For generations, few images of the United States were more universal than those of the quaint Midwest. Small towns like Walnut Grove, Calverton (of Lassie fame) and St. Petersburg, Mo. (home of fictional Tom Sawyer) were safe places where people worked hard, raised their children—and always went to church. Even Midwestern big cities like Milwaukee and St. Louis (home of Happy Days and Meet Me in St. Louis) have provided pop-culture illustrations of obedient children, traditional values and church-going middle America.
But the Midwest in the first two decades of the 21st century is a different place. Always misleading, those images now miss the reality of today’s urban Midwest. While the rural Midwest is still alive and well, the Midwest is also the thriving arts community of Minneapolis, inner-city Detroit and suburban Columbus. It’s bustling city streets. It’s thriving, globally-focused, business districts. It’s drive-by shootings. Ten Midwestern cities rank in the top 50 in population in America.
And despite the region’s image of good, hard-working, church-going residents, the vast majority (75 percent) do not have a relationship with Jesus. Many have never set foot in a church. Today the region has a desperate need for new churches that will reach the increasingly diverse region—and reach them in their own cultural context.
Meet the Midwest
Population: 69,014,199
SBC Congregations: 5,419
Population Per Congregation: 12,736
Number of Lost: 52 million
Percentage of the Population Lost: 75 percent
Based on 2011 statistics.
“God is answering prayers in the Midwest. It shouldn’t be a surprise. I’m seeing God move upon the hearts of our leaders to pray His perfect prayer for the harvest (Luke 10:2). As a direct result of this kind of praying, we are seeing the Lord call out men and their families to plant or be part of a planting team. At the same time partner churches are going to ‘Mobilize Me’ to get involved with a planter in a significant way. The connection is obvious to me!” - Bob Burton, Midwest regional mobilizer
Minneapolis-St. Paul has the highest SBC church-to-population ratio of any of NAMB’s send cities—1:188,248.
Learn more about the Midwest at OnMission.com >>