Super Bowl 2012 (Numbers on the Battlefields)

Before we get too tied up in the game and the commercials–if you are not already–I wanted to take a moment and turn our attention toward the cities behind the teams.  And behind the cities, we find the people. And among the people, a great battle is taking place.  This one is not on the [...]

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Williston, North Dakota is a town of 13,000 people, in a county of 20,000.  According to The ARDA, the county is 17% Evangelical and has 17 Evangelical churches, giving it 1 such church for every 1162 people (based on 2000 data). And a few of you pastors need to consider sending future church planting teams [...]

Read More About - Seriously?! Send Church Planting Teams to Williston, North Dakota?! »

I’ve been in Arizona for the past few days.  The annual meeting of the Evangelical Missiological Society took place in Scottsdale.  It was great to catch up with old friends and hear from some of today’s greatest missiological thinkers and missions leaders. I gave a presentation this year titled, “Examining Evangelical Concentrations and International Migrations [...]

Read More About - The Urgent Need for Urban Research in North America »

In this third post of this series, I want to introduce you to the limitations of my urban research.  As I mentioned a few days ago, it is my hope that by sharing with you my limitations (and findings) a stronger case will be made for the need for more and better urban research to [...]

Read More About - The View at 15,000 Feet is not Enough: A Call for More and Better Urban Research-Part 3 »

This past weekend, I spent time with some of the great folks in the Southeastern Region of the Evangelical Missiological Society (EMS). Each year, the EMS meets in regions across the United States and Canada to hear presentations on a designated topic affecting contemporary missions. This year’s theme was on the topic of urban missions. [...]

Read More About - Removing the Urban Fog: A Call for More and Better Urban Research-Part 1 »

One year ago, I launched this blog with a new study that I had completed on evangelical concentrations in the United States and in Canada.  You can find the report HERE and the PowerPoint presentation HERE.  Over the past twelve months, I have received emails from individuals, churches, and at least one denomination that is [...]

Read More About - Evangelicals in the U. S. and Canada–Revisited »

In light of the fact that today is Canada Day, I am interrupting the two-part series that I just started on church planting models.  July 1 is the day when Canadians celebrate the birth of their country.  While thinking of our northern neighbor, I decided to take a moment to share with your some sobering evangelical statistics [...]

Read More About - Canada Day and a Glimpse at Canada’s Metro Contexts »

Over this past week, I have posted about issues related to urban missions.  While I hope to do more in the future, I wanted to conclude this series by addressing a matter that I believe is a critical missing link to urban missions today, particularly in western contexts.  This issue is the missing element of [...]

Read More About - Apostolic Missionaries and the Urban Contexts »

Where are the least reached cities in the United States?  The answer to this question is that it seems to depend on to whom you are speaking.  What I have found to be the case is that anyone serving in an urban context believes his or her city is the most unreached.  Now, while I [...]

Read More About - Least Evangelical U.S. Metro Areas »

We now come to the final post related to my reflections on the report of evangelical concentrations in the U.S. and Canada.   I wish to wrap up this series with a word of caution and suggestion for our next steps. Caution: The Dangers of Research I believe it was Dayton and Fraser (Planning Strategies for [...]

Read More About - Reflections #3: We Must Not Stop With Knowing the Facts »