For the past seven years International Teams (IT) has worked with inner city churches in Hamilton exploring with them how to engage their neighbourhoods and this city. The IT Hamilton team has worked alongside of a number of churches learning from the creative ways people are living out God's deep concern for these neighbourhoods and sharing these examples between churches.

In the summer of 2004 two of the churches IT had worked with most closely, Hughson Street Baptist and Philpott Memorial Church, proposed that the IT Hamilton team work with them and other churches to initiate a movement that creates opportunities for churches to learn from each other and work together for the shalom of the city.

As a starting point these two churches explored ways to strengthen each other. Hughson Street had already pioneered significant community involvement through their volunteering in local schools, running children’s and sports clubs and through their Christmas hamper program. Philpott saw what Hughson Street was doing, and wanted to learn from them. Volunteers from Philpott helped with the Christmas hamper program, and Philpott offered the use of their larger facilities. Hughson Street’s capability was thereby greatly increased, and Philpott was able to learn from what Hughson Street was doing. Both churches, as well as the community, benefited greatly from just this one, relatively simple example of cooperation. The whole was much greater than the sum of its parts.

It is out of such simple, practical efforts to serve and cooperate that the TrueCity vision is taking shape. The IT Hamilton team has committed to facilitate the information sharing, collaboration on projects, resource discovery and shared learning which would make the vision of this movement a reality.

In April 2005 more than 120 people from over 20 Hamilton area churches gathered at Philpott Memorial church for the first TrueCity Conference. Out of that conference four working groups made of members of different churches began to come together to explore opportunities to learn and cooperate.

The second conference will once again be held at Philpott, February 24-25, 2006.