Louisiana has 304 Census Designated Areas, noted as cities, towns, and villages by the Census Bureau. A few years ago, out of curiosity, I did a little digging into how many of these might not have a Southern Baptist Church. I knew of a few, but didn’t expect that number to total almost 100! Now, if you’ve ever looked at this list, you won’t recognize many of these places unless you are from there. A few even have a population of less than 10! The Missions and Ministry Team has sought to keep this list updated and add it to the numerous things that play into good church planting strategy and missiology for Louisiana. 

Not all of these places necessarily need a new church. Some of these towns have active churches near them. It’s not the objective of the Louisiana Baptist Mission and Ministry Team to start churches, just to say we did. If it’s a strategic need and if God calls his people to go; we will assist in starting a church in these geographic locations. 

Not all of these places are without evangelical witnesses. We are not saying that all of these places are without the witness of an evangelical congregation. We celebrate the work of evangelical partners who are seeking to reach our state and we’re happy when we find that a community has an active witness of the Gospel in its midst. When we find that little to no active gospel witness is present, the priority rises. 

Not all the places in Louisiana that have a church are saturated with the Gospel. A more shocking statistic than the number of communities without a Southern Baptist Church is the low percentage of people that attend the Southern Baptist Churches that are already in existence. Most parishes across Louisiana, have less than 10% of the population attending SBC churches on any given weekend. Many areas, even across the south, have too few churches to reach even 30% of its population with the gospel.   

Louisiana’s need for new churches in no way compares with the need in other parts of North America. The fact that Louisiana has towns with no SBC churches has challenged me to remember pioneer areas across North America and the world with zero access to a gospel advancing community of believers. As a missionary friend says, “As you go to the church of your choice this weekend, remember those with no church to choose.” Let the reality of Louisiana’s need, remind us of the unfinished task before us in carrying out Christ’s Great Commission.     

How can we respond to places with no church? 

1. Pray! Pray for laborers (Luke 10:2). Pray for open doors (1 Corinthians 16:9). 
2. Take a vision tour. In 2020, our team will be conducting one day Vision Tours and Windshield Surveys in many of these towns with no SBC Church. Email me at lane.corley@louisianabaptists.org and let me know if you’d like to help with these tours. 
3. Adopt a town to pray for and plan to reach out through a day of prayer walking or other outreach event. Let us know if you’d be interested in reaching out in a city or town without a church. 

Where are these towns? Here’s a list of the top 50, listed by CDA / Town / City or Village, Parish, Association, and Population. Check out our Engage Map for and interactive look at locations of Louisiana Baptist churches, church plants, and target locations for new churches – https://www.engagemap.org/louisianabaptists/EngageMap.

1. Terrytown – Jefferson – NOBA – 24,216
2. Bayou Cane – Terrebonne – Bayou – 21,173
3. Estelle – Jefferson – NOBA – 16,791
4. Gardere – East Baton Rouge – BAGBR – 11,229
5. Woodmere – Jefferson – NOBA – 11,114
6. Timberlane – Jefferson – NOBA – 10,655
7. South Fort Polk – Vernon – Vernon – 9,293
8. Oak Hills – East Baton Rouge – BAGBR – 8,980
9. Old Jefferson – East Baton Rouge – BAGBR – 8,283
10. Galliano – Lafourche – Bayou – 7,650
11. Eden Isle St. Tammany NSBA 7,631
12. St. Gabriel Iberville BAGBR 7,094
13. Meraux St. Bernard NOBA 7,073
14. Village St. George East Baton Rouge BAGBR 6,802
15. Inniswold East Baton Rouge BAGBR 6,772
16. Vacherie St. James BAGBR 5,689
17. Chackbay Lafourche Bayou 5,647
18. Grambling Lincoln Concord Union 5,184
19. Elmwood Jefferson NOBA 5,037
20. Eastwood Bossier NWLA 4,547
21. Richwood Oauchita NELA 3,378
22. Buras-Triumph Plaquemines NOBA 3,358
23. Lutcher St. James BAGBR 3,345
24. Brusly West Baton Rouge BAGBR 2,721
25. Chauvin Terrebonne Bayou 2,682
26. Abita Springs St. Tammany Northshore 2,584
27. Bayou Gauche St. Charles NOBA 2,557
28. North Fort Polk Vernon Vernon 2,432
29. Edgard St. John the Baptist NOBA 2,315
30. Rosepine Vernon Vernon 2,235
31. Garyville St. John the Baptist NOBA 2,225
32. Boothville-Venice Plaquemines NOBA 2,220
33. Montz St. Charles NOBA 2,140
34. Labadieville Assumption Bayou 2,092
35. Henderson St. Martin Evangeline 1,885
36. Belle Rose Assumption Bayou 1,837
37. Paradis St. Charles NOBA 1,616
38. Ama St. Charles NOBA 1,361
39. New Sarpy St. Charles NOBA 1,203
40. Cullen Webster Webster-Claiborne 1,133
41. Paincourtville Assumption Bayou 1,070
42. Empire Plaquemines NOBA 1,054
43. Leonville St. Landry Acadia 1,042
44. Rosedale village Iberville BAGBR 983
45. Grand Coteau St. Landry Acadia 964
46. Supreme Assumption Bayou 859
47. Parks village St. Martin Evangeline 831
48. Mermentau village Acadia Acadia 815
49. Killona St. Charles NOBA 815
50. Convent St. James BAGBR 711