Church in Forgotten Places

Building healthy churches in poor communities and rural places. People living in poor communities often feel isolated and forgotten. Many who live in small places and rural towns can feel remote and cut off.

Life can be affected by addictions, mental health struggles, and a lack of access to resources. It is in our poorest communities and in our rural areas where you are least likely to find a healthy, vibrant, gospel-preaching church.

The Church in Forgotten Places Workshop seeks to explore the challenges that churches face in engaging the poor with the gospel. We will also consider how best to build and resource gospel ministry in small and rural places.

The Church in Hard Places Collaborative exists to facilitate the planting of churches among the poor. The Rural Collective exists to catalyse church planting in rural places. Acts 29 has launched these two initiatives in order to facilitate church planting in hard to reach places.

Session 1: Understanding Poverty - 40 mins
Session 2: Engaging the Poor with the Gospel - 40 mins
Session 3: Ministry in Small Places - 40 mins
Session 4: Panel discussion - Reaching New Zealand’s Forgotten Places - 20 mins

Presenters:
Matthew Spandler-Davison is originally from Aberdeen, Scotland. He is the pastor of Redeemer Fellowship Church, Bardstown, Kentucky, and serves as Operations Manager for Church in Hard Places. He is also the co-founder and Executive Director of 20schemes, a church planting ministry working among the poor in Scotland.

Mark Glenn is the Lead Pastor of The Fields Church in the Southern Highlands of NSW which he planted in 2012. Mark serves in the role of Assessment Coordinator for Australia/New Zealand and coordinates the activities of the Rural Collective.