Why a New Church in Des Moines?

Why a New Church in Des Moines?

pulpitThe Local Church
The local church is God’s evangelism plan to reach the nations with the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20; John 13:35; 17:21; Ephesians 3:10), and there is a great need for the gospel to be preached in Des Moines. It’s not that there aren’t gospel believing and preaching churches here, it’s just that we desire to see even more worship of God and to see believers grow to maturity through another expositional ministry in Des Moines. Our love for Jesus Christ compels us to pursue the Great Commission by starting a church here (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Statistics/Neediness
Why do I say that there is a great need for the gospel to be preached in Des Moines?

  • To more adequately penetrate a community for the sake of the gospel, missiologists have estimated that the ratio of churches to the population should be 1 church to every 500 to 1,000 people (Click here to read more on this)
  • According to the 2010 U. S. Census the ratio of “Evangelical Protestant” churches to the population in the Des Moines was 1 church to every 1,868 people

What is the population of the Des Moines Metro Statistical Area? 

  • In 2000 the population of the Des Moines Metro Area was 481,394 people
  • Between 2000 and 2010 the population grew to 569,663 people at a rate of 18.3%
  • There are currently approximately 70,558 “Evangelical Protestants in Des Moines (12.39%)
  • There are currently approximately 499,105 “Non-Evangelical Protestants in Des Moines (87.61%)

There are now more “Non-Evangelical Protestants” in Des Moines than there was even a population in 2000. Note too, that ARDA (my data source) has a pretty lax definition of “Evangelical Protestant“, so the numbers are probably more liberal than this.

How Does Des Moines Compare?
With all this in mind, how does Des Moines compare with other metro areas?

  • Des Moines ranks 215 out of 346 cities. That means that 214 cities in the United States have a larger percentage of Christians than Des Moines. Below are a few well-known cities with a higher percentage of evangelicals to their population:
    • Washington DC-Arlington Metro Area: 12.42%
    • New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner Metro Area: 12.72%
    • Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Area: 12.85% 

Ultimate Motivation? The Glory of God!
Des Moines is much smaller than these, but the implication in these statistics is clear – there’s a need here. At the end of the day, though, we don’t desire to gather a new congregation here merely because of “need”, but for the glory of God. We desire to gather a new congregation to see even more worship of God in Des Moines.

Soli Deo Gloria!