New Churches Podcast | Season 1 | Episode 813

The Dynamics of Urban Church Planting

Tony Merida & Doug Logan

Host Tony Merida chats with long-time friend and colleague Dr. Doug Logan, Send Network’s Director of Urban Planter Development, to share the latter’s experiences in urban church planting. Tune in as the author, pastor, and planter shares insight into loving your city well, investing in your mental and emotional health, and reaching your people through meeting their needs.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

  • The diverse contexts and characteristics of church planters in urban areas
  • How funding and self-sufficiency look different for urban planters
  • Why the heartbeat of our cities cannot be found in our charts and graphs
  • How the fast-paced, ever-changing nature of the city impacts our discipleship models
  • What sending churches can provide to the planters they send to the city

Helpful Resources:

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Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

I like to say that our best church planters are not even Christians yet. We never know where the Lord might go to snatch a guy up and put him on this path. Praise be to God for the gospel. – Tony Merida

Just like we exegete the texts, we pull from it what’s actually in it. We don’t superimpose our ideologies or our non-researched understandings into our sermons. You can’t do that in the context of the city. – Doug Logan

We have to understand the historical brokenness and listen to people’s stories of the current devils and old devils, their current joys and hopes. That’s only going to come through relationship-building conversations. – Doug Logan

Serving the planters we send out has to not be an anomaly, but it has to be the normative reality for churches as we play an Antiochus role as sending churches. – Doug Logan

The nature of the inner city is ever fast-moving. You have to get the gospel in and build relationships with almost a microwave mentality–not a marathon mentality. You and your discipleship have to be flexible because things move fast. – Doug Logan

Published on March 14, 2024

About the Podcast

New Churches Podcast

The New Churches podcast offers practical answers to your real ministry questions. We aren’t going to provide lofty pie-in-the-sky theories. Instead, we are going to help you in your real ministry context, with your real thoughts, questions, and issues.

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Meet the Authors

Tony Merida

Vice President, Planter Development Send Network

Tony Merida is the founding pastor of Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, N.C, and is the Vice President of Planter Development for Send Network. He also serves as a Board member for The Gospel Coalition. Tony has written several books including, The Christ-Centered ExpositorLove Your Church, and multiple volumes in the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series. He’s happily married to Kimberly, and they have five children.

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Doug Logan

Dr. Doug Logan, Jr. is the Pastor of Church Planting at Remnant Church in Richmond, VA.  He is also the author of On The Block: Developing a Biblical Picture for Missional Engagement. In 2011, he planted Epiphany Fellowship of Camden, NJ, with his wife, Angel. They have three adult sons, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

More Resources from Doug