Send Urban/Rural Missionaries

As I experience the ministry here in this urban setting and reflect on some of the realities back home in the US, I am wondering if Methodism's belief in "sent" ministry may need to take on new form in some places. We do believe according to The Great Commission of Jesus that disciples are sent out to be in ministry, "go...make disciples of all nations." John Wesley modeled sent ministry in the early Methodist societies, the early American Methodist circuit preachers lived this by being sent by superitendents and bishops to go and preach from community to community. Now, in a very different socio-cultural context we continue this belief in "sent" ministry through modern day appointment making.
There are many debates brewing about the usefulness, sensibility, relevancy or effectiveness of itinerant ministry in today's context. I don't want to cover the landscape of those arguments here but only to suggest one...urban/rural missionary.
In many of our urban contexts, American, British or South American (the only places I've traveled), the cities are an urban jungle sprawl of secular busyness. I'm afraid that the institutional church on some of our street corners have become simply a piece of the landscape of our cities. While in some places, churches continue to be relevant, engaged, and very much a staple presence in that community - many, many more are not. In many of these cities, what I think would be much more appropriate and I think more fruitful would be the sending of missionaries to these cities. They would meet in homes, coffee shops and other places, sharing the Methodist expression of the Gospel, meeting people where they are with the grace of Jesus, witnessing, sharing and forming faith communities that transform lives by the Holy Spirit.
This sharing and witnessing can happen with the church on the corner, don't get me wrong, but right now in many of our cities, our churches have so much to overcome and impactful ministry is very very challenging in their situations as they are. For bishops and superitendents to send seminary trained, ordained persons with a missionary's mindset rather than a local church pastor or chaplain mindset, might change the face of the Methodist movement in a positive way, in a short amount of time. Many times all it takes is a mature, gifted and graced leader who is willing to be sent. With a leader like this and God, anything can happen.
I know there is much to think through with this kind of approach but sending out missionaries to our urban (and rural) outposts could advance the kingdom of God in a radical life-changing way. We can afford to try radically different approaches. The relevancy of our church, some argue, our very survival as a movement, depend on it.
In Houston, a Superitendent of the Church, Jim Welch secured through the UM General Board of Global Ministries, a Vietnamese missionary from Vietnam to come to Houston and be a missionary to the Vietnamese community in Houston. He is literally an urban missionary in Houston. In his case, he came from Vietnam to be a missonary here. We may need to do more of this and as I am suggesting, send us to be missionaries to folks who are right next door.