in the cities among the poor.

TUMI is dedicated to draw together urban churches, pastors, denominations, and associations in order to recover for spirituality and mission the Bible’s own salvation history in Abraham and the people of Israel. Furthermore, we want to regain in our theology that prophetic and apostolic witness to Jesus Christ about which that biblical history articulates. The majesty of the prophetic and apostolic witness to Christ can recenter our worship and witness from idiosyncratic emphases on culture to the deep roots of Scripture informed by the Great Tradition.

We affirm that the revelations of Scripture and the apostolic witness the Church has believed and defended are indeed sacred, not in a hokey or oddball sense, but fundamentally as testimonies of God's acts in Jesus Christ. That is, these roots are sacred because Christianity is at its core a historical revelation: God has spoken to us in history, culuminating in Jesus Christ. Only in the faithful acts of the covenant-making and keeping God of the Scriptures do we come to know God’s story of love in Christ, and by faith in him, we make that story (his-story) our own. These acts and the testimony concerning them, these roots, when retrieved and embraced, can renew and refresh all branches of urban spirituality and mission. Contemporary urban church worship, discipleship, and mission can be enriched and transformed as it reestablishes the wisdom embodied in the ancient Church’s theology, liturgy, and mission.

Those who share an affinity with us in rediscovering our Sacred Roots seek to encourage urban Christian leaders and congregations to rediscover the power of the Christus Victor motif of the Great Tradition, and to restore in our worship and mission today the same the Christ-centered passion displayed by the ancient, undivided Church. This rich legacy of faith, theology, and action is the spiritual heritage all believers, predating the distinctions of Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant thought.