The Lord stirred our hearts to begin the process of planting a church in the inner city of Duluth, Minnesota, known as the Central Hillside about four years ago. At the time, my wife, Andrea, and I were serving at a Converge church in Superior, Wisconsin called Bayside Baptist Church. We loved our church home and it was a struggle to consider leaving. As the Lord continued to lead us in this direction, we knew our season at Bayside was complete. Through much prayer, council and support from our church family, we transitioned to church planting in November of 2017. God has taken us on a journey since that time and we plan to plant "Hope City Church" in 2019.

The Central Hillside is a unique, diverse, inner-city area that is mostly void of active, community-focused evangelical churches. There are approximately 20,000 people living in this 2 x 1-mile rectangle right on the Hill of Duluth. It is the center of government, tourism, big business, as well as ridden with poverty, addiction and crime. We are excited to bring the hope of Jesus to this oft-forgotten area of our community.