What Makes Hard Places ‘Hard’?

Acts 29: Churches Planting Churches

“This is what the gospel does to us: it humbles us and enables us to identify with the poor. In the gospel, we’re not superior to the poor; we are the poor, having nothing to bring to God. We’re not superior to the orphan; we are the orphan, and God has become our Father. We were the stranger with no homeland, and we’ve inherited a kingdom. We were the widow with no husband, and Jesus has become our groom.” — Tony Merida

Listen to Tony Merida talk with Doug Logan and Paul McLoughlan about planting and leading churches in hard places.

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You can listen to this podcast episode—recorded live at the recent Acts 29 Europe Conference—here.

Related:

Why I Planted a Church in My Former Hood (Kris Brossett)
Why Hard Places Need Hardy Churches (Mez McConnell)
Hard Places Aren’t Trendy, But They’re Worth It (Steve Timmis, Doug Logan, Mez McConnell)

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Tony Merida (MDiv; ThM; PhD, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founding pastor of Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, North Carolina; vice president for planter development for the Send Network; and a Board member of The Gospel Coalition. He’s the author of several books, including The Christ-Centered Expositor, Ordinary, and Orphanology. He and his wife, Kimberly, have five adopted children.

Doug Logan Jr. (PhD, Newburgh Theological Seminary) serves as the president of Grimké Seminary and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He’s the director of urban church planter development for the Send Network. Doug has been in urban ministry for more than 25 years, and he’s a church-planting pastor at Remnant Church in Richmond, Virginia. He’s the author of On the Block: Developing a Biblical Picture for Missional Engagement. In 2011, Doug planted Epiphany Fellowship of Camden with his wife, Angel. They have three sons and four grandchildren.

Paul McLoughlan is a church planter in Bingham & Magdalene, a deprived housing scheme in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has worked for the 20schemes church-planting network since 2015. He and his wife, Rachel, have two daughters. You can follow him on Twitter.