This Great and Complicated Place

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Latest Episodes:

Life on the Human Scale: A Benediction for Builders Apr 15, 2025

In the final episode of This Great and Complicated Place, host Rich Pérez offers a reflective, soul-stirring conversation that speaks directly to communities of faith—especially those within the Christian tradition—about the work of building just cities. Through story, theology, lived experience, and the voices of trusted thinkers and practitioners, this episode asks: what does it truly mean to embody love, justice, and presence in the places we call home?

From church planting strategies to gentrification, from personal conversion to community transformation, this episode serves as both benediction and blueprint. A sending out. A call to love in real places with real people—at the pace of presence.

Key Themes

• Church planting, presence, and the power of proximity

• Gentrification and the church’s unintended complicity

• The importance of slow, embodied formation in place

• Faith not as strategy, but as solidarity

• Mutuality: what churches can receive from the neighborhoods they enter

• A threefold conversion: to Jesus, to our people, and to the world through the poor

We’re so grateful you’ve joined us for this series—a layered, needed conversation at the intersection of faith, race, and place.

To stay connected and continue the journey:

• Follow us on Instagram: @greatandcomplicatedplace

• Share the episode with someone who needs to hear it

• Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts—it helps more people find stories like these

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Equity or Illusion: Is Education Really the Great Equalizer? Apr 02, 2025

Education is often framed as the great equalizer, but history tells a different story. From the lasting impact of segregation to disparities in funding, access, and opportunity, our schools reflect deeper societal injustices. In this episode, we explore the connection between healthy schools and healthy communities, the historical roots of educational inequity, and the moral responsibility we all share in shaping a just system.

Through compelling insights from experts and thought leaders, we ask, Who bears the responsibility for justice? And more importantly, who are we willing to stop for?

Key Themes:

• The historical role of race in shaping educational inequities

• The lingering effects of segregation on today’s schools

• Education as a key factor in community stability and economic opportunity

• The moral and social responsibility of addressing injustice

• The Good Samaritan as a lens for reimagining who we consider “our own”

Featured Voices:

Jemar Tisby, PhD – Historian, author, and speaker on race and justice

Dr. Massie – Educator and advocate for equitable school systems

Ways to Get Involved:

Learn More – Dive deeper into today’s discussion with recommended books, articles, and documentaries (see links below).

Advocate Locally – Research school-board policies, funding disparities, and ways to support equitable education in your community.

Support Organizations – Donate to or volunteer with groups dedicated to educational justice.

Subscribe & Review:

If this episode resonated with you, don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps keep these critical conversations going!

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Disinvestment or Design: When a City Decides What a Child is Worth Mar 19, 2025

This episode examines how physical spaces and policy decisions affect educational access and opportunity. Through personal stories and expert perspectives, we explore how neighborhood design, resource distribution, and historical patterns of inequality have shaped—and continue to shape—education in our communities.

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Sacred Spaces or Common Ground: What happens when church buildings become neighborhood anchors? Mar 04, 2025

What if churches saw their buildings not just as Sunday gathering spaces but as anchors meant to foster the wellbeing of their communities? This episode explores how churches can meaningfully engage with housing justice by reimagining their relationship to land, property, and neighborhood.

In this thought-provoking episode, we examine the contradiction between vast church properties standing mostly empty while housing crises unfold at their doorsteps. Through conversations with experts like Ryan VerWys and Jonathan Rich, we explore how churches can leverage their resources to address housing needs without abandoning their spiritual mission. The episode challenges us to consider what it means to be truly rooted in place and how that rootedness connects to community flourishing.

Learn how churches are reimagining their properties to create meaningful impact in their neighborhoods.

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Building Up or Making Room: Who Gets to Call This City Home? Feb 19, 2025

In this compelling episode, we explore the complex intersection of faith, housing justice, and community development. Through conversations with housing advocates and faith leaders, we unpack how churches can effectively engage in housing solutions without needing to be experts in development. The episode challenges traditional notions of pioneering and examines the power of joining existing initiatives rather than always starting new ones.

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Redlines or Green Juices: What Happens When Zip Codes Determine Dinner? Feb 07, 2025

In this episode we dive into the hidden world of food access in America’s cities. We uncover how historical redlining practices continue to shape what ends up on our dinner tables today. From communities experiencing food gaps to the vital role of neighborhood bodegas, we’re exploring the complex web of systems that determine who gets to eat what—and why it matters for all of us.

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Gun Violence or Grocery Stores: Can Food Access Mean Life or Death? Jan 21, 2025

May 14th, 2022 was not only the day our country experienced a deplorable act of racial terror, but it also served as a stark reminder that millions of Americans lack access to healthy and affordable food.

19-year-old Payton Gendron drove over 200 miles from Conklin, NY to Buffalo, NY, targeting the only supermarket in the predominantly African American community—a place one neighbor called the “village watering hole.” Gendron’s actions resulted in 10 deaths and 3 injuries. However, equally concerning was the role that geography and food deserts played in this tragic moment in American urban life.

In this episode, we’ll examine the impact that limited access to healthy and affordable food has on neighborhoods. We’ll explore how, for many, if it isn’t the gun in the hands of those threatened by racial difference, it’s the design of urban spaces that slowly lead to their erasure.

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Chaos or Community: Where Do We Go From Here? Dec 13, 2024

In this pilot episode, “Chaos or Community: Where Do We Go From Here?“, we explore the intricate relationship between race, space, and community in American cities. Drawing inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr.’s seminal work, we journey from historical bus rides to present-day urban landscapes, examining how our cities aren’t shaped by accident, but by design. Through compelling personal stories and expert insights, we investigate the role of the church in creating beautiful and just cities that reflect God’s intention for human flourishing. Join us as we navigate this great and complicated place, asking crucial questions about community development, racial equity, and the future of our urban spaces.

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Trailer: This Great & Complicated Place Nov 07, 2024

This Great and Complicated Place stands to elevate the way communities of faith contribute to conversations about race and equity by exploring, honestly and compellingly, the historical design of American cities and urban centers and their impact on urban life. By inviting the voices of expert historians, economists, urban planners, faith and non-profit leaders, and—perhaps most importantly—neighbors, we intend to do more than just emphasize the design shortcomings of our cities and neighborhoods. We also want to highlight how faith communities are uniquely positioned to guide us towards more beautifully designed communities.

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