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Bishop Alex has called our diocese into strategic prayer for four unreached geographic areas in our diocese: (1) Southeast Florida, (2) Southwest Florida, (3) Volusia County, Florida, and (4) Southern Georgia/Alabama. Click here to read more about these unreached areas.
Well over 11 million people live in these target areas, and they include some of the fastest growing counties in the US. By 2050, projections indicate that the number of Christians in the US will drop by 20%-25%, and the number of people who do not affiliate with any religion will increase to about 30% of the population (Pinetops Foundation, “The Great Opportunity Report,” 2020, pp. 18-19). While these trends may seem scary, they provide incredible opportunities for the Gospel to go forth in power! God is the King of his Kingdom!
There are not any Anglican expressions of Gospel witness in these target areas, and we believe God is calling us to spread his Gospel by planting new churches.
Why Plant Churches?
We don’t just want more Anglican churches for the sake of having more Anglican churches. Studies show that church plants gain 60%-80% of their new members through people who do not attend church. That means church plants tend to grow through evangelistic conversion and unchurched folks beginning to attend their church. Churches who are 10 years or older gain 80%-90% of their new members through people transferring from another church (source).
If we want to reach the growing population of people who do not affiliate with any religion, planting new churches is the most effective way to reach them.
Tim Keller once said, “New church planting is the only way that we can be sure we are going to increase the number of believers in a city.”
We not only want to see Anglican churches in these unreached geographic areas, we want to see people come to faith! So we need to plant new churches.
Get Involved: Pray, Give, Serve
Our first step is to Pray
Bishop Alex wants us to pray for the Lord to move in these unreached areas and open doors for us to join him in that work! Click here to join our church planting prayer network.
Here are some ways to pray:
- For God to raise up church planters to lead planting efforts in these unreached areas
- For God to send people of peace who will open relational doors that will help build core teams to serve alongside lead planters to plant future churches.
- For God to provide funding and prayer warriors to support these church planting efforts.
Give
Many of these unreached places are in areas with very high cost of living. Every church plant requires a lot of financial resources, but if we want to reach these high-cost-of-living areas, we’re going to need to raise even more support while these plants grow to a place where they are self-sustaining.
We’re working with the Grow Fund to provide ways to financially support these future church plants. Contact Michelle Herbst for more information.
Serve
We utilize different models of planting in our diocese, and we have opportunities for both laity and clergy to help with and lead planting efforts.
Do you know someone who may be interested in helping reach unreached places? Are you feeling a tug yourself?
Check out our assessment page, which has information about the discernment process for planting in our diocese.