[from my September 30th, 2015 report to the Louisiana Baptists Executive Board, whom I have the privilege of serving as Church Planting Strategist]

[UPDATED November 5th, 2015]

Louisiana Baptist are indeed Multiplying! New church plants have increased 75% in Louisiana since 2011: In 2011, 8 new churches were planted; 14 in 2012; 18 in 2013; 26 in 2014; and so far in 2015, 33 new churches have been planted across Louisiana!

2015 Baptisms Poster

What’s the impact of church planting?

• New commitments to Christ! Since 2010, new churches in years 1-3 have reported 8,909 new commitments to Christ & 1,643 baptisms.
• New partners in cooperation! In the last two years, new churches in Louisiana have given $365,957 to the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention and $73,624 to their local Associations.

And through church planting we’re closing some of the missiological gaps & trends in our state. One of the haunting lines in the President’s 2020 Commission report presented at the Louisiana Baptists Annual Meeting in 2013, was that the Louisiana Baptist Convention was a declining, northern, anglo movement. Church Planting is allowing us to change these trends.

• The President’s 2020 Commission found that out of 1,600 churches only 5% were considered non-anglo, while 40% of the population of Louisiana is non-anglo. In the last two years, 69% (41 out of 59) of our new churches have been non-anglo. Including 25 African American, 14 Hispanic, 2 Asian.
• 2 years ago, we found that 74% of the population of Louisiana was in the south (south of Bunkie) while 64% of our LBC churches were in the north. So 64% of our churches are located where only 26% of our population resides. In the last two years, 78% (46 out of 59) of new churches have been planted in south Louisiana. Including 11 in New Orleans, where 21% of our population resides.

We still have much work to do. In 2010, Associations helped us forecast the need in their regions and with their help we set the goal of 300 new churches by 2020. Our current scorecard is at 122. So 178 new churches still needed to meet the needs across Louisiana!

And EVERY CHURCH can get involved. How can your church help? Check out these resources to help you get started:

• 10 Biblical & Practical Ways to Get Involved in Church Planting
• Every Church Can Encourage Church Planting and Multiplication
• Every Church Can Be a Church Planting Partner
• Your Church Can Be a Parent to a New Church or Campus