I was raised a Free Will Baptist. My family has a rich heritage in the FWB denomination. I am extremely grateful for the history of FWBs and the work that some of its leaders have done all around the world for God’s glory.
But I’ve been worried about FWBs for a while. I’m worried that our denomination isn’t reaching enough people with the gospel. From what I can gather, FWBs have had about the same number of members since 1950 (around 200,000). We need to recognize that it’s a problem, but there’s no sense in arguing about why we haven’t been growing. We need to move forward by developing strategies for reaching people. Quite simply, I believe the best way to reach more people is to go where the most people live: the cities. So let’s have an honest discussion about what we, as FWBs, can do to reach the masses.
Free Will Baptists are mostly suburban and rural. I’ve suspected as much, but I had no idea how true this was until I started researching. The National Association of Free Will Baptists’ website allows users to look up FWB churches by city and state. I recently used that site, along with a list of the largest 100 cities in the United States (found here and here) to research what FWBs are doing in the cities. For this study, I searched for FWB churches in the 100 largest cities and only recorded churches that had an address within the city limits, as this is how population is determined.
The results:
1. Out of 2,400 FWB churches in the United States, 94 are in the 100 largest cities in the United States (that’s 4% for those of you that appreciate percentages instead of raw data). Forty-six of those churches are in the 50 largest cities.
2. There are 48.1 million people in the 50 largest U.S. cities and 46 FWB churches to reach them.
3. Forty-six of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. have two or fewer FWB churches. Thirty-two of those cities have no FWB church.
4. The ten largest cities in the U.S. have 25.4 million people and one FWB church.
5. New York City has over 8 million people and zero FWB churches.
6. Here are the largest U.S. cities, in order by population, which have no FWB church:
New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, San Francisco, Austin, Fort Worth, Charlotte, Memphis, Boston, Baltimore, El Paso, Seattle, Denver, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Portland, Atlanta, Long Beach, Omaha, Oakland, Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, Arlington, and Honolulu.
Implication
Plainly spoken: We have failed to spread the gospel of Jesus to people in the cities.
Discussion/Conclusion
- Free Will Baptists will not see substantial growth unless we go to the cities. Don’t believe it? Since 1950, FWBs have not created a substantial presence in most major cities, the population in those cities has doubled (or more), and FWBs have not seen any substantial growth. As people continue to move to the cities, we must move as well.
- It will take a different approach on the part of FWBs to reach people in the cities. This is because cities have a different demographic than most FWBs. Race, politics, and socio-economic statuses are all wild cards in the city. Free Will Baptists are mostly white, conservative, and middle-class. We cannot build Alabama churches in Philadelphia. It’s not going to happen.
- An intentional effort should be made to educate FWBs about the importance of urban church planting. A FWB movement toward the cities won’t happen on accident. Because there has been little emphasis on urban churches, there will be few who decide to do it. Those who are interested in urban church planting may look to other organizations for support and guidance.
So what do you think? Are there other conclusions we should consider? Can FWBs make a difference in the cities? I want us to have a real discussion on how to move forward. Leave your comments here instead of on FB so that everyone can read it.
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Jeremy,
Came across your blog and thought I would reply! We first came to Good Springs mainly because our kids were wanting to do more things with GSY than they wanted to do with our own church youth group. We recognized this as a sign and started to visit. As you know we eventually joined the church. Our kids are out of the youth group and we recently started working with the college and career age group. Seems like I find our selves in the same position once again. Our group is faithful to our class, but going to activities outside our church and excited about it. I love that they are excited and getting fed, but really know that we are missing something! We need to start a fire here!
Well written. So refreshing. Alas, I fear we are too comfortable.
I don’t know what to say. Nothing’s going to change until people like me are willing to go. I’ve been wondering lately, does the urgency of the gospel necessitate me quiting my MDiv work in order to go?
I know enough about the Bible to tell someone the gospel. Do I really need to be able to tell them the word in Hebrew or Greek?
Great post. Needed conversation.
I’d like to add a couple observations.
1. Apparently the directory is not completely up do date because there is a FWB church in Colorado Springs (www.woodmenroadfwb.com). I am not sure why this work isn’t listed… Maybe because it is still a Home Missions work? (You can find that church if you search for the Pastor’s name or the name of the church.)
2. Sometimes churches planted by FWB end up outside the city limits. For example, the church I pastor was a Home Missions work in the late 70s and was promoted and funded as a church plant for Evansville. The resulting church is located in Chandler which is outside the city of Evansville (5 miles actually). Usually this has to do with the cost/availability of property.
3. I understand from a couple Home Missionaries that I have talked to, that the Home Missions Department is currently taking no new candidates. (I have not heard that from Home Missions directly. I guess you could call this hearsay.)
In my opinion, the root cause of 2 & 3 is funding. I think our greatest constraint right now is giving.
Daniel: Thanks for your post.
1. I’m sure the directory is out of date, but the number of FWB churches in the cities wouldn’t change that much.
2. They do end up outside the city limits, but that’s the point. Urban FWB churches are few and far between.
The greatest constraint probably is funding. But couldn’t people who are called and led go and plant without board approval? They would need some support, but what if a team of people planted while they were working regular jobs?
Jeremy,
Great thoughts and a greater challenge. I know it is certainly the case in Florida. We have a few small churches in Jacksonville, one small one in Orlando and several Hispanic works that are doing fairly well in Miami. Beyond that, no churches in our major cities in our state. We’ve had some in the past but many have not made it due to trying to have a church like back home, when they are not back home. We do have to be willing to diversify some things.
Daniel, Jeremy:
Not to be a simpleton, but don’t you think the cause of the gospel merits not letting the excuse of “it’s expensive” deter us?
Under your discussion/conclusion, point 1 is that FWB will not see substantial growth unless we go to the cities. Apparently we haven’t seen growth anywhere since the 50′s according to what you said. The city has nothing to do with it. Don’t get me wrong. We need churches everywhere there is people. It’s just that this argument is a little “macro” for me. It’s kind of like saying I can catch more fish if I go to a bigger lake. Maybe. But I think it would be better if you said this under point 1… “FWB will not see substantial growth unless we go.”
I think that’s why we haven’t seen growth. God’s method for reaching people is “Me…telling a guy about Him.” I think Jesus spelled it out to the guy in Mark 5:18-19. Until our growth plan involves me taking action because of my heart being broken for my neighbor, whether he is in Ashland City or New York City, we will not see growth for the kingdom. Go to a guy in the country. Go to a guy in the city. Go! It’s uncomfortable, frustrating, heartbreaking, front lines work. It’s also the most rewarding, fulfilling, eternity changing, blessing filled ways to live.
Sorry this may be all over the place. My screen won’t let me go back to see what I’ve written.
BTW, Jeremy, I have heard that the need is the call. And that if you saw a need, had the desire and ability to fill that need, you were called. I hope you enjoy San Diego. I hear it’s beautiful. :)
Thanks, Jon. Good thoughts. I believe that FWB have failed to reach people of the cities. Would you say, instead, that we have failed to reach people?
Jeremy-
You are right, the number of churches in urban areas would not change much. I just didn’t want the CO Springs work that I personally know of to be left out, and I would like to see that “find a church” tool to work consistently (the way to fix that is through random observations on a blog, right?).
No we don’t need board approval to plant churches in large cities. A good example of this is The Heights Church which is being planted in one of the most expensive cities in the state of Indiana, Noblesville. Check them out at: http://www.theheightschurch.us
The three core families moved there, got jobs, and started a church.
I love what those guys are doing in IN. I would love to see that happen all over.
Recently we were visited by a couple going to start a mission church in Colorado, and this is so true there are few FWB churches there and Kansas. Keith says there used to be some in Kansas, but there are none where Mat lives and he is not attending a church. There is a great need to spread the gospel to these areas.
Why does it have to be a FWB church? Did you check to see if there were other Bible Believing churches in these cities already? Why waste time and resources in these cities just for the sake of having a “FREE WILL BAPTIST” church there?
Jeff, the short answer is that it doesn’t have to be a FWB church. I’m just concerned about the people in the cities. And since FWB have almost no presence there and since FWB are who I know best, maybe I can stir some to see the need.
I agree with Jon. The bottom line is reaching people where ever they are.
Allow me to brag on Jon’s church, Bethel, for a minute. They have built that church on evangelism (novel idea :-) ). That church is in the heart of rural America. It HAS seen substantial growth since the 1950s.
I disagree with your first conclusion. I think a better conclusion would be that FWB will not see substantial growth unless we seriously focus on evangelism.
I agree with your other 2 conclusions.
Here’s my theory as to why FWB don’t have much presence in large cities. Large U.S. cities, while they’re in are homeland, are foreign mission fields to most FWB. Since FWB have traditionally been in rural areas, most FWB ministers would have to learn about and become a part of a new culture in order to be effective in reaching the masses in the cities.
So here’s the questions I’m left with.
1. Should FWB embrace our strengths and focus on reaching the lost in rural America where we know the culture and are already a part of the culture?
2. Should FWB invest the time, resources, and energy to learn about reaching the lost in our large cities? It will take a different approach and different type of churches to effectively reach what I think is a different culture.
The answer to both questions is YES. We need to reach people with the gospel. I don’t think it is an either/or, I think we need to do both.
Here’s a statistic for you (I think it was from Voice of the Martyrs): In 1960 there were twice as many Christians in the western hemisphere than there were in the eastern hemisphere. Just 40 years later, in 2000, there were 4 times as many Christians in the eastern hemisphere than in the western. What are we doing in the West? For the most part we are maintaining, but not really reaching out.
Bottom line…reach people where ever God put’s you. I’m excited to be moving to an area North of Dallas to be part of a team planting a church there. We won’t be in the Dallas city limits so our church won’t show up in your research, but it is the city none the less.
Great article and great research! I believe three things must happen for FWBs to survive and THRIVE in the future and reach people for Jesus:
1. There has to be an overarching vision from visionary leaders in our church planting area with a strategic plan to reach people for Jesus no matter what the cost.
2. Men are going to have to answer the call and do whatever it takes even if it means losing your funding, friends and approval to lift up the name of JEsus in New Church plants so that all men would be drawn to Him and not to FWB. It must be about Jesus, first.
3. We have to change to have a kingdom mindset to partner with those who are already doing a great job at reaching people far from God even though our non essential beliefs may not match up. We have to be wiling to allow for differences in methodology that may make some FWB uncomfortable.
I am willing to do whatever it takes to see more churches planted in the United States to help facilitate a movement across denominational lines to see people far from God become the hands and feet of Jesus.
Jeremy – great post! I love the fact that you are willing to ask the tough questions and open things up for discussion. Far too often we seem to be more willing to maintain the status quo and not rock the boat.
Here are a couple of my thoughts. First, we are called to go and make disciples. Plain and simple. To be biblical followers of Christ we should be focused on reaching people and building strong disciples who are willing to continue the cycle. We must be passionate about reaching the lost.
Secondly, we live in one of the most over-churched and under-evangelized nations in the world. Many Americans are confused as to what a true follower of Christ is and are merely “Christians” in name. Part of your post is correct in pointing out our failure to plant churches in cities. It’s not about fishing in a bigger pond but going where there are more fish to catch. Planting churches is extremely difficult and my heart goes out to those who answer the call. We can learn from others – we sh
I am glad to see this discussion opened and an honest consideration of the issue. I, too, have been concerned about the absence of FWBs in metropolitan areas across the nation. It isn’t about just planting FWB churches in these areas…but it is about planting churches. Since this is a discussion begun by a FWB, and FWBs are one segment of the Kingdom that need to be progressing in promoting Kingdom work and the name of Christ, this, in my estimation, is a legitimate discussion.
There are a number of great points made so far. The statistic that Bryan Lewis has quoted is HUGE! I knew the trend was in that direction, but had no idea it was as great a change as the statistic states. I am greatly saddened by that. It is a matter of a failure to adequately evangelize. This has little to do with “methods,” though, and more to do with a passion. Joe’s comment is also significant, “we live in one of the most over-churched and under-evangelized nations in the world.” Perhaps too much emphasis on making everyone “look” alike rather than making disciples?
At this point in the discussion, I will add only two comments.
1. Increased education about the need is necessary, as Jeremy has pointed out. There has been a feeble attempt to do this, as David Potete has done a great job of emphasizing the need when given the opportunity. Much more needs to be done across many lines in the denomination.
2. We have a generation of young men and women who are willing to step up and go wherever God leads at great risk. However, they are not being encouraged and supported to do so with next generation methods and a mindset that is essential to reach the lost in the inner cities and metro areas. The old guard is stuck in the past without a vision for doing this kind of work and giving them the freedom to do so. I don’t mean this to be overly critical, just stating what I see as one of the hurdles that we are facing.
Thanks, Randy. Good thoughts.
I have a similar comment to Daniel Edwards above. Texas FWBs have two churches within the city limits of Houston, two in San Antonio, and one in Ft. Worth. There is also one in the suburbs of Austin and several more around the Houston metro area and the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex (not sure if Arlington on your list is in TX or VA) that might not have shown up in your search within city limits. You can see the whole list at http://www.texasfwb.org.
However, the point is well taken; even if all of the glitches in the search tool were worked out, there are a small number of churches that have to cover (or try to cover) a whole bunch of people. This is a situation the Texas FWB Mission Board began documenting a decade ago for all of our metro areas listed, and all of those cities have grown tremendously since then.
Your point that we cannot plant an Alabama church inPhiladelphia is what I believe is our biggest prob. We have too many that think our FWB churches in Spain should be just like here in the states. Until we can change there will be no growth.
Our little FWB Church in Chula Vista is the only FWB Church in San Diego County. We are seven miles from the heart of San Diego. Chula Vista (Spanish: Beautiful View) is the second largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fourteenth largest city in the State of California, and the seventy seventh largest city in the U.S.. The population was 243,916 as of the 2010 census.
Our building is about 40 years old, small and located in one of the lowest rent highly Hispanic areas of Chula Vista.
God has laid it on my heart to pray for and encourage some young families with a God given burden to reach the multitudes (3,000,000+ in this growing county) to move here and build a new work.
The population is multi ethnic the median income is high as is the cost of living.
If God moves on your heart shoot me an email jbdlsmith@cox.net.
John Smith
Jesus turned the world upside down with 12 guys. There’s enough amazing guys/gals reading this blog to change FWB’s for the better. I’m so encouraged just to read some of these comments.
Thanks, John. I appreciate your work for the kingdom!
I’m sure there are a few (or several) missed churches in this search. But yes, the point is that by-and-large, we have forgotten the cities. Thanks for joining the discussion.
Good thoughts, Thomas. How do we get others to understand the same thing?
The last few posts have really hit home with me. I interned in St. Croix a few years ago, and I was struck that the church there was just like what I saw on the mainland. If we do plant in major metro areas, we cannot forsake truth, but we do need to consider the cultural landscape.
Good thoughts. Thanks for your input. I’m curious: was the church in St. Croix experiencing growth?