Twelve Louisiana parishes touch I-20 & is home to 16% of our states population. Two of Louisiana’s nine Metropolitan Statistical areas are on I-20 – Shreveport-Bossier & Monroe-West Monroe. About 83% of the population of I-20 live in these two areas. This area is also home to around 30,000 college students each year, in four great universities – La Tech (12,014 students), Grambling University (4,553 students), University of Louisiana-Monroe (8,800 students), LSU-Shreveport (4,383 students). This part of Louisiana is more true Bible belt than south Louisiana, with evangelical populations near 50% across the I-20 corridor. But many churches in this area are in decline & in need of change to reach younger generations. Church Planting & church revitalization strategies are greatly needed moving forward. Here’s some data for us to get the strategy wheels turning:

• Population of I-20 Corridor is 737,504. Up 1% since 2010. Fastest growing parishes were Bossier (7% increase), Lincoln – where Louisiana Tech is located (up 2%), & Ouachita – West Monroe & Monroe (Up 2%). The other 9 parishes are projecting drops in population from 1%-6%.
• There are 364 SBC churches in the parishes that touch I-20 for a church to population ratio of 1/2,026.
• 47,989 residents worship in an SBC Church in 2015. Only 6.5% of the population. Worship attendance dropped by 7% since 2010. Only three of the 9 associations across I-20 experienced an increase in worship attendance since 2010 – Madison, Concord-Union, & Webster-Claiborne.
• Only 4.4% of the population attended Bible Study in an SBC Church. 32,604 residents. Bible Study attendance dropped by 10% since 2010. Only one of the nine associations along I-20 experienced an increase in Bible Study attendance since 2010 – Madison.

Current Louisiana Baptists Planters along I-20:

• Cleto Perez – Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida – Arcadia
• Miguel Barrios – Filadelfia Baptist Mission – Bernice
• Barnabas Son – Monroe Korean Baptist Church – West Monroe
• Richard Thomas – Gethsemane Baptist Church – Shreveport
• Carranza Johns – Hip Hope Church – Shreveport
• Trandy Wade – New Life Journey Baptist Church – Bossier City
• Ivory Jackson – North Star Baptist Church – Shreveport
• Roy Thomas – St. James Baptist Church – Shreveport
• Greg Shyne – United Outreach Church – Shreveport
• Daniel Hernandez – Broadmoor Hispanic Mission – Shreveport
• Miguel Guillen – First Hispanic Church, Haughton
• Mt. Kham Nang – First Zo Baptist Church – Bossier City

Ruston peaches are a Louisiana favorite.

I-20 is home to Duck Dynasty’s Robertson clan.

Downtown Shreveport along the Red River